Import advance notices

Create advance notices from CSV or Excel files with a reusable import template

Suppliers and clients often send their delivery advice as a CSV or Excel file. Instead of typing it in, you set up an import template once. The template says which column of the file belongs to which field of the advance notice. After that, you check and import new files in a few clicks.

Screenshot: Import Notifications page with the list of import templates and the "Latest Imports" table

Before you start

Your user needs the permissions for Notifications and Import. Ask your administrator if the Import button is missing.
The client exists, see Clients.
The articles exist in the client's article master, see Create an article. Depending on the template, unknown articles can also be accepted.
Have a sample file of the supplier at hand.

Step by step

Create an import template

Open WMS › Notifications (WMS › Avisierungen) and click Import (Import). The page Import Notifications (Avisierungen importieren) opens.
Click New template (Neue Vorlage).
Fill in the basics:
- Template name (Vorlagenname), e.g. "Supplier Miller (Excel)".
- Client (Mandant): assign a fixed client, or Select during import (beim Import wählen). With a fixed client, notices are always created for this client and articles are searched in its article master.
- File format (Dateiformat) and Sample file (CSV, TXT, XLS, XLSX) (Beispieldatei). The sample is only used for the preview and the column mapping – no notices are created.
- The first line is the header (Erste Zeile ist Kopfzeile) and Skip the first few lines (Zeilen am Anfang überspringen).
- For CSV: Delimiter (CSV) (Trennzeichen) – semicolon, comma, tab or pipe – plus Text delimiter (Textbegrenzer) and Escape.
Click Load preview (Vorschau laden). The File Preview (Datei-Vorschau) shows the first rows of your file.
Under Column Mapping (Spaltenzuordnung), choose the matching column for each field (see Fields and options).
Set the Import Behavior (Verhalten beim Import).
Click Save template (Vorlage speichern).

Screenshot: Column Mapping with header data and item fields assigned to columns of the sample file

Import a file

On Import Notifications, click Import File (Datei importieren), or Import (Importieren) next to a template.
Select the Template (Vorlage), the Client (Mandant) if the template does not fix it, and the Import File (Import-Datei).
Under Information, if not included in the file (Angaben, falls nicht in der Datei enthalten) you can enter a Delivery note number (only used if no column is assigned), an Order number and an Estimated delivery date.
Click Check File (Datei prüfen). The result area shows which notices and items would be created and lists hints and errors.
If the check is fine, click Start Import (Import starten). The button is only active after a successful check.
The result appears under Latest Imports (Letzte Importe): created, updated and skipped notices, hints, errors and details.

Screenshot: Import page after "Check File" with the preview of notices and items to be created

Screenshot: Latest Imports table with created, updated and skipped counts and the details opened

Fields and options

Column mapping

Header Data (once per notification) (Kopfdaten (einmal je Avisierung)):

Field	Meaning
Delivery note number (Lieferscheinnummer)	Groups the rows into notices.
External order number (Bestellnummer)	Used for grouping if no delivery note number is mapped.
Container number (Container-Nummer)	Container reference.
Estimated delivery (Voraussichtliche Anlieferung)	Expected delivery date.
Supplier (Lieferant)	Sender of the goods.

Items (per line) (Positionen (je Zeile)):

Field	Meaning	Required
Item Number (SKU) (Artikelnummer (SKU))	Identifies the article.	yes (or EAN)
EAN (optional)	Only used instead of the SKU if the file has no item number.	no
Item description (Artikelbezeichnung)	Article name from the file.	no
Quantity (Menge)	Expected quantity.	yes
Line number (Positionsnummer)	Position on the supplier's document.	no
Batch number (Chargennummer)	Batch of the goods.	no
Best-by date (Mindesthaltbarkeitsdatum)	Best-before date.	no
Supplier item number (Lieferanten-Artikelnummer)	Supplier's own article number.	no
Comment (Bemerkung)	Free text.	no

You can tick additional fields such as best-before date or batch as required. Rows without a value in a required field are then skipped.

Import behavior

Setting	Options
Item number not in the item master (Artikelnummer nicht im Artikelstamm)	Import line item without item master (assigned at putaway) (Position ohne Artikelstamm übernehmen), Skip line item (Position überspringen), Cancel import (Import abbrechen)
The delivery note number already exists (Lieferscheinnummer existiert bereits)	Skip ASN (Avisierung überspringen), Replace line items of the open ASN (Positionen der offenen Avisierung ersetzen), Create anyway (Trotzdem neu anlegen)

How rows become notices

Every data row becomes one item.
Rows with the same delivery note number (or, if that is not mapped, the same order number) are combined into one advance notice.
If neither column is mapped, the whole file becomes one notice. Enter the delivery note number when you import.
New notices start with the status Open, see Advance notices.
Replace line items of the open ASN only works while the existing notice is still open. Notices that are already in progress or closed are skipped.
Items without an article in the master data can be added to the master data later at the putaway scanner with Import Items into Master Data (Artikel in die Stammdaten übernehmen), see Putaway.
Deleting a template does not delete the notices you already imported with it.

Troubleshooting

Message	Cause	Solution
There is no import template available yet. (Es ist noch keine Import-Vorlage vorhanden.)	No template exists.	Click Create template and set one up.
Only CSV, TXT, XLS or XLSX files are allowed (Nur CSV-, TXT-, XLS- oder XLSX-Dateien sind erlaubt)	Wrong file type.	Convert the file.
The file contains no data rows (Die Datei enthält keine Datenzeilen.)	Empty file or wrong header settings.	Check the file and Skip the first few lines.
Please map the column for the item number (SKU) or the EAN (Bitte die Spalte für die Artikelnummer (SKU) oder die EAN zuordnen.)	Required mapping missing.	Map the column in the template.
Please map the column for the quantity (Bitte die Spalte für die Menge zuordnen.)	Required mapping missing.	Map the column in the template.
No delivery note number … (Keine Lieferscheinnummer …)	No delivery note number in the file and none entered.	Map a column or enter the number on upload.
Item number … not found in the item master (Artikelnummer … nicht im Artikelstamm gefunden.)	Unknown article.	Create the article or change the import behavior.
Quantity "…" invalid (Menge "…" ungültig.)	The quantity is not a number.	Correct the file.
Delivery note number already exists and is no longer open … (… ist nicht mehr offen … wird übersprungen.)	The notice is already in progress or closed.	Use a new delivery note number.
The import is not possible, please see the check (Der Import ist nicht möglich, bitte die Prüfung beachten.)	The check found errors.	Fix the errors and check again.
The uploaded file was not found. Please upload it again. (Die hochgeladene Datei wurde nicht gefunden.)	The upload has expired.	Upload the file again.