Supplier Data Manager (SDM) supports multiple file formats to accommodate different use cases and data sources. This article details the accepted formats and limits for file uploads into Supplier Data Manager.

Input files

Input files are loaded into Supplier Data Manager for processing. They may originate from suppliers or other systems such as Product Information Management (PIM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software.

Supported formats

• Excel formats:
  • .xlsx
  • .xlsm
  • .xls
  • .xlsb
• Text format:
  • .csv
• Markup and data interchange formats:
  • .xml (including BMEcat and GS1 files — see important considerations below)
  • .json

Important considerations

• Single-tab files: SDM can read single-tab files, provided they meet certain conditions.
• Multi-tab files: SDM can also process multi-tab files, but specific conditions must be met.
• XML input formats:
  • Adding a custom input format for your expected XML files is mandatory to upload XML files. See XML Custom Input Formats for details.
  • XML data extraction focuses on repeating elements at a single structural level. Cross-referencing data from parent elements, sibling nodes, or different document sections is not currently supported.
• File size limit (applying to all types of files): The maximum file size for manual imports is 50 MB.
• Data volume limit (applying to all types of files): SDM can process up to 800,000 data cells (rows × columns).
  • Example: 20 attributes × 40,000 products = 800,000 cells
  • Example: 904 attributes × 885 products = 800,000 cells
  • Empty cells count toward this limit.

Automatically split files over the data volume limit

When Automatic file splitting is enabled for your organization, SDM can accept a file containing more than 800,000 data cells and split it by rows into several smaller jobs. Every generated job stays within the data volume limit and keeps all columns from the source file.

The feature can create up to 20 jobs from one file. If more than 20 jobs would be needed, or if automatic splitting is disabled, optimize the file or split it manually before uploading it again.

An organization administrator can enable the feature:

1. Open Organization > Team members.
2. Select the Settings tab.
3. Set Automatic file splitting to Yes.

The organization settings show Automatic file splitting enabled.

After the file is parsed, SDM creates jobs named with their position in the group, for example (1/4), (2/4), and so on. The jobs are grouped under the source filename in the job list. Expand the group to monitor and process each job independently.

The expanded group shows the four jobs created from the same source file.

Unsupported formats

The following file types are not supported as input product files in Supplier Data Manager:

• .doc (Word documents)
• .jpeg (image files)
• .pdf