Disclosure. openProd publishes this page and makes a connector for Ergonode. Ergonode’s features are described only from Ergonode’s own website and documentation, with links. Checked on 13 October 2026. If something has changed, tell us and we will update the page.
The short answer. Ergonode gives you three ways to bring supplier data in. XLS Product Import maps spreadsheet columns to your attributes and saves the mapping as a profile. Ergonode Transfer exchanges CSV files in a ZIP archive, in Ergonode’s own format. AI Complete fills missing attributes from an uploaded PDF or reference attributes. When suppliers send their own files in their own layouts, an onboarding layer in front of Ergonode does the reading and mapping first.
Four routes into Ergonode
Every route below ends in the same place: products in your Ergonode catalogue. They differ in what they expect from the file and how much work happens before the import.
| Route | Files in | What it does | Enough when |
|---|---|---|---|
| XLS Product Import | XLS, XLSX | Maps columns to existing attributes, saves profiles | One layout per supplier, values already fit your model |
| Ergonode Transfer | CSV files in a ZIP | Imports and exports model and products in Ergonode’s format | You control the file, for example from another system |
| AI Complete | Uploaded PDF or reference attributes | Fills missing attributes of existing products | Products exist and a few fields are empty |
| Onboarding layer | Supplier PDFs, spreadsheets, text | Reads and maps values, team decides, then sends | Many suppliers, own formats, values that need decisions |
XLS Product Import
Ergonode’s Product Importer takes XLS and XLSX files. You pick the sheet and the row with column titles, choose a language and a template for new products, and map each column to an attribute in a mapper. Columns with the same name as an attribute can be mapped automatically, and columns you do not need can be switched off. The mapping is saved as a profile, so next month’s file from the same supplier goes through the same profile.
A few rules from the user manual matter for supplier files:
- It creates new simple products and updates existing products of every type.
- It does not create new attributes. Products, categories and attribute options can be created, depending on the import settings.
- For options and categories, the mapper matches file values by code or by translation, and a switch decides whether an unmatched value creates a new one.
- A product can be identified by a column other than SKU, such as an EAN attribute.
- One profile reads one sheet, and new products are created from one template and one language at a time.
- A file can have up to 1,000 columns and be up to 5 MB.
It is enough when each supplier sends the same spreadsheet layout every time, the columns already carry values in your units and option names, and someone checks the result in Ergonode afterwards.
Ergonode Transfer
Ergonode Transfer is a two-way exchange of CSV files compressed into a ZIP archive. The format is symmetrical: a file exported from Ergonode has the same structure as a file you import. It covers attributes, options, units, products, categories, templates and media, among others.
Imports are incremental. Only data present in the file changes: a missing column leaves its attribute untouched, while an empty cell in a column that is present deletes the value. In the products file, a unit attribute takes a plain number, and select and multi-select attributes take option codes. The manual also notes practical limits: commas separate values inside a cell, so SKUs and media file names with commas are not supported; files should be UTF-8 and separated by commas or semicolons; and the default compression tool on macOS adds a hidden folder that makes the import fail.
It is enough when the file comes from a system you control, such as an ERP export, a migration or another PIM, and can be written in Ergonode’s format. A supplier’s own price list first has to be rewritten into that format by someone.
AI Complete
AI Complete fills missing product attributes. You select the fields to complete and either upload a PDF file or choose reference attributes, such as name, description or image, to guide the AI. Ergonode says it supports most attribute types.
It is enough when the products already exist in Ergonode and a set of fields is empty, for example after an XLS import that brought SKUs, names and prices but not the technical details that sit in the supplier’s data sheet. Ergonode’s features page does not describe how a filled value points back to the place in the PDF it came from, so test that on your own files if your team needs it for review.
An onboarding layer in front of Ergonode
The fourth route adds a step before Ergonode. An onboarding layer reads the supplier files as they arrive, maps each value to your Ergonode model, lets your team decide what is uncertain and sends the checked result to Ergonode. It replaces the manual work of turning a supplier file into something the importer accepts.
Where the import ends and onboarding work starts
An import moves values that are already right. The work before it is making them right. That work shows up in five places.
Supplier files in their own format. One supplier sends a spreadsheet with its own column names, another a PDF data sheet, a third pastes specifications into an email. A saved import profile fits one layout. A data sheet has no columns to map.
Units. A supplier data sheet lists the weight as 0.09 kg, while your weight attribute expects grams. In a Transfer file a unit attribute takes a plain number, so someone has to convert the value to 90 before the import, and someone should check that the conversion is right.
Options outside your option lists. Your material attribute has the option stainless_steel. The supplier writes “INOX” or “SS304”. Matching by option code or translation catches exact matches. Everything else either fails or, with the create switch on, becomes a new option in your list. Neither is a decision a catalogue manager wants made silently.
Values with no place in the model. Suppliers send features your Ergonode model does not have yet: a new certification, an extra dimension, a field only one product range uses. The importer does not create attributes, so these values stay out of Ergonode unless someone notices them, lists them and decides.
Many suppliers with different layouts. With ten suppliers you keep ten profiles and ten sets of conversion habits. Each new supplier adds one more, and each layout change breaks one.
The same work comes before an import in every PIM. We describe the same split for Pimcore in how to onboard supplier data into Pimcore.
