Overview
The Data Management section is where you upload and maintain the data that drives your plans in PLAIO. Every plan PLAIO produces is a direct result of the data you provide, so keeping it accurate and up to date is essential.
You can access Data Management from the left-hand navigation. The Overview page lists every data category available to you, organised into sections: Master Data, Demand, Supply, and Production. Each category has its own upload area with a full description of the fields it expects.
Quick Reference
Question | Answer |
What file format? | .xlsx (Excel) only. The first sheet is used. |
Do my columns need to match exactly? | No. You map them on first upload. The mapping is remembered for future uploads that use the same column layout. |
Can I upload new and existing records together? | Yes. PLAIO automatically creates, updates, or skips each row. |
What if a referenced record is missing? | The row is flagged with a clear error. Fix the reference and re-upload. |
Are partial uploads saved? | No. If any row fails validation, nothing is saved until all issues are resolved. |
Can I upload custom attributes? | Yes. Custom attributes must first be configured in PLAIO. Once set up, add them as extra columns and map them during upload. |
What You Can Upload
The table below lists the data categories available for upload, grouped by section. Each category maps to a specific part of your planning model.
Section | Category | What It Represents |
Master Data | Items | Your product catalogue: SKUs, names, shelf life, units of measure, and unit COGS. |
Master Data | Bill of Materials | Component relationships: which items are made from which components, and in what quantities. |
Master Data | Locations | Warehouses, DCs, and other nodes in your supply chain, including their type and order allocation timing. |
Master Data | Forecast Types | Named forecast models (e.g. ML Forecast, Manual Forecast) with optional frozen periods. |
Demand | Demand Segments | Customer or channel groupings tied to specific SKU-location combinations. |
Demand | Forecasts | Projected demand quantities by SKU, forecast type, and period. |
Demand | Customer Orders | Confirmed orders with expected delivery dates. |
Demand | Actual Sales | Historical sales records used for forecast evaluation and trend analysis. |
Supply | Inventory | Current stock positions: quantities, batch numbers, expiry dates, and planning eligibility. |
Supply | Firm Orders | Purchase orders or scheduled receipts with expected delivery dates and quantities. |
Supply | Supplier Constraints | Lead times, MOQs, IOQs, and other supplier-level rules. |
Supply | Inventory Policies | Safety stock rules, reorder points, and target coverage settings. |
Supply | Order Policies | Ordering rules such as minimum and incremental order quantities. |
Production | Production Constraints | Processing, setup, and cleaning durations per SKU-resource combination. |
Production | Resource Downtime | Planned maintenance or unavailability windows for individual resources. |
Production | Floor Downtime | Planned downtime that applies to an entire production floor. |
Production | Shift Patterns | Named shift definitions with start and stop times. |
Production | Resource Shift Overrides | Date-specific shift assignments that override the default pattern for a resource. |
Production | Floor Shift Overrides | Date-specific shift assignments that override the default pattern for an entire floor. |
When you select a category, PLAIO displays its full list of fields with descriptions, data types, and whether each field is required. Use this as your guide when preparing your file.
Preparing Your File
File Format
PLAIO accepts Excel files in .xlsx format only. Each file should contain a single sheet of data with column headers in the first row and one record per row beneath.
Column Headers
Your column headers do not need to match PLAIO’s field names exactly. When uploading a data category for the first time, or with a file whose column names differ from a previous upload, PLAIO will ask you to map each of your columns to the corresponding PLAIO field. You’ll see sample values from your file to help you choose the right mapping.
Once you confirm a mapping, PLAIO remembers it for future uploads that use the same column layout — so if your column names match a previous upload, the mapping is applied automatically without any manual step.
Required vs Optional Fields
Each data category has a set of required fields that must be present for the upload to succeed. Optional fields can be omitted entirely or left blank for individual rows. The Data Management page for each category clearly marks which fields are required.
Data Types
PLAIO recognises several data types from your Excel file:
Text — names, references, SKU numbers.
Numbers — quantities, prices, durations. Whole numbers and decimals are both accepted.
Dates — use Excel date formatting. The system reads dates natively from Excel, so standard date cells work as expected.
Yes/No — Boolean fields such as Include in Planning accept TRUE or FALSE.
Date Durations — used for fields like lead times, shelf life, and coverage periods. In this format, 1m means 1 month. Common formats: 7d (7 days), 2w (2 weeks), 1m (1 month), 3m (3 months). Use a single consistent unit per value.
