Inventory import

Getting started

Importing your data into Hector is a key part of your inventory management project. It is considered a critical step to success as the quality and reliability of your data will have a lasting impact on your organization’s ability to keep track of inventory levels.

This is where Hector can help you get started. There are four ways to get your data into the application.

Manual Creation

This step is the easiest but can potentially be the most time consuming. During manual creation, you will use our web or mobile app to create data in your database. If you have less than 50 records to create, this step is usually preferred as preparing CSV files, or setting up integrations, or interacting with our API can be a lot more time consuming.

Level of difficulty : 1 out of 10

Excel / CSV Import

If you are an administrator and have access to the settings section, you can use the data import excel spreadsheets to import data into Hector. This step requires that you have Microsoft Office with Excel, or a standalone copy of Excel in order to download the import files and populate them with your data.

To optimize your import, here is the order you should follow :
1. Attributes
2. Resources
3. Inventory and/or Software
4. Loaners and/or Operations

The data import can only add new records and does not update existing ones. You must use the proposed templates as they contain the required information for Hector to make the import.

The data import task is performed every 5 minutes on files that have been queued for import.

Level of difficulty : Between 3 and 6 out of 10 depending on how experienced you are with Excel managing data and Hector’s terminology.

Integrations

If you are an administrator and have access to the settings section, you can setup integrations with popular software like Microsoft Azure or Google Chrome in order to import data into Hector. It is important to note that most organizations manage these software platforms with their Information Technology department and you might not have access to setup Integrations even if you are an administrator in Hector.

Level of difficulty : Between 4 and 7 out of 10 depending on your experience level with the software you are integrating with.

API

If you are a software developer, the API could be a useful way of importing data into Hector. Built on a REST/JSON format, the Hector API allows the creation of all major entities into the software. API is recommended if you want a regular synchronization of data between Hector and your other software, instead of a one time import. Even if you are a software developer, Excel/CSV import can be the preferred way of importing data for one time imports.

Level of difficulty : Between 8 and 10 for non-developers and 3 out of 10 for developers.

Reference Table