Data Management Capabilities > Using Excel to Export and Import Product Data > About Importing Product Data from Excel
About Importing Product Data from Excel
You can import product data from a Microsoft Excel file into a Windchill library or product using one of the following two actions:
• Import from Spreadsheet
• Import from Redline Spreadsheet
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For best results, import a spreadsheet originally exported from the corresponding action.
• Use the Export Importable Spreadsheet action to initially create the spreadsheet for Import from Spreadsheet.
• Use the Export Redline Importable Spreadsheet action to initially create the spreadsheet for Import from Redline Spreadsheet for the same change notice.
With Import from Spreadsheet, you can:
• Create new parts or modify existing parts
• Build new product structures or modify existing product structures
• Add or remove describing document associations for part
• Add, remove, or modify replacements
• Add or modify AML/AVL relationships
• Create new documents or modify existing documents
For more information on Import from Redline Spreadsheet, see About Importing Redline Product Data from Excel.
To import product data, use the Import from Spreadsheet action described in How to Import Product Data from Excel. Before exporting, see the information in Considerations for Importing Product Data.
You can import the following types of product data using the Import from Spreadsheet action:
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Worksheets for each data type can exist in the same Excel spreadsheet.
Type
Example
• new parts
• modifications to existing parts
• part subtypes
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For each subtype, a new worksheet is created in the Excel file.
• out-of-the-box and site-defined attributes
• classification attributes
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Available when Windchill PartsLink Classification and Reuse is installed.
• supplier and manufacturer parts
• engineering materials
A component engineer receives a spreadsheet from a vendor with updated part data. The spreadsheet contains both new parts as well as modifications to existing parts (for example, changes to the environmental regulatory compliance data). When the component engineer imports the spreadsheet, new parts are created in the target library or product, and existing parts are modified with the new attribute values. Any existing parts that are modified are iterated.
• part usage for modeled, global, and local attributes
• adding, removing, or replacing parts in a BOM
A design engineer may need to send a design to an external manufacturing partner for review. The design engineer exports a product structure to a spreadsheet and sends it to the manufacturing partner. The manufacturing partner reviews the spreadsheet, makes changes, and sends it back to the design engineer. The design engineer can import the modified spreadsheet back in Windchill PDMLink, after reviewing and approving the changes, to update the product structure.
A manufacturing engineer may receive a spreadsheet from a supplier that includes information about documents associated with select parts. If the manufacturing engineer imports the spreadsheet into Windchill, after reviewing and approving the changes, new part-related document associations are created.
A design engineer exporting and importing a BOM may also want to include the alternates and replacements for the parts in the BOM.
AML/AVL relationships (when Windchill Supplier Management module is installed)
You can import a spreadsheet that creates new entries or modifies existing entries in the AML/AVL. When you import AML/AVL entries, you only add or change relationships between existing OEM parts and supplier parts.
• new documents
• modifications to existing documents
• documents subtypes
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For each subtype, a new worksheet is created in the Excel file.
• out-of-the-box and site-defined attributes
• classification attributes
* 
Available when Windchill PartsLink Classification and Reuse is installed.
A design engineer receives a spreadsheet from a vendor with updated document data. The spreadsheet contains both new documents as well as modifications to existing documents (for example, changes to the environmental regulatory compliance data). When the design engineer imports the spreadsheet, new documents are created in the target library or product, and existing documents are modified with the new attribute values. Any existing documents that are modified are iterated.
For more information, see the following topics:
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