---
title: "Data Imports: Parts, Units, Customers, and Vendors (Video)"
description: "This article, and video walkthrough, demonstrate how to import data into EMDECS from a spreadsheet file. There are eight data imports currently available in EMDECS: From the Part Master (Menu path: "
---
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# Data Imports: Parts, Units, Customers, and Vendors (Video)
### Introduction
This article, and video walkthrough, demonstrate how to import data into EMDECS from a spreadsheet file. There are eight data imports currently available in EMDECS:
From the **Part Master** (Menu path: Parts → Part Master):
1. Import Parts (list of all parts)
1. Import Parts On Hands
1. Import Part Location Details (use this upload )
If you have multiple inventory warehouses, use the Import Part Location Details upload to change part prices and storage locations
From the **Unit Master** (Fleet → Unit Master):
1. Import Readings
1. Import Fuel
1. Import Equipment Units
From **Administration:**
1. Import Customers (Administration → Customer)
1. Import Vendors (Administration → Vendors)
All of the import screens have similar functionality. We'll step through an example of each import and we'll also review some of the most common causes of data import errors and solutions.
### Tips to Avoid Common Cell Format Errors that May Corrupt Your Data
If you use Microsoft Excel to enter or paste data for import, ensure that all columns are formatted as type **Text**. Using other formats can result in import errors. For example, Excel may round numbers automatically, truncate leading zeroes, or change dates based on your computer's location settings (i.e. MM/DD versus DD/MM).
There are two methods to set cells to type **Text** outlined below:
Method 1: Highlight all columns containing data, select the **Home** tab, then set the type to Text from the drop-down list:
Method 2: Highlight all columns containing data and press Ctrl-1. The Format Cells window will pop-up. Select **Text** and click **OK** to save.
If you copy and paste data from another Excel spreadsheet in to the upload template, unwanted cell formatting may be copied unless you paste values only!
To paste raw values from another spreadsheet without copying over formatting, right-click in the cell where you want to paste your data and select "Values" under the **Paste Options** to paste the raw data without cell formatting, as shown below:
\\
### Video Walkthrough
### Part Master Imports
If you have multiple inventory locations or warehouses. and use cost by warehouse (each of your locations/warehouses track cost separately), it is necessary to use the *[Import Part Location Details](https://help.emdecs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/data-imports-parts-units-customers-and-vendors-video#Import_Parts_Location_Details)* tab to import warehouse specific part prices. The Part Master import updates the corporate level cost only, not the cost for individual warehouses or locations.
Complete the following steps to import a new or updated list of parts:
1. Open the **Parts** menu and select **Part Master.
**
2. Select the **Import Parts** tab.
3. Before your part list can be uploaded, the data needs to be inserted into a template that is recognized by EMDECS. Click the **Download Template** button to download and save the template file.
4. A pop-up window will prompt you whether you want to include your current data in the download file. Select **Yes** if you want to download a file containing your current list of parts to modify and add to your existing parts list. Otherwise, leave this set to **No** and click **Download**.
If you choose to include your current data, the file may take several minutes or longer to generate. Open the **Reports** screen → **Report History** tab to view / download the file when the report has finished generating.
5. The template can be opened and edited using Microsoft Excel. The top row contains a column header with a code name for the data. The second row contains a long form description of the data that need to be in the column. Column headings in bold indicate a required field to insert or create a new part.
Fields marked in bold (Item Code, Description, and Unit of Measure, in this example) are required. All other fields are optional and will be ignored if left blank.
6. Populate the file with your data for import and save the file.
7. After your import file has been prepared, click on **Choose File**.
8. Browse to the directory on your computer where the import file is located, select it, and click **Open**.
9. The file name will be displayed. Click the **Import** button to continue.
10. An import screen will pop-up to advise the process has been started. Click **OK**.
11. Click the **Refresh** button to refresh the status and progress details. Once completed, the status will display Complete, 100%, along with the number of records imported and the number of records that could not be imported due to errors.
12. Import errors are listed under the **Import Data Errors** and **Import File Errors** tabs.
Common causes of import errors include:
1. Required fields left blank (the error message will contain the phrase "cannot insert NULL into. . . "). To resolve this error, fill in all required fields and re-upload.
2. Invalid special characters. EMDECS can only import data containing alphanumeric characters and English language standard keyboard characters. For example, an ampersand (&) can be entered in the part description field, but the degree symbol (°) will cause an import error.
