BOM Import

The BOM Import module, located in the Integrations group, is an add-on module that can be installed from the Plugin module. After installing the plugin, a new module is added that allows the user to import files (csv, xlsx, xls), create a mapping, and import the needed parts, products, and BOMs. The mapping can be unique for each folder selected. The import can be run manually or imported automatically on a schedule.

Install

The documentation on this page is for the most recent version of the BOM Import plugin. To get the most recent version, Update Fishbowl.

1. In any Fishbowl Client, open the Plugin module, located in the Integrations group.
2. Select the BOM Import plugin and click Install.
3. Completely close all Fishbowl Clients.
4. Exit the Fishbowl Server by right-clicking the Fishbowl Server tray icon and selecting Exit.
5. After re-opening the Fishbowl Server, the admin user can access the BOM Import module from any Fishbowl Client by opening the Integrations group.
6. To grant access to additional users, assign the BOM Import-View access right to the appropriate groups in the User Group module.

Import

1. Open the Bill of Materials module and click the BOM Import button at the top of the module.
   
   Note: BOMs can also be imported by opening the BOM Import module, located in the Integrations group.
2. Select the folder where the files are located and click the dropdown next to the Fishbowl fields to match them with the fields from the file.
3. If the file is missing values, the default values from the bottom section will be used.
4. Review the import options:
   • Import indented items as stages - This option will treat branches in the structure as stages on imported BOMs. For example, if level 1.2 is followed by 1.2.1, 1.2 will be treated as a stage. This structure of using numbers and periods to represent a tree structure is used in some external applications, such as SolidWorks.
   • Set vendor as default for new parts - With this option enabled, the default vendor for a new part will be set to the vendor specified in the import.
   • Create a product for new parts - With this option enabled, a new product will be created in Fishbowl when importing a new part.
   • Only import parts - When selected, only parts will be imported into Fishbowl. No BOMs will be created.
   • Use filename as BOM number - When selected, the filename will be used as the bill of materials number.
   • Update BOM data - When selected, only existing finished and raw goods data will be updated. Otherwise, the BOM will be overwritten.
   • Delete imported files - When selected, successfully imported files will be deleted.
5. Click the Active checkbox in the Schedule section. Click the Run Task button to run the import now, or select a schedule frequency.
   
6. Click the Save button at the top of the module.
7. To map another folder, click the Select Folder button. The mapping for each folder will be saved separately and can be modified by selecting the folder again.