Time Durations — used for production timing fields such as processing, setup, and cleaning durations. In this format, 1m means 1 minute. Common formats: 45m (45 minutes), 90m (1.5 hours), 2h (2 hours). Use a single consistent unit per value (e.g., use 90m rather than mixing 1h 30m).
Custom Attributes
Most data categories support custom attributes — additional columns you define to capture information specific to your business. Custom attributes support all data types including dates.
Custom attributes must be configured with PLAIO before they appear as available fields during upload. Once set up, include them as additional columns in your file and map them during the upload process
Tips for Clean Uploads
Remove any summary rows, totals, or notes outside the data area. PLAIO strips blank rows at the edges automatically but cannot interpret formula rows or footnotes.
Avoid duplicate column headers. The system will reject the file if two columns share the same name.
Ensure every header cell has a value. Empty header cells will cause a validation error with a specific cell reference (e.g. “empty header in cell C1”) so you can locate the issue quickly.
Keep one record per row. PLAIO reads each row as a single entity (one SKU, one order, one batch).
The Upload Process
Once your file is ready, the upload follows three steps:
Upload your file. Navigate to Data Management, choose the category, and upload your .xlsx file. PLAIO reads the first sheet, strips any empty rows or columns from the edges, and validates the headers.
Map your columns. If this is your first upload for this category, or if the column names differ from a previous upload, PLAIO presents your column names alongside its expected fields and asks you to match them. You’ll see sample values from your file to help. If you’ve uploaded this category before with the same column layout, the mapping is applied automatically.
Review results. After mapping, PLAIO validates every row against the expected schema, resolves references (e.g. checking that each SKU in your inventory file exists in Items), and processes the data. When complete, you’ll see a summary showing how many records were created, updated, or unchanged.
How Records Are Matched
PLAIO uses an upsert approach: every upload can create new records and update existing ones in a single step. There is no need to separate your data into “new” and “existing” files.
Each data category has an identification pattern — a set of columns that uniquely identifies a record. For example, Items are identified by SKU No, Inventory is identified by SKU No + Batch No, and BOMs are identified by the combination of parent SKU and component SKU.
When you upload a file, PLAIO compares each row against existing records using these identification columns:
New record — no match found. The row is inserted.
Existing record with changes — a match is found and at least one field differs. The record is updated.
Existing record, no changes — a match is found and all fields are identical. The row is skipped.
This means you can safely re-upload a full extract from your ERP without worrying about duplicating data. Only rows that are genuinely new or changed will be written.
Partial updates: you don’t need to include every field to update a single column. Include the identification columns for the category plus only the columns you want to update. For example, to update shelf life for a set of items, your file only needs to contain item_code and shelf_life — all other fields will be left unchanged.
Validation and Error Handling
PLAIO validates your data at two levels before anything is saved:
Schema Validation
Every row is checked against the expected data types, required fields, and allowed values for the category you’re uploading. If any rows fail validation, PLAIO returns a clear error message for each issue, including the column name and the specific value that caused the problem, along with a suggested fix.
Nothing is saved until all rows pass.
Reference Validation
For categories that depend on other data — such as Inventory referencing Items, or BOMs referencing both a parent and component SKU — PLAIO checks that every referenced record already exists in the system. If a row references a SKU that hasn’t been uploaded yet, it will be flagged with a clear message explaining which reference could not be found.
Tip: Upload your master data first (Items, Locations, Forecast Types), then demand and supply data. This ensures all references resolve correctly.
Recommended Upload Order
Because some categories reference others, the following order avoids reference errors:
Items
Locations
Bill of Materials (references Items)
Forecast Types
Demand Segments (references Items and Locations)
Forecasts, Customer Orders, Actual Sales (reference Items and optionally Demand Segments)
Inventory (references Items)
Firm Orders (references Items and Locations)
Supplier Constraints, Inventory Policies, Order Policies
Production Constraints (references Items and Resources)
Shift Patterns, Downtime, and Shift Overrides
Updating Custom Attributes
When you re-upload data that includes custom attributes, PLAIO merges the values rather than overwriting them entirely. Any custom attribute column present in your file will update the corresponding value. Custom attributes not included in your file are left untouched. This lets you update a subset of custom attributes without affecting the rest.
Permissions
Your access to each data category is controlled by your role. If you don’t see a category listed in Data Management, it means your account does not have upload permissions for that section. Contact your administrator if you need access to additional categories.