Overview

The inventory item import framework allows users to import new and updated inventory items using an Excel template. The template is provided and can be downloaded from the system with the existing items or as a blank template for data entry.

Step 1: Downloading the Template

From NorthScope, expand the Company module on the navigation menu and select ‘Integration Inbound’. By default, this list view displays all integration inbound transactions with other than Complete and User Bypassed statuses. Clicking the ‘Inquiry Criteria’ toolbar icon opens a dialog window, which allows users to edit the inquiry criteria to e.g. display completed integration transactions.

Click ‘File Import’ toolbar icon to download an item template. This opens a new dialog window. Select ‘Inventory Item’ as the template. This will automatically select Inventory Item as the option. To create a blank inventory item import template, click ‘Create Template File’ to generate the template. To create a template with the existing item data, check the check box Include Data. This will export all item data to the template.

The template is saved to your computer’s default download location (e.g. Downloads folder). Depending on your browser and browser settings, the file download might be also displayed on the footer or header of the browser window for easy access. The file can be opened from the actual file location or from the browser header / footer.

Step 2: Entering Data

Entering New Items

The template contains column headers and data can be entered under the column headers (starting from row 2). The following data is always required:

Item ID
- Must be unique to create new items.
Item Description
Item Type
- g. Sales Inventory
Item Class
(Item Attribute Class)
- Must be provided only if importing Attribute values.
Manage Items By
- Units Only
- Weight Only
- Units and Weight
UOM Schedule
- UOM Schedule ID

Other item details are optional and can be provided in the file or updated from the item record once the items have been uploaded to the system.

All item attributes are displayed as columns. If a user provides a new list type attribute value, the value is automatically added to the attribute values. Also, item level certifications are displayed as columns. Certifications can be assigned by entering Yes to the corresponding cell.

Note: The item SK value is automatically assigned and it is not required. If an existing item SK value is provided, the system attempts to update the corresponding item.

Updating Existing Item Data

When the template is created with the existing item data, the cells are populated with the existing item data. Most of the item properties are editable except the following:

Item SK
Item ID
Item Type

Also, the following data must be provided and should not be removed:

Item Description
Item Class
Manage Items By
UOM Schedule

New items can also be created while updating existing items. To do this, enter the item details to the end of the template.

Note: Unit Decimals and Weight Decimals cannot be greater than the UOM Schedule Decimal Places. E.g. If the decimals places of the provided UOM Schedule is set to 3. The Unit Decimals or Weight Decimals must be 3 or less, but it cannot be 4 or greater. The UOM Schedule Decimal places can be verified from the UOM Schedules list view (Inventory > Units of Measure > UOM Schedules).

Due to the limitations of Excel, when users enter hyphens or forward slashes into a text field, Excel may interpret the value as a date. For example, the value “2-3” may be converted to the text representation date value, which displays as ”43864”. Similarly, when users enter leading zeros into a field, the leading zero may be removed. Users can now use the escape characters of “^^” to preface any values with hyphens, forward slashes or leading zeros. During the file import process, NorthScope will recognize the escape characters, automatically remove them and insert the value immediately following the escape characters.

Step 3: Saving the Template File

The file must be saved in a CSV format. By default, Excel creates the template in a TXT format and users must manually change the file format. This is very important, because the upload fails if the file type is not correct. To do this click ‘Save As’ in Excel and select 'CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv)' as the file type before clicking Save.

Step 4: Uploading the Template File

If you have closed the file import window, re-open it and re-select ‘Inventory Item’ as the template. Click on ‘Select Files to Import’ and locate the file you saved on your computer. Select the file and click Open. Verify that a green dot is displayed in front of the file name. If the file is not in the correct format, a red dot is displayed indicating that the file cannot be uploaded to the system.

After the file has been selected and the file type validation is green, click on ‘Upload to NorthScope’. A pre-validation is performed before the file is added to the integration queue. This validation verifies that correct lookup values have been provided (e.g. the item class provided exists in the system) and that all required data is provided (e.g. ItemID ). If the pre-validation does not pass, an error message is displayed for the user with the error details.

Successfully uploaded files are added to the Integration Inbound list view with the status New. When the integration has been processed successfully, the status is changed to completed and the new/updated items are added to the system. If the file cannot be integrated (e.g. duplicate Item ID is provided), the status is updated to Error and the Error Text field displays the reason why the integration failed. When a file fails to integrate, none of the items from the file are imported to the system and the file fails as a whole. Users must fix the errors in the file and re-import the file.

Inventory Item Import (UG)