00:00

NARRATOR: In this video, we are going

00:02

to learn what data we need for our product list

00:04

and where to find it.

00:06

With just a few tips and tricks, this process

00:09

can be made it a lot easier and possibly

00:11

avoid getting the wrong data.

00:15

What data do we need?

00:17

The obvious one is dimensional data,

00:20

but we also need order numbers and weights.

00:26

Getting the dimensional data is sometimes

00:28

as easy as going to the manufacturer's website

00:31

and downloading the dimensional PDF.

00:35

If someone emails you a PDF, I would still

00:37

go to the manufacturer's website and make

00:40

sure you have the latest information available.

00:45

If searching the manufacturer's website

00:47

does not result in finding the dimensional data you need, then

00:51

try doing an internet search because sometimes that

00:54

will get you better results and many times

00:57

right to the PDF download you need.

01:00

Just remember, if the PDF is not from the manufacturer's

01:03

website, say a supply house, it may

01:07

be outdated and not the most current and accurate dimensions

01:11

available.

01:14

Sometimes the order numbers are not on the dimensional PDF

01:18

and must be found elsewhere.

01:23

If it's a valve, then maybe there's

01:25

an ordering key at the top or bottom of the PDF

01:29

possibly, on their website or on a brochure,

01:32

and you build the order number based on the model series size,

01:37

material, et cetera.

01:42

The next place I will look is a price list

01:45

from the manufacturer, which will usually

01:48

be a separate PDF or even a spreadsheet.

01:50

Again, sometimes the best way to find a price list

01:54

is doing an internet search.

01:56

And this leads us to our final set of data we need, weights.

02:02

If they are not on the dimensional PDF,

02:05

then the first place I try is a price list.

02:09

As you can see here, it has the weights for each item.

02:15

Now that you have the dimensional data,

02:18

how do you get those numbers into a spreadsheet?

02:21

If you have a powerful PDF program like Blue Beam or Adobe

02:25

Acrobat, you will have an export table or export

02:29

selection that will put it in a spreadsheet for you.

02:33

Then all you will have to do is clean it up like get rid

02:36

of the metric dimensions.

02:40

There are online web based programs, desktop programs that

02:44

will help you convert PDF tables into Excel tables.

02:49

An online search should give you plenty of options.

02:54

Some items will not be in a table

02:56

and you will have to make your own table by typing

02:59

each dimension in by hand.

03:01

This must be done with caution as errors can be easily made.

03:05

Always have someone else double check your work for accuracy.

03:10

Let me show you a couple of tricks

03:12

I've learned in cleaning up data.

03:14

One of the first things I do is select all cells

03:17

and unmerge the merge cells.

03:22

This will cause all kinds of issues

03:24

when you're trying to clean up the data with emerge cells.

03:27

Once that's done, we can work on getting

03:30

rid of like say the metric dimensions.

03:35

One way to do that as you can see each metric dimension

03:40

has its own line and we can select just one

03:44

cell on each line, come over to the cells drop

03:49

down under delete and delete sheet rows.

03:55

That just cleared all our metric dimensions.

04:00

Another trick I've learned in dealing

04:02

with PDFs that use fractions when they get

04:05

exported into Excel they are often just text.

04:09

Click on the cell, that 6 and 3/16 is not a number,

04:14

it just sees it as text.

04:16

The way to convert it to a number

04:17

is highlight the dimensional area,

04:23

click Control H to bring up the Find and replace.

04:27

We're going to find this dash and replace it with a space.

04:33

That will show Excel that it's an actual fraction.

04:38

And now you can see in the address bar

04:40

that that 6 and 3/16 is really a number now.

04:47

And now you can just change the format from fraction to general

04:53

and it will show all the numeric values.