Import your equipment

In Rentman, you have the option to add your equipment by importing an equipment file. This article guides you through the process of importing your equipment list into Rentman.

Alternatively, you can also manually add items. This is particularly useful when dealing with a small number of equipment items, or even just one.

Here's what you need before importing your equipment

An Excel or .csv file
  • An Excel or .csv file with your equipment information. If you haven't prepared this file yet, you can use our template as a reference. Learn more about how to prepare your file in this section.
A logical folder structure
  • A logical folder structure in the Equipment module to help you stay organized and find your equipment more efficiently. You can create this structure before the import or select the right folder path in the "Folder" column of your file (see the next section for details)."
If you use serial numbers
  • If you use serial numbers, you can create columns in your equipment file that contain information about these unique items, identified by a serial number. Find detailed instructions on how to add serial numbers to your file in this section.

How to import your equipment

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  1. Go to the category Equipment module.
  2. Click on the More actions more_vert button in the right corner, and select Import.
  3. Select here which type of import you want to do:
    Import all rows as new items Rentman creates a new item for every row
    Update existing items with new data If you want to update the items in your database (example: list price), read how to do it in our article about updating data
    Add new items and skip duplicate rows Rentman does not import items that are already in your database
  4. Select if you also want to import serial numbers or only standard items.  
  5. Drag a file or click mceclip2.png to upload a file. 
    If you do not have a file with your equipment available yet, you can download our template above the upload button in Rentman "Download a Sample file here" 
  6. Select if your file contains a header, or not. If you select yes, the first row of your file will not be imported. 
  7. For each column, the system matches the header names with the column names in Rentman. Check if all matches have been correctly made, and adjust where necessary. 
    If you selected "Yes" on importing serial numbers in Step 4., the system will match the columns in your file either with serial number columns or normal Equipment columns in Rentman. Check if all column matches have been made correctly and adjust where necessary.
  8. Click "Next step" when you've done this for all columns.
  9. Select a Root folder for your import. The root folder is the folder at the top, and it contains your folder structure. New items will be placed under this folder. If you have defined folders in your import file, these items will be placed under the chosen Root folder. Warning: If your equipment file doesn't contain a Folder column, all items will be placed in the same root folder. This means that your items will not be organized, and it may be difficult to find equipment. We recommend creating your folder structure and specifying the correct folder path for your items in the Folder column.
  10. Optional: If you selected "Add new items and skip duplicate rows" or "Update existing items with new data" in Step 3, you need to select match columns. Typically, "Code", "Name (in database)", or "Serial number" are the best columns to choose from. For example, if you are updating the price of all equipment items, you would select "Code" as the match column as it is unique for every equipment item being updated and is not being updated itself. The match column should never be the column you are trying to update. Warning: These columns may not contain double values in the import file, as they are used during the import to identify which item or serial number should be skipped. 
  11. Choose Next step.
  12. Check your data in the preview. 
    Note: Only the first 10 rows will be shown in the preview. 
  13. Click Import 
  14. After the import has finished, a window will pop up with the results. If your data has been imported successfully, you can Close the window, or choose to "View imported equipment". If the import failed, please read the Insight into your import result article.

Mastering equipment import: tips and troubleshooting

Occasionally, import failures may occur, either partially or completely. In such cases, you'll discover all the solutions within the import results on this page.

How to delete an import

When an import goes partially wrong, the best choice is to archive the information and do it all over again.

Every time you import equipment, Rentman creates a tag with the format "import-date-hour". Simply select the tag of your latest update and archive those items. 

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Download our import template

You can download one of our premade templates within Rentman easily.
  1. Go to your category Equipment module.
  2. Click on the more_vert More action button, then import.
  3. Click on Next step.
  4. You should now be able to see the Download a sample file here option. mceclip0.png
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