Evolution ERP Documentation

When a project item is designed or costed outside Evolution, its component list usually comes back as a spreadsheet. Import BOM takes that file and writes it straight onto the project line as its bill of materials, so you don’t have to key the components in one at a time in the BOM builder.

The importer works on one project line at a time, and it can also update the line’s description and special notes in the same step — the two things that most often change when a quoted item is confirmed as a deliverable and re-engineered.

Importing replaces the bill of materials on the line. The components in the file become the line’s BOM — whatever is on it now is superseded. Nothing is written until you have reviewed the preview and pressed Import bill of materials.

Where to Find It

Open the project and go to its Inventory tab, then open the line you want to work on. In the item window, go to the Bill of Materials tab and click Import BOM, beside the BOM Builder button.

The Import BOM button sits next to BOM Builder on the project line’s Bill of Materials tab.

info The button only appears for staff with administrator access or Job Costing permission set to Admin, because importing overwrites a costed bill of materials.

Preparing the File

The file is a plain CSV with a header row. Column order does not matter and any extra columns are ignored, so an export from another system can usually be used as-is once the headings match. A starting point is linked in the window itself — Download the CSV template.

Column	Required	What it holds
`item_code`	One of these two	The Evolution item code for the component. The importer looks the code up and links the row to that inventory item.
`item_id`	One of these two	The inventory item’s internal id, if the external system stores it. Used in preference to the code when both are supplied.
`qty`	Yes	How many of the component the assembly uses. Must be greater than zero.
`description`	No	The wording to show against the component on the BOM. Leave it empty to take the inventory item’s own description.
`cost`	No	Unit cost for the component. Leave it empty to take the item’s current cost from inventory — which is usually what you want, so the BOM costs at today’s prices.
`line_description`	No	New wording for the project line’s description. Read from the first row that carries it, and offered to you as an optional update.
`line_notes`	No	New wording for the project line’s special notes. Also read from the first row that carries it, and also optional.

Common headings are recognised automatically. code, part_number, quantity, unit_cost and similar wordings are read as the equivalent column, so a file exported from another system rarely needs re-titling. Blank rows are skipped, and the file may be up to 2 MB.

Reviewing the Preview

Choose the file and click Preview import. Nothing has been saved at this point — the window simply shows what the file will do.

The preview lists every row in the file, matched against inventory, with a running BOM cost at the foot of the table.

Each row shows what came out of the file and what it matched to:

From file — the code or id as written in the CSV, so you can see what was searched for.
Inventory item — the item the row was matched to. Rows that could not be matched are highlighted and given a search box so you can pick the right item yourself.
BOM description, Qty, Unit cost — all editable before you import, so a small correction doesn’t mean editing the file and starting again.
Total and the BOM cost at the foot — the value of the bill of materials as it stands, updating as you change quantities and costs.

A row you don’t want can be removed with the close button at the end of it.

Unmatched rows must be resolved. If a code in the file doesn’t exist in inventory — or is used by more than one item, so the importer can’t tell which you mean — the row is flagged and the import is blocked until you either pick an item for it or remove the row. This is deliberate: a BOM line with no inventory item behind it can’t be requisitioned or costed.

An unmatched row is highlighted and given an item search so it can be resolved before importing.

Updating the Project Line

Underneath the components are the project line’s own description and special notes. Each has a tick box, and unticked means untouched — the line keeps what it has.

If the file supplied new wording that differs from what the line currently holds, the box is ticked for you and the new wording is shown, ready to edit. Untick it if you would rather keep the existing wording.

The line description and special notes are offered as optional updates; unticked leaves them exactly as they are.

Importing

Resolve any highlighted rows, and remove anything you don’t want.
Adjust descriptions, quantities and costs if you need to.
Decide whether to update the line description and special notes.
Click Import bill of materials and confirm.

The components are written to the project line as its bill of materials, the tick-boxed line fields are updated, and the Bill of Materials tab refreshes to show the new list. The import is recorded in the project’s history, along with any change to the line description or notes, so it is clear afterwards where the BOM came from.

Tips & Notes

The import applies to this project line only. It does not change the inventory item’s standard bill of materials, or any other project.
Leave cost empty unless the external system is the authority on price — an empty cost picks up the item’s current cost at the moment you import.
Components imported this way behave like any other project BOM: they feed BOM Requisition, project costing and the manufacturing screens.
If a code in your file is used by more than one inventory item, the importer will not guess — resolve it in the preview, or make the code unique in inventory.
Importing twice simply replaces the BOM again; the previous list is superseded, not added to.
Labour and other non-stock components import happily here, but the Advanced BOM Builder does not list them — if you later open an imported line in the Builder and save it, those rows are dropped. Re-import the file rather than editing such a line in the Builder.