Who this is for
Operations manager or owner at a distributor or shop who exports stock and prices from an ERP and edits the file by hand before each webshop import.
Someone reformats the ERP export in a spreadsheet every day, and mistakes appear: decimal commas, dates the wrong way round, lost leading zeros or negative stock.
The result
A script converts one named ERP export layout into one target import layout. For an agreed synthetic export of about thirty rows, its output equals the approved expected file exactly, rows that cannot be converted go to a reject file with the reason, and rows read equal rows converted plus rows rejected.
What is included
- One ERP export layout and one target import layout, up to 40 columns
- Write down every column rule. One rule is the conversion applied to one column, and a column copied through unchanged needs no rule. The kinds of rule: text codes kept as text, numbers parsed with an explicit separator rule and exact decimal arithmetic, dates parsed with an explicit format, status codes mapped by a table (one table is one rule)
- Write the script so the same input always gives the same output, with no network use
- Reject rows that fail a rule to a reject file with record number, original text and reason
- Test with a synthetic export that includes the unusual values your team normally fixes by hand
You receive
- The script with a written column-rule table
- The synthetic export, the approved expected output and the reject file
- Plain instructions to run it on a new export
- Steps to stop using it
What is not included
- Running the script on a schedule or on your server; that is a separate job
- Changing the ERP or its export settings
- Accounting, tax or margin calculations
- Mapping supplier categories, which is a separate job
- Exports containing personal data
What we need from you first
- The export's header row and three invented rows, as text
- The header and two rows of the file your importer accepts
- The edits someone currently makes by hand. No real price lists, customer data or credentials in the first enquiry
Never send passwords, keys, customer records or confidential code in the first enquiry. Secure handover is agreed after scoping.
How we check it is done
- The agreed synthetic export converts to an output file that is identical, byte for byte, to the approved expected file.
- Rows with a non-numeric price, an impossible date and an unknown status code appear in the reject file with their record number, original text and reason, and rows read equal rows converted plus rows rejected.
- Prices with a decimal comma, a thousands separator and a trailing minus convert to the exact agreed values, and rounding ties follow the agreed rule.
- Running the script twice on the same export gives identical output files.
You inspect the rule table, the expected output and the reject file, and sign off in writing. Payment follows sign-off; using the script on live exports stays with you.
When we would stop or decline
- The export layout changes from day to day with no stable header
- The target importer's accepted format cannot be shown or tested
- The data includes personal records that cannot be removed
Questions
Will it run on my server every night?
Not in this job. You receive a script and instructions. Scheduling it is a separate scope, with the supplier-fetch and import checks as options.
I only need dates and decimal commas fixed in one file, once. Is this the right job?
Probably not. This job builds a reusable script to a target import layout, with status-code mapping, text codes kept as text and a reject file. For one file cleaned once, the fixed job for mixed dates and numbers in one spreadsheet or CSV is the closer fit.
Which ERP is this for?
Any ERP that can export a delimited file with a stable header. We work from your export layout, not from the ERP's name.
What if the export changes later?
The script rejects a layout it does not recognise rather than guessing. Changes to the layout need a new agreed rule.
Price and terms
From £595 · untested offer price. Paid after the agreed synthetic export converts to the approved expected file and you sign off. No payment before sign-off.
This is a new service with no published client results. The price is a starting point we have not yet tested with buyers. Nothing is ordered or charged by the enquiry. The full specification is on the Synthetic Industry catalogue.