BOM File Formats for Risk Analysis: CSV and Excel

How to prepare your Bill of Materials file for automated risk assessment — required columns, accepted formats, and common mistakes to avoid.

Getting your BOM file into the right shape is the first step toward automated risk assessment. Most hardware teams already have BOM data in Excel or CSV — TekPulse is designed to work with the exports you already have, not a custom template.

Accepted file formats

CSV (.csv)

Comma-separated or semicolon-separated. UTF-8 encoding preferred. Single sheet only.

Excel (.xlsx)

Microsoft Excel open XML format. The first worksheet is used. Avoid merged cells in the header row.

Required columns

TekPulse requires two data points to run a risk assessment:

MPN (Manufacturer Part Number)

The unique identifier assigned by the manufacturer. Examples: "STM32F103C8T6", "GRM188R71H104KA93D", "ATXMEGA128A4U-AU". TekPulse accepts common column name aliases: "Part Number", "Part No", "PN", "MFR PN", "Mfr Part".

Manufacturer

The manufacturer's name. Examples: "STMicroelectronics", "Murata", "Atmel". Accepted aliases: "Mfg", "Mfr", "Brand", "Vendor", "Manufacturer Name".

Optional columns (improve result quality)

Quantity

Number of components used per assembly. Used for supply concentration calculations.

Reference Designator

PCB reference (e.g. "R12", "U3"). Helps trace findings back to your schematic.

Description

Component description. Helps TekPulse resolve ambiguous MPNs.

Package / Footprint

Package type (e.g. "0402", "QFP-64", "BGA-256"). Used in technical risk scoring.

Lifecycle Status

If you already know the lifecycle status, include it — TekPulse will verify against live data.

Exporting from your EDA tool

• Altium Designer: Project → Reports → Bill of Materials. Select MPN and Manufacturer columns. Export as Excel or CSV.
• KiCad: Schematic Editor → Tools → Generate Bill of Materials. The default KiCad BOM includes Reference, Value, and Footprint. Add manufacturer and MPN fields to your schematic symbols for the best output.
• Eagle (Autodesk): File → Export → BOM. The default CSV includes Part, Value, and Package. Add MPN as a custom attribute for completeness.
• Altium 365 / Nexar: BOM Portal exports include live distributor MPN cross-references — this is the richest format for TekPulse ingestion.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Merged cells in header row. Excel merged cells confuse column detection. Use a single unmerged row for column headers.
• Multiple header rows. Some EDA tools add a title row above the column header row. Delete any rows above the column header before uploading.
• Aggregated vs per-component rows. TekPulse expects one row per unique MPN (or one row per reference designator). Avoid pre-aggregated summary rows at the bottom of the BOM.
• Generic MPNs. Generic part numbers like "100nF 0402" or "1k resistor" cannot be matched to a manufacturer record. Use the full manufacturer-assigned MPN wherever possible.
• Mixed manufacturer names. "ST", "STM", "STMicro", and "STMicroelectronics" all refer to the same manufacturer — TekPulse normalises common aliases, but using the full canonical name improves matching accuracy.