The integration between Benchmark and Workbench is done with a flat file exported from a Benchmark project and can be imported either into a Workbench Job Budget or a Workbench Quote Costsheet.
The key for this integration is the data mapping for Workbench Activity Codes and Workbench Work Centre Codes.
Benchmark currently derives the Workbench Activity Code from a configurable setting:
Directly from Resource Code, or
A mapping using the Resource Category
The most commonly used method is the Resource Code as Activity Code, and this is the one that will be explained below.
For the import to be successfull
Benchmark Project Resource Code must match Workbench Activity code
Benchmark Project Resource Cost Code must match Workbench Work Centre Code
Importing the file generated by Benchmark
The .csv file generated by Benchmark can be imported into a