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The master data management application from SAP comes with the functionality of the import manager. The MDM import manager takes care of how to import data into SAP MDM. There are many advantages of using the SAP master data import manager functionality, to list a few, With import manager, data can be imported to the same repository from multiple sources, another key feature is field orientated processing as opposed to record by record processing. Over and above this, the import manager works on extended table types like taxonomies, hierarchies, and masks. The MDM import manager allows the import of data into the MDM repository using any tabular format or XML file format. So what are the steps to import data using the import manager functionality in SAP MDM. Below are simple steps to import data into MDM:

1) Connect to the Repository - The first step is to connect to the target repository. the
repository is the central place where all the imported data will reside.

2) Connect to the Source - The second step to import data is to connect to the source files from which data needs to be imported. These can be access, excel, ODBC, SQL server or even XML files. During this step, one can select the read only option for the source file. This will decide whether import manager can create a supporting table in the soruce repository or not. As a best practice, this should be enabled for all source types that can be updated.

3) Source and Destination tables - The master data import manager imports the source tables into the destination tables. This needs to be specified in the third step to import data. The import manager enables browsing the source data to be imported.

4) Field and Value Mapping - The import manager has field mapping grid which takes care of field and value mapping. The grid takes each source field from which value will be imported and maps it to the corresponding destination field. Similarly values within each field can be converted, measured from a source field to a destination field.

5) Matching Data Records - The MDM record matching matches the incoming source records to the
destination records. Matching can be executed using multiple fields, field combinations,
case-by-case and even record by record matching. An easier approach at this stage is to identify the key fields to be matched and update or replace the matched key fields as required.

6) Data Import - The final step in the import manager is the actual import of the data. The import status tab has the execute import button. Once all the actions for import are complete, the data can be imported. The pending actions may include mapping fields, record matching etc. Once all the steps are complete, the status shown is ready to import. This finally imports the data into the MDM system.

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