Importing Items into CMMS
Maintenance management software needs to be able to process thousands of business assets quickly and efficiently. Importing items into EZO CMMS is extremely straightforward with our nifty import wizard. You can instantly add or update all items – including assets, asset stock, and inventory – by setting up a CSV file and mapping the columns onto existing ones.
This guide will take you through the basics of item imports, and provide you with some helpful tips to ensure seamless imports each time!
1. Custom Fields
If the columns shown while mapping don’t cater to all your maintenance management needs, you can map onto tailor-made columns through custom fields. The process for setting up custom fields is outlined here. Below, we’ve set up some custom fields for tracking project numbers, usage type, and inspection dates:
With custom fields all set up, you can start the basic process for importing items. We’ve outlined the steps for importing assets, but remember that you can import asset stock and inventory the same way.
2. Adding Assets
First, set up a CSV with columns pertaining to different asset attributes. The following columns will be present for mapping assets later by default:
You might want to add details for fields not present above. This is where your custom fields come into play. Simply add columns for them, so your CSV looks something like this:
Next, go to ‘Items’ on the left navigation bar. Follow the pathway: Assets → Import Assets → Add New Assets.
Upload your CSV file, as shown below. Click on ‘Choose file’ and select ‘Upload and Proceed’.
You can now start mapping! Choose the relevant option from the dropdown, or skip a column if you have nothing to map it to. You can always scroll back and edit a previous column.
The highlighted checkboxes below give you a few options. If you have a header row describing the column type, the first checkbox will allow you to ignore it in the import.
After you’re done mapping the columns, you can press the ‘Proceed’ button for a preview of what your assets will look like, as shown below:
Click the ‘Import’ button, and you’re done! The system will display all your new imports under the ‘Imported Assets’ filter, so you can take mass action on them immediately. This can be done from the ‘Actions’ button:
3. Adding Asset Stock
The process for adding Asset Stock is the same as above. To start, go to Items → Asset Stock → Import Asset Stock → Add New Asset Stock. Below, you can see the asset stock fields that will be available for you to map to:
Note that the ‘Inspection’ and ‘Project Number’ fields are custom fields created for the purpose of this guide.
4. Adding Inventory
To add Inventory, go to Items → Inventory → Import Inventory → Add New Inventory. You can see that the fields available for mapping inventory are slightly different, with some notable inclusions such as fields for Low Stock Thresholds and Prices for adding and removing stock.
If you provide details on the quantity to be added to stock, the Stock Price column must be mapped.
Also note that stock cannot be added or removed through imports. You can only set up the initial stock through an Add Import.
5. Updating Items
Items can be updated just as you would add them. For this, go to Items → Assets → Import Assets → Update Existing Assets.
For example, if you want to update the vendor of a particular item, you can add a new vendor or edit the existing one in the Excel sheet. Upload the edited sheet containing the updated vendor information. Now map the AIN and vendor column in CMMS to update the item details. To edit an item(s), you need to map the AIN and the column(s) you wish to edit. Your item will be updated to show the updated information without impacting the existing information in the system.
Please note that if you try to update assets through the ‘Add New Assets’ button, you would be creating duplicates rather than updating asset values!
6. Mass Check-ins and Checkouts
You can also instantly update asset check-ins and checkouts using a CSV file. For this, go to Items → Assets → Import Assets → Check-in Assets or Checkout Assets. The columns available for mapping here are outlined below:
And as easy as that, you can add new items, update items, or change the check-in/checkout status of Assets using our maintenance management software.
7. Bulk Import Templates
Note that only 1000 records or a 10mb file can be imported at one time. If you want to do excel imports multiple times, you may want to create a Mapping Template from Items → Assets → Import from Excel Sheet → Add New Assets → New Import Template:
Here, you can choose what columns you’d like to map to later, and use this template repeatedly to speed up multiple imports. This is what your mapping options will look like:
Click ‘Create Bulk Import Template’, and you’ll receive a confirmation about the columns you’ve chosen. You can also Edit and Delete these templates.
You can choose one of these templates when you do a new import. Here’s what this should look like:
About EZO CMMS
EZO CMMS is the next generation maintenance management software. It does more than just simple maintenance, it empowers your teams with a central command center to assign and complete work orders to achieve optimal productivity.
