Materials
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      Completing the bulk material import spreadsheet

      In this article

      What are materials?

      The materials area of Chalkstring holds all of the items that you buy from suppliers to complete your project. Materials are used with labour activities to create product templates to define the scope of work for the project.

      Based on how they are priced, materials can be simple or configurable. Configurable materials are those that have more than one option available for the same price rate. Simple materials have a single price per size or configuration of the item.

      Materials are used in off-site assessments to represent the cost of the items required. They are also used to generate the material bill and to raise material orders once the project goes on site. 

      Materials require the user to define the single unit size, and the standard supplied pack size. This information is used when ordering to automatically round to the nearest supplied pack size.

      Materials can be linked to one or more material quotes to manage the price you pay from each supplier for the item.

      Materials can be added manually or can be imported using our material import template. Instructions for adding manually are given in this article. For information about using the material import template please contact our support team. 

      Video

      Please note: The screens shown in this video may differ from the current version of Chalkstring due to regular updates and improvements.

      Adding materials to the spreadsheet

      To bulk import new materials you will need to have the necessary permissions. If you don't see the options in the steps below but believe you should have these permissions, please speak to your system administrator or contact our support team.

      Steps to add a material

      1. From the black menu click the 'Settings' icon, then click the 'Resources' icon.
      2. Select 'Materials' in the menu bar at the left  of the screen.
      3. You can check to see if the material is already set up by typing part of the name into the filter at the top of the screen.  If it is not already set up you can add to the spreadsheet as a new item. 
      4. Click the '+Import materials' button in the top right of the screen.
      5. Click the 'Download material template' button.
      6. Open the spreadsheet and complete the fields:
        1. Brand (required) - enter the brand of the material.  For unbranded items, enter 'Unbranded'. This information is used on quote requests and orders.
        2. Type (required) - enter a material type. This is a way of categorising materials and helps when searching for materials e.g. metal, plasterboard, timber. If the type already exists in Chalkstring, the material will be assigned to that material type when imported. If the type is new, Chalkstring will create the new material type for you when imported.
        3. Name (required) - enter the name of the material as the supplier/manufacturer would refer to it (remember this will be used on orders when the project is on site). Names need to be unique.
        4. Material specifics (required) - this field can be used for part numbers, pack size or weight information or data sheet information such as coverage. 
        5. Unit of measurement supplied in (required) - choose from the dropdown. This should be the unit the item is priced in. For example, although you buy plasterboard in sheets, it is priced per square metre so you would select square metre in this field. This unit will be linked to the material quotes and used when raising orders.
        6. Price per unit supplied in - Chalkstring can create a quote for the material at the same time as the material is imported. If you would like to create a quote, add the price for the material.
        7. Supplier - choose from the dropdown. If a price has been entered in the 'Price per unit supplied in' cell, you will need to select which supplier this price has been quoted from. This list is populated from your current suppliers in Chalkstring. If you cannot find the supplier in the dropdown, you will need to add the supplier into Chalkstring and then redownload the import template spreadsheet.

          Simple materials
          1. Single unit name (required) - choose from the dropdown. Select the appropriate name for the type of material. 
          2. Single unit size (required) - enter the individual size of the item based on the unit of measure.
          3. Pack name (required) - choose from the dropdown. Select the name for the type of pack the material is sold in. 
          4. Standard pack size (required) - if the item can be bought in bulk or comes in larger packs then enter the number of items per pack and the pack name e.g. pallet. If the item is bought individually then just enter '1' per 'Sold in single units'.
          5. Manufacturer links - External links can be added here if required. E.g. a link to the website containing the specification details for this material.
          6. Default minimum waste allowance % (required) -  enter the default waste allowance for the item. If you don't want any allowance, enter '0'. This can be changed on a project by project basis as required.

          Configurable materials - Up to 10 configurations can be added per material when bulk uploading. If the material doesn't have any configurations, leave these cells blank.
            1. Configuration name - Type a name for the configuration you want to add.
            2. Configuration singular size - enter the size for one item.
            3. Configuration pack size - enter the size/number of items per pack
        8. Package - From the dropdown select a package that the material is used for. This helps when searching for materials. Up to 5 packages can be selected for each material.

      Configurable material examples

      • Sheet materials - prices are defined in square metres and the items come in several standard sheet size options using the same m2 price regardless of sheet size (e.g. plasterboard)
      • Length materials - prices are defined in linear metres and the items come in several standard length size options using the same LM price regardless of length size (e.g. timber/metal studs)
      • Cubic materials - prices are defined in cubic metres and the items come in several standard container size options using the same m3 price regardless of container size (e.g. concrete ready mix)
      • Single Item materials - prices are defined in Single Items and the items come in several standard size or colour options using the same item price regardless of item size or colour e.g. gloves in S, M, L, XL or tiles in black, brown or cream. 

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        Importing the spreadsheet

        Once all the details have been added to the spreadsheet for the materials to be imported, you can import the spreadsheet into Chalkstring.

        1. From the left menu bar click the 'Settings' icon, then click the 'Resources' icon.
        2. Click the ‘Material’ sub menu.
        3. Click the '+Import materials' button in the top right of the screen.
        4. Drag and drop the saved copy of the material import spreadsheet into the 'Upload files' box, or click the box to browse to the copy of the import spreadsheet on your machine.
        5. Click 'Import'.
        6. If there are any issues with the spreadsheet, a list of the errors will be displayed.
        7. Correct any errors on the spreadsheet, save, and then follow steps 1 - 5 above again.

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        Errors

        There are a number of potential errors you can receive when bulk importing materials. If you receive any of these errors, the detail listed show which areas of the spreadsheet you need to update before reimporting.

        Mandatory fields not completed

        • Error on <Cell> (Brand): Expected a value for Brand
        • Error on <Cell>(Type): Expected a value for Type
        • Error on <Cell>(Material Name): Expected a value for Material Name
        • Error on <Cell>(Material Specifics): Expected a value for Material Specifics
        • Error on <Cell>(Unit of measure supplied in): Expected a value for Unit of measure supplied in
        • Error on <Cell>(Single Unit Name): Expected a value for Single Unit Name
        • Error on <Cell>(Single Unit Size): Expected a value for Single Unit Size
        • Error on <Cell>(Pack name): Expected a value for Pack name
        • Error on K4<Cell>(Standard Pack Size (no. of Items per Pack)): Expected a value for Standard Pack Size (no. of Items per Pack)
        • Error on <Cell>(Default Minimum Waste Allowance %): Expected a value for Default Minimum Waste Allowance %

        Duplicate materials

        • Item <number> validation issues: name: There is already a Material with this name, brand, and specifics

        Quote information

        • Item <number> validation issues: Please provide price per unit supplied in when supplier is not empty
        • Item <number> validation issues: Please provide supplier when price per unit supplied in is not empty

        Configuration error

        • Error on <Cell> (Configuration 1 Name): MaterialConfiguration: singularSize: This value should not be blank. packSize: This value should not be blank.
        • Error on <Cell>(Configuration 1 Name): Invalid MaterialConfiguration: packSize: This value should not be blank.
        • Error on <Cell>(Configuration 1 Name): Invalid MaterialConfiguration: singularSize: This value should not be blank.

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