Uploading Your Bill of Materials
File formats, column requirements, common parsing issues, and how to re-assess existing BOMs.
TekPulse parses CSV and Excel files and matches each row against our catalogue of 1,800+ manufacturers and millions of part numbers. This page covers what we accept, what to do when parsing fails, and how to keep BOMs current as your design evolves.
Accepted file formats
- CSV (UTF-8 or UTF-8 BOM)
- Excel .xlsx (single sheet, header on row 1)
- Maximum 100 components per BOM on the free tier; 5,000 on Professional; unlimited on Enterprise.
Required columns
- MPN
- Manufacturer Part Number. Required. Case-insensitive match.
- Manufacturer
- Manufacturer name. Required. We normalise common variants (e.g., "ST Micro" → STMicroelectronics).
Optional columns we recognise
- Quantity
- Integer. Used in supplier-concentration weighting.
- Reference
- Reference designators (R1, C2, U5). Displayed in the components table.
- Description
- Free text. Displayed but not scored.
- Package
- SMD/THT package code (0603, SOIC-8, BGA-484). Used to disambiguate similar MPNs.
- Lifecycle
- If you have authoritative lifecycle data, we use it as ground truth instead of distributor lookup.
Common parsing issues
"No manufacturer column detected"
Your header row uses an unrecognised alias. Rename the column to "Manufacturer", "Mfg", "Maker", or "Brand" and re-upload. We will support custom column mapping in v2.
"X components could not be matched"
TekPulse could not find these MPNs in our catalogue. Most common causes: (a) the MPN contains a packaging suffix we don't recognise (e.g., GRM219R61A476ME15D vs GRM219R61A476ME15), (b) it's a custom internal part number, (c) the manufacturer name is misspelled. Unmatched components still appear in your BOM but receive a "needs classification" flag instead of a risk score.
"Excel file failed to open"
We use ExcelJS under the hood. Ensure your file isn't password-protected and that data starts on row 1 (headers) of the first sheet.
Re-assessing an existing BOM
Click the "Re-assess" button on any BOM detail page to rescore against current data (live distributor stock, updated sanctions, refreshed lifecycle). Re-assessment unlocks the "What changed?" comparison view, showing exactly which components moved between severity tiers.
On Professional and Enterprise plans, you can schedule weekly automatic re-assessments. We email you a summary if any component crosses a severity boundary.