Bulk Data Import

This section will explain how you will be able to import large volumes of data into specific indicators on ESGManage.

Use Cases

  • Import large amounts of historical data for individual indicators

  • Importing data that was exported from other ERP systems

  • Simplifying data collection from users who are not on ESGManage

Importing Data from a Selected Indicator

To start off, an indicator will first need to be selected for Bulk Data Import,

  1. Go to the All Indicators page, search and filter for the desired indicator

  2. Click on "Bulk Data Import" at the top right corner of the indicator card

  3. In the resulting page, click on "Download CSV Template" to begin configuring the template file

This popup modal allows you to customise the template to be downloaded

  1. You may modify the generated file name or choose a specific period to be included in the template.

  2. Next, you can specify which business areas are included in the template. Click the select all icon button to quickly select all the business areas.

    • For large organisations, you may also find yourself using the Business Area filter to narrow down the list to specific business areas

The select all button is circled in red.

  1. Click on "Download Template" to download the customized template

  2. Open the downloaded template in Microsoft Excel or other programs to start populating it.

Populating the Template

Example of a downloaded template

The template has a number of columns,

  • Tracked Indicator:

    • This column helps the system to know which indicator to write the facts to.

    • As a user, you may simply ignore this column and instead use the Business Area column which is more readable attribute.

  • Business Area:

    • This column helps the user to know which business area they are populating data for.

    • Do not modify the contents in this column.

  • From / To:

    • The From and To columns determines the recording period of the fact.

    • The formats are strictly restricted to DD-MMM-YYYY , e.g. 12-Jul-2024.

Microsoft Excel may modify the date formats of CSV files. ESGManage has added functionalities to enforce the date formats to DD-MMM-YYYY.

However Excel may reformat it in subsequent opening of the file, while this behaviour is out of our control, we have identified a workaround is to format the date back to the right format of DD-MMM-YYYY in excel whenever this occurs.

  1. On Excel select the From and To columns, then click on the data format dropdown.

  2. Select "More number formats"

  3. On the popup, select "Date", then ensure Language (Location) is switched to "English (United States)"

  4. In the "Type" list, select the option that represents this format: DD-MMM-YYYY

  • Categorisation:

    • Certain indicators may have categorisations that have their own corresponding facts.

  • Fact:

    • The column where you can input the facts for the corresponding business area

You may leave certain cells blank and no facts will be written to the corresponding business area.

Uploading the Template

To upload the data, access the Bulk Data Import page of the indicator again,

  1. Click on "Upload CSV"

Drag the populated CSV file into the upload area

  1. Drag the populated CSV file into the upload area or click "Browse file" to select the file to be uploaded

  2. Click "Validate Data" to start the data validation of the template

Possible validation errors

  • Business area: [NAME] not found

    • Occurs when the value in the template's Business Area column does not match any in the system

  • From/To: Does not match indicator's recording frequency

    • Occurs when the date formats are not DD-MMM-YYYY

    • Occurs when the duration from the two columns does not match the recording frequency of the indicator

  • Categorization: Invalid categorization detected

    • Occurs when the categorization does not match the indicator's categories

  • Fact: Incorrect data type

    • Occurs when a different data type is detected from that of the indicator's, i.e. inputing a text value when the indicator is expecting a numerical value.

When the number of validation errors exceeds 50, you will be prompted to download a CSV of the list of issues.

  1. You'll have to rectify any validation errors and then upload the template file again.

  2. If there are no validation errors, the system will proceed to write the facts to the indicators immediately.

For large volumes of data, it may take up to a few minutes to complete writing all the facts. The writing process occurs on the background so you may continue to browse other pages on ESGManage.

As for smaller amounts of data, you may simply refresh the page to get the status of the process instantly.

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