CSV import overview

The fastest way to get Redline running. Any ERP that can export data can feed Redline — zero configuration, zero IT involvement. You can be calculating phase-in dates within 10 minutes of your first upload.

The six files Redline needs

File	Key fields	Required?
Items	Item number, description, unit of measure, lead time, item type, status	Required
Stock levels	Item number, warehouse, quantity on hand, snapshot date	Required
Open purchase orders	PO number, line, item, supplier, quantity, delivery date, unit price	Required
Open production orders	Order ID, item, required quantity, planned end date, status	Required
BOM structure	Parent item, component item, quantity per, effective dates	Recommended
Sales orders	Order number, line, customer, finished item, qty ordered, qty outstanding, delivery date	Recommended

Sales order data enables the customer delivery impact analysis on the Phase-In tab. Without it, Redline still calculates phase-in dates but cannot show which customer commitments are at risk.

How to upload

1

Navigate to Settings → ERP Data → Upload

All ERP data uploads are managed here. You can see previous uploads with their timestamps and row counts.

2

Download the template for your ERP

Click Download Templates. Select your ERP (Business Central, Exact, or Generic). Send the template to your IT team — they export from ERP and return the filled file.

3

Upload each file

Drag and drop or browse to upload. Redline validates on upload: required columns checked, date formats normalised, duplicates detected. Errors are shown per row with correction guidance.

4

Confirm the snapshot label

Each upload is labelled with its timestamp — for example “Stock data from 14 March 09:42”. Confirm this matches when your ERP export was taken before running a calculation.

Column name flexibility

Redline accepts variant column names. “PO Number”, “po_number”, and “Purchase Order” all map to the same field. Unrecognised columns are ignored. If a required column cannot be found, you will see a clear error with the expected column names listed.

BOM import

BOM uploads go through automatic detection and validation before any data is stored.

Top-level item detection

When you upload a BOM CSV, Redline automatically detects the top-level item (the root assembly) and its revision from the file contents. It checks whether that item+revision combination exists in your ERP item master.

Revision checking

If the detected revision does not yet exist as an item, Redline blocks the import and shows a warning. You have two options:

• Create automatically — Redline creates the new item revision, copying the description from the existing revision. Other fields (source, UoM, lead time) are left blank for you to fill in later.
• Create manually — Navigate to the Items page and create the item revision yourself before retrying the import.

This prevents BOM lines from being linked to the wrong revision — a data integrity safeguard that ensures Rev B’s BOM is never accidentally attached to Rev A.

Column mapping

Redline reads the file headers and auto-matches them against expected columns. If any column cannot be matched automatically, a column mapping popup appears showing:

• Each expected column with the auto-detected match (if any)
• A dropdown to manually select the correct CSV column for unmatched fields
• A sample data row so you can verify the mapping is correct

Confirm the mapping and the upload proceeds with your corrected column assignments. This is especially useful when working with exports from different ERP systems that use non-standard column names.

Validation rules

After upload, Redline runs structural validation rules on the BOM (for example, checking that a BUY item does not have child components). If violations are found, they are displayed with the option to re-validate after corrections. Once clean, click Process to finalise the snapshot.

Item detail — BOM and Where Used

Each item’s detail page has two BOM-related tabs:

• BOM tab — shows child components from the latest processed BOM snapshot for that specific item+revision. If the item has multiple revisions, each revision shows only its own BOM.
• Where Used tab — shows parent assemblies that use this item+revision as a component.

Both tabs are revision-aware: navigating from Rev A shows Rev A’s BOM, and Rev B shows Rev B’s BOM. Clicking a component or parent row navigates to that item’s detail page at the correct revision.

BOM export

Click Export BOM CSV on the item detail page to download the full BOM structure. The export includes: Level, Parent, Parent Rev, Parent Description, Component, Component Rev, Component Description, Qty, UoM, Source, Eff From, Eff To, EC Phase-In, EC Phase-Out.

Screenshot

🖼

The ERP data upload screen — five upload zones (one per file type), a Last synced timestamp for each, and a drag-and-drop area highlighted for the Stock Levels file.

Validation on upload

Redline checks every upload before importing:

Check	What happens on failure
Required columns present	Upload rejected — error lists the missing column names
Numeric fields are numeric	Import skips invalid rows — error report shows row numbers and values
Date fields parseable	Import normalises common formats (DD-MM-YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, MM/DD/YYYY) — unknown formats are flagged
Duplicate item numbers	Duplicates are merged — last value wins

ERP write strategy

Redline is read-only in the current version. No data is written back to your ERP. Redline generates pre-filled email drafts for actions that require ERP changes — the coordinator reviews and sends them, then marks the action complete in Redline.