Bulk WBS import: data-quality pitfalls

Practical issues observed when preparing WBS data for bulk Excel import into IPP&E, based on real sample files.

Duplicate WBS Numbers fail the import outright

Teamcenter's import rejects the file with an "ID not unique" error if the WBS Number column contains a duplicate value anywhere in the sheet. This isn't a theoretical risk — one real sample pursuit-WBS file duplicated 1.3.2 across two different subtrees ("Develop Win Strategy" vs. "Create New Program"), which would fail import as-is. Before importing, sort or pivot on the WBS Number column and check for duplicates; don't assume a hand-built or exported spreadsheet is clean.

Inconsistent header schemas between files

Two different column-header schemas were observed across real sample files (the friendly names like WBS Number/Work Package, versus the underlying property names like wbs0Number/wbs0IsWorkElement — see the canonical schema for the full mapping). If you're combining or templating from multiple source files, standardize on one schema before importing — don't assume the importer normalizes mixed headers within a single file.

Span-time units are hours, not days

The Initial Span Time column is in hours, not days or weeks. This is easy to get wrong if the source estimate was originally expressed in days (a common convention in scheduling tools). Sample files used round numbers like 480 (= 60 working days at 8 hr/day) for summary-level placeholders and 9600 (= 1200 working days) for work packages — these look like deliberately large placeholder durations meant to be refined later, not real estimates, so don't treat them as a modeling convention to copy literally, just note the unit is hours.

Revision column: don't type "A" or "1"

If you populate the Revision column instead of leaving it blank for auto-assignment, Teamcenter's default revision-naming convention expects a bare hyphen - as the initial revision, not A or 1. Typing A or 1 fails Teamcenter's naming-rule validation and the row (or the whole import, depending on error handling) fails. Simplest fix: leave both ID and Revision blank and let Teamcenter auto-assign on import.

Recommended pre-import checklist

1. Confirm every WBS Number value is unique across the whole sheet.
2. Confirm Tc_Level values form a consistent hierarchy (no node's level jumps by more than 1 from its logical parent).
3. Confirm exactly one row has Tc_ObjectType = Wbs0Root and Tc_Level = 0.
4. Confirm header names are consistent with one schema (canonical or legacy, not mixed).
5. Leave ID and Revision blank unless you have a specific reason to populate them, and if you do, use - for Revision.
6. Double-check Initial Span Time values are genuinely intended as hours.