3. Invalid data (i.e. alphabetic characters entered in a part price field or an incorrect date format).
4. Value too large for column. Some values, such as a product group code, have a maximum length of 12 characters, for example. Look in the error message for the maximum size: "ORA-12899: value too large for column "PERFIT"."CD\_CONVERSION\_ITEM\_MASTERS"."PROGRO\_CODE" (actual: 13, maximum: 12)"
13. If you have a lot of import errors to fix, click on the Export File button to download a file containing all records with errors so you can fix them and re-upload.
14. If there were any records with errors, an ERROR\_MESSAGE column in the export file will show you lines with errors so they can be fixed and re-uploaded, as shown in the example pictured below:
### Import Parts On Hand (Physical Count Import)
To import a count of your parts on hand, complete the following steps:
1. Open the **Parts** menu → **Part Master** then select the **Import Parts Onhands** tab.
2. Click **Download Template** to download a template file for your data.
3. Populate the template file with your list of parts, warehouse, date, and on hand quantity. These fields, marked in bold, are required. All other fields are optional and will be ignored if left blank.
4. Once your import file is prepared, click **Choose File
**
5. Browse to the directory on your computer where the import file is located, select it, and click **Open**.
6. Click on the **Import** button next to the file name.
7. An **Import Summary** screen will pop-up with a list of the parts and on hand quantities to be imported. Double check that your data is aligned with the correct column heads and you can scroll through the data to check for any errors. When you are ready to proceed with the import, click on the **Process** button at the bottom of the screen.
8. The **Import Parts Onhands** tab displays a list of the on hands parts imported for the selected import date and file name.
9. If there are any import errors, they will be listed under the **Import Errors** tab.
10. On hand quantity imports are posted as a physical count at the date and time of the import. To review on hand import history, open **Parts** -→ **Physical Count**, then select the **History** tab. Look for the most recent posted count for the warehouse. The description for an on hand import will be "Conversion factor." Click on the physical count number to drill-down for more detail.
### Import Parts Location Details
Use this import process to set different part costs for separate inventory warehouses.
To import parts location details, with warehouse level costs / prices complete the following steps:
1. Open the **Parts** menu → **Part Master** then select the Import **Parts Location Details** tab.
2. Click on **Download Template** to download a template file for your data.
3. Insert your part location data into the file using Microsoft Excel. Columns with bold headings (item code and warehouse code) are required. Cells left blank will not be uploaded or change existing records.
The **Currency code** (CUR\_CODE), column P, is required if costs are entered.
4. To upload your prepared data file, click on the **Choose File** button.
5. Browse to the directory on your computer where the file is located, select it, and click **Open**.
6. The file name will be displayed. Click **Import** to continue.
7. The Import Summary screen displays a list of the parts and location details to be uploaded. Click **Process** to continue.
8. Successfully imported locations are displayed under the **Imported Parts Location Details** tab.
9. Any errors will displayed under **Import Errors**.
10. An example of a common location import error is displayed below. The store room 1 location was already in listed for the parts and could not be added again.
### Unit Reading Imports
To import unit readings (i.e. odometer. engine hours, hubodometer, etc.), complete the following steps:
1. Open the **Fleet** menu and select **Unit Master**.
2. Select the **Import Readings** tab.
3. Click on the **Download Template** button.
4. Fill in each column with the relevant data. **Note** you can only upload 1 reading **Type** at a time, which is selected in **step 6**.
5. After populating your template file with data, click **Import**.
6. The following data needs to be selected:
1. Reading Type: Select the appropriate reading type from the drop-down list.
2. Date Format: Select DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY
3. Time Format: Select HH24:MI (for 24 hour format with hours and minutes) or HH:MI AM (for 12 hour format with AM/PM)
Then click on the **Choose File** button.
7. Browse to the directory where your reading import file is located, select it, and click **Open**.
8. Click **Import** to process the import.
9. The amount of readings imported correctly show under the Records Imported column.
10. If there are import errors, they will be displayed under the Data Errors column, click on the number to open the error reasoning.
A common error when importing readings is to enter a value lower than the most recent reading in the system. For example, a truck with a 100,000 mile odometer reading yesterday would not accept a new reading of only 80,000 miles today.
### Fix Unit Reading Import Errors
If you need to fix reading errors, select the unit on the Unit Master screen (open the **Fleet** menu → **Unit Master**), search for an click on a unit, then open the **Readings** tab. In the Readings panel you can view existing readings, reset the reading, add new readings, or add a new meter if a new odometer was installed, for example.
