The process of importing an Excel is practically identical to a BOM and Part Catalog. It comes down to ensuring the spreadsheet you wish to import is properly formatted.  Fortunately, formatting is easy. There are two ways to do so.

(1) Manually format the Excel spreadsheet prior to import; or

(2) Use the  Excel import tool to import an unformatted Excel spreadsheet.

Let’s start with how to manually format a spreadsheet prior to import to OpenBOM:

(1) Format your excel spreadsheet so that all information starts on row six (6).  Note – you should have “Part Number” column in your BOM.

Note: Please ensure there are no more than one column, i.e. property, with the same name. Excels with duplicated column names cannot be imported.

(2) In the OpenBOM Dashboard, click the “Import” button and select “Import BOM from spreadsheet” from the drop-down menu.  Choose your desired spreadsheet from your PC or Mac when prompted.

If the Excel is already properly formatted, then this is the window which you should see after selecting the desired Excel spreadsheet to import:

(3) The imported Excel will appear on the OpenBOM Dashboard.  Click it and you are ready to work in OpenBOM.

Download a pre-formatted Excel template by clicking, here.

Importing an unformatted Excel spreadsheet

Here’s an example of an unformatted Excel spreadsheet. Notice how the property attributes begin on row 9 and “PN” is the “Part Number” which is a mandatory property as “Part Number” for proper formatting.

(1) In the OpenBOM Dashboard, click the “Import” button and select “Import BOM from spreadsheet” from the drop-down menu.  Choose your desired spreadsheet from your PC or Mac when prompted.

(2) If the selected file is not formatted, then enter the row number where the property attributes are located (row 9 in our example, above), and the name of the column containing “Part Number” (“PN in our example, above):

Click “Import” when ready to import.

Here’s a video which walks you through the process: