Inventory Sheet, moving data to/from Excel and SmartSheet

George Williams

Hello all,

While I have a lot of experience with Excel, I am new to Smartsheet.  I've been given a project and I'm having difficulty finding a way to perform what I need in Smartsheet, and am looking for advice/help.

Effectively, I have a master inventory list that is kept in Smartsheet of equipment we are configuring and will then deploy to a government site.  When we deploy, the equipment will go all over their institution, so I will have multiple engineers at multiple locations simultaneously.  To make things just a little more difficult, the site is hardened, so we cannot use any wireless signals nor have access to the internet when out in the field.  So my plan for the inventory file, is to export it from Smartsheet into Excel, and have each engineer, take a copy with them on their government approved laptops.  They will then install the hardware (or take a new inventory in case things have moved since we were last at a particular site), and update their copy of the file (which is all done by scanning barcodes).  When they return back to us at the end of the day, I want them to upload their Excel file back into Smartsheet, and have the system add their updates into the master file.  But from what I've been reading so far, it doesn't look like Smartsheet supports uploading an Excel file into an existing Smartsheet sheet; it will only create a new file.  Being that the file is quite large, copying and pasting isn't really a reasonable option.

If there are any other importing/linking options that anyone can recommend, I would love to hear them.  I'm not afraid to code/ODBC/API/etc. link if necessary.

 

Thank you for your time and effort!

Andrée Starå

Hi George,

I would take a look at AppSheet. I might have another solution, but I will need some more information.

How many different inventory items are there on the master list? Are the engineers only registering when they use something from inventory?

Please see the attached link/screenshot for more information.

https://www.smartsheet.com/apps/appsheet

I hope this helps you!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

George Williams

Hi Andrée,

Thank you for your reply.  To answer your questions: The list contains several hundred items, and is growing.  I expect it to break 1,000 very soon.  And there are near 100 columns for each item.  (It is a list of all hardware and software that we are preparing and then deploying to the customer's site).  When the hardware/software arrives at our company, it is added to the master inventory list in Smartsheet.  It is then moved into our lab, where we configure and prepare it for deployment.  Then an engineer will take the units from our lab to the customer's site and install them at the appropriate location.  Then the engineer will update the file (on their local laptop with no outside connections available and no internet; so it will be a copy of the master inventory list on their local disk) to reflect that the device has been deployed, and where it is now physically located (Building, Room, Cabinet, Rack Slot, etc.).  When they return at the end of the day, I need them to upload their updates into the master inventory file, so we can keep track of where everything is and what state of deployment it is in.  And it begins all over again the next day.

In addition, we will have to perform an inventory check at regular intervals.  So a technician will take laptop (with a copy of the master inventory file on their local disk), and a barcode scanner.  And they will visit a deployment location, and scan all of the devices at that particular site, and verify that all the barcodes show that all devices are where they say the master files claims they are.

I hope that helps answer your questions.  Please don't hesitate if you have any other questions or need more information.

Thank you again for your time and effort.

Andrée Starå

Happy to help!

Could you share the sheet and excel file with me? I have an idea, but I need to test it out. You can scramble or delete the data if it's sensitive.

You can send it to andree@getdone.se

 

George Williams

Hi Andrée,

Per your request, I have emailed you a mock-up of the inventory file (as I am not allowed to send the actual file, even if I scramble out sensitive data).  DoD regulations.

Thank you again for your assistance.  I look forward to hearing what you have to say!