Workflow and completeness: the quality gate after import
Whatever route brings the data in, Ergonode has its own tools to stop incomplete products from moving on.
Completeness. Required attributes are marked on product templates, and Ergonode tracks how complete each product is. Completeness sets group required attributes for a template section, for example everything a product needs for SEO. Ergonode’s features page says you can export only fully completed products and restrict status changes.
Workflows. You define your own statuses and the transitions between them, per language. A transition can carry conditions, all of which must be met:
- an attribute has a value;
- the product has at least one category;
- the product is complete in a given language;
- a completeness set is filled;
- the person changing the status is a named user or has a given role.
For supplier data, a simple setup works well: imported products land in a first status, a transition to the next status requires completeness for the main language, and only the catalogue team’s role may make it. Products then cannot move on with empty required fields, whatever the import brought in. Workflow statuses can also be followed in Ergonode’s kanban view.
This gate checks that fields are filled. It does not check that a filled value is correct: a weight of 0.09 in a grams attribute passes completeness. That is why the checks on units and options belong before the import.
openProd with Ergonode
openProd is an onboarding layer in front of your PIM. It reads supplier PDFs (product names and specification tables), spreadsheets (price lists, update files) and pasted text, and matches each value to an attribute of your own catalogue. Every value keeps a link to where it was read: Show in source opens the file at that place.
Values land on your attributes, units and dictionary codes. A weight read as 0.09 kg is saved as 90 when the attribute expects grams; “Stainless steel” becomes stainless_steel, the code your list uses. Clear values go straight through. Conversions and values without an attribute wait for a decision in Data review, with the source one click away. A preview separates new products from updates, and nothing is written until someone clicks Save to catalog.
The openProd connector for Ergonode starts from the model you already have:
- It reads your attributes with their options, units, templates, category trees and languages. When something in openProd differs, your team decides instead of the connector overwriting it.
- It sends only values that have a place in your Ergonode model.
- It lists the features your suppliers send that Ergonode does not know yet, with the products they come from. Your team adds them to Ergonode, maps them to an existing option or skips them.
- It sends values, categories, variants, photos, files and related products. Each product shows waiting, out of date, sent or failed, and a second send covers only products that changed.
- It never removes products, leaves templates to your Ergonode admins and adds attributes or options only when someone with that permission chooses to. Sending and adding to the Ergonode model are separate permissions.
- Model reads, sends and connection changes stay in the sync history.
The connector itself uses no AI. AI reads the supplier files; the connector follows fixed rules, so what your team approved is what reaches Ergonode. Ergonode’s workflows and completeness then work as they always do.
How to trial it with three real supplier files
Pick three files you received recently, not a cleaned-up sample:
- A spreadsheet in the supplier’s own layout, with its own column names and at least one unit that differs from your attribute.
- A PDF data sheet with a specification table.
- A product email or a block of text a supplier sent you.
Run each through the route you are considering, then check:
- Do the values land on your Ergonode attributes, in your units and as your option codes?
- What happens to a value like “INOX” when your list says
stainless_steel? - What happens to a feature your model does not have yet? Is it listed, dropped or created?
- Can a reviewer see where a value came from in the file?
- What is written to Ergonode, and when? Can you see new products and updates separately before that?
- Does the result pass your own workflow transitions and completeness?
With Ergonode alone, you can run this test today with an XLS profile and AI Complete. For openProd, a demo takes one of your supplier files through reading, mapping and review and shows how it reaches Ergonode. For a wider view of tools, see our comparison of onboarding tools.
Which route fits
- Suppliers send the same clean spreadsheet each time: XLS Product Import with a saved profile per supplier, and workflow conditions as the gate.
- Data comes from a system you control: Ergonode Transfer, written in Ergonode’s format.
- Products exist and some fields are empty: AI Complete with the supplier’s PDF or reference attributes.
- Many suppliers, own formats, units and options that need decisions: an onboarding layer such as openProd in front of Ergonode, with Ergonode’s workflows and completeness after it.
The routes can be combined. Ergonode’s own routes and an onboarding layer do not exclude each other: the layer handles the supplier files that need reading and decisions, and Ergonode keeps the model, the enrichment and the publishing. Step-by-step guides are in the tutorials.
Sources and updates
- Ergonode, features: XLS Product Import, Ergonode Transfer, AI Complete, workflows, completeness, attribute types: ergonode.com/product-information-management/features
- Ergonode user manual, Product importer: usermanual.ergonode.com/data-exchange/product-importer
- Ergonode user manual, Product importer profiles and mapping: usermanual.ergonode.com/data-exchange/product-importer/profiles
- Ergonode user manual, Ergonode transfer: usermanual.ergonode.com/system/ergonode-transfer
- Ergonode docs, Incremental import: docs.ergonode.com/ergonode-transfer/overview/incremental-import
- Ergonode docs, products.csv: docs.ergonode.com/ergonode-transfer/overview/files-format/products.csv
- Ergonode user manual, workflow transition conditions: usermanual.ergonode.com/workflow/information/designer/conditions
- Ergonode user manual, Completeness sets: usermanual.ergonode.com/product-design/product-templates/completeness-sets
Checked on 13 October 2026. If something has changed, tell us and we will update this page.