### Import Fuel Usage
Fuel usage for units can be imported using the following steps:
1. Open the **Fleet** menu → **Unit Master** → search for and select the unit, then open the **Import Fuel** tab.
2. Click on the **Download Template** button to download the template file for inserting your fuel usage data.
3. Open the template with Microsoft Excel and ensure that all columns highlighted in yellow contain data. These are required fields for a fuel import.
4. Click on the **Import** button.
5. Enter a location the unit is based or serviced in and select one of the following date formats:
1. DD/MM/YYYY
2. DD/MM/YYYY HH:24:MI
3. DD/MM/YYYY HH:MI AM
4. MM/DD/YYYY
5. MM/DD/YYYY HH:24:MI
6. MM/DD/YYYY HH:MI AM
HH24:MI is 24 hour format with hours and minutes and HH:MI AM is 12 hour format with hours and minutes followed by AM/PM. If you choose DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY without a time format, EMDECS will import at zero hundred hours, or 12:00 am, on the date specified.
Click **Choose File** to select your import file.
6. Browse to the directory where your fuel import file is located, select it, and click **Open**.
7. Click **OK** to process the upload.
8. Allow for a few moments of processing, depending on the size of the import file, before receiving a message that the file has been successfully uploaded.
9. Click **Post** to finalize the fuel import.
10. If there are errors or rejected entries, open the **Rejected Data** Lines tab, then click on the **Resolve** buttons to review or correct the entry.
11. A reject reason is displayed at the top of the screen. In the example pictured below, the fuel quantity of 50 cannot be imported because the unit's tax size has a maximum capacity of 40. The fuel quantity can be changed to correct this.
12. If there is a "no fuel capacity defined" error, the unit may be missing fuel settings (i.e. no fuel capacity or fuel type has been defined for the unit).
13. Open the unit details from the **Unit Master** screen then select the **Fuel** sub-tab under **Specifications**. If no fuel capacity and type have been defined, click **Add Fuel Capacity**.
14. Select the reading type, unit of measure (UOM), fuel type, and the maximum quantity or capacity of the tank, then click **OK** to save.
### Import Equipment Units
Use the following steps to import equipment units (i.e. trucks or trailers):
1. Open the **Fleet** menu → **Unit Master** → then open the **Import Equipment Units** tab.
2. Click on the **Download Template** button to download the template file for importing the unit list.
3. Populate the download template with the unit list. Columns with bold headings (Customer Code, Equipment number, and Description) are required. Cells left blank will not be uploaded or change existing records.
4. Click on the **Choose File** button to select your prepared unit import file.
5. Browse to the directory on your computer where the file is located, select it, and click **Open**.
6. The file name will be displayed. Click **Import** to continue.
7. An Import Units screen will pop-up to advise the process has been started. Click **OK**.
8. Click the **Refresh** button to refresh the status and progress details. Once completed, the status will display Complete, 100%, along with the number of records imported and the number of records that could not be imported due to errors.
9. Any import errors will be listed by clicking on the Number of Errors Hyperlink.
10. Once you have corrected the errors listed in the original file, you can simply repeat this process from **Step 4**.
### Import Customers
To import a list of customers in bulk from a spreadsheet, complete the following steps:
1. Open the **Administration** menu and select **Customer**.
2. Select the **Import Customers** tab.
3. Click **Download Template** to download the customer import template file to paste in your data.
4. The customer upload file has two required fields, code and name.
5. Click on the **Choose File** button to select your prepared unit import file.
6. Browse to the directory on your computer where the customer import file is located, select it, and click **Open**.
7. The import file name is displayed. Click **Import** to continue.
8. The import summary lists the customers to be imported. Click **Process** to continue.
9. Successfully imported customers are listed under **Imported Customers**.
10. Any import errors can be reviewed under the **Import Errors** tab.
### Import Vendors (i.e. Part Suppliers)
To import a list of vendors / suppliers in bulk from a spreadsheet, complete the following steps:
1. To import a vendor list, open the **Administration** menu and select **Vendors**.
2. Select the **Import Vendors** tab.
3. Click **Download Template** to download a template for your vendor import list.
4. The vendor code and supplier name columns, displayed in **bold**, are required fields. All other fields are optional. Blank columns will be ignored and will not change existing records (i.e. the address will not be removed if you upload an existing vendor with a new payment term without entering their address).
5. Click **Choose File** to select your prepared vendor list file for upload.
6. Browse to the directory on your computer where the file is located, select it, and click **Open**.
7. The file name will be displayed. Click **Import** to continue.
8. The list of vendors to be imported are listed on the Import Summary screen. Click **Process** to continue.
9. Successfully imported vendors are listed under the **Imported Vendors** tab.
10. Any errors will be displayed under **Import Errors**.
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