Import records from a spreadsheet

Prerequisites: The records a row points to already exist: for an item, its internal category and unit of measure (and its vendor, if you give one); for a machine, its warehouse access point; for a part, its material.

Required permission: Any role on the list’s record type (User, Manager, or Admin). To update a record you also need the right to change it: Admins can change any record, Managers and Users only the records they created.

Six lists take a spreadsheet. You see every row in a preview before anything is saved, and an import never deletes a record.

What you can import

List	Where	A row is matched on	Required for new records	Optional
Vendors	Purchase → Vendors	Designation	Designation, Name, Country, City, Postal code, Address line 1	VAT/GST ID, Phone, Fax, Email, Website, Currency, Payment Term, Delivery Term, Shipping Note, Lead Time, Language, State, Address line 2
Items	Inventory → Items	Number	Number, Name, Item Type, Internal Category, UoM	Description, Order Code, Barcode, Weight, Vendor, Purchase Price, Purchase Unit of Measure, Multiple Order Quantity, Lead Time, Manufacturer Acronym, Product Number, Can be Serviced, Serialized Item, Service Vendor, Service Order Code, Service Price, Service Lead Time, Usage Costing Method, Usage Rate
Stock rules	Inventory → Stock Rules	Item, Storage Location, and Item Condition together	Item, Storage Location, Item Condition, Threshold Quantity, Max Capacity	None
Machines	Production → Machines	Designation	Designation, Name, Warehouse Access Point	Builder, Model, Serial Number, Hour Rate, Target OEE
Parts	Engineering → Parts	Part Number	Part Number, Name, Material	Customer Number
Materials	Library → Materials	Name	Name	Standard, Hardness, Hardness Unit, VDI 3323

A few columns take set values:

• Vendors: Country is a two-letter ISO code or the English name. Postal code is required only for countries that use one.
• Items: Item Type is Consumable or Durable. Usage Costing Method is Fixed Rate, Unit Cost x Usage Rate in Percentage, Purchase Price x Usage Rate in Percentage, or Usage Time x Usage Rate per Hour. A new item starts as a draft.
• Stock rules: Item is the item’s number, and Storage Location is written as storage device/location. Item Condition is Unspecified, Brand new, Refurbished, Unused, Used, For service, or For scrap. Quantities are whole numbers, and Max Capacity is at least the Threshold Quantity.
• Parts: Material is matched by name, in your own materials first.
• Materials: Standard is AFNOR, AISI/SAE, AMS, ASTM, BS, EN, Wnr, DIN, JIS, SS, UNE, UNI, UNS, GB, GOST, or Commercial; Hardness Unit is HB, HRC, HV, or Rm. An import updates only your own materials.

Products don’t come from a spreadsheet: they come from a manufacturer’s GTC package, as How to import products from a GTC package shows, or you create them by hand.

Prepare the file

• Use a .csv or .xlsx file of up to 1,000 rows and 5 MB. From an Excel file, only the first sheet is read. A CSV file may separate its columns with commas, semicolons, or tabs.
• Put the column names in the first row. Download CSV template in the import dialog gives you every column, with the required ones marked with *. Column names work in English, Japanese, or Vietnamese, in any case.
• A value that names another record, such as a vendor, a unit of measure, or an internal category, must match one that already exists.
• In a yes/no column, 1, true, yes, y, or x means yes; anything else means no.
• Leave a cell blank to keep its current value. Columns Tooling Metrics doesn’t recognize are ignored.

Import the file

1. Open the list, for example Purchase → Vendors, and click Import next to Create.
2. Choose the File, then click Preview.
3. Check the preview. Each row is marked New, Update, No changes, or Error, and a changed cell shows its previous value. Rows with errors are skipped: fix them in the file and click Choose another file to preview again.
4. Click Import, which shows how many records it will save (for example, Import 12 records).

The list opens again with a message such as “Imported 12 records: 10 created, 2 updated.” Each row updates the record with the same key, ignoring case, or creates one if none exists. If a row can’t be saved at this point, it’s skipped and the message counts it; choose the file again to see why. The uploaded file is kept for a day, after which you upload it again.

Export to a spreadsheet

On the same six lists, and on Production → Tools, select rows with their checkboxes and click Export in the action bar. You get a CSV file that opens in Excel. For the six lists, the file has the import template’s columns, so you can edit it and import it back.

Related articles

• Add a vendor
• Items
• Stock rules
• How to add and manage materials
• What Tooling Metrics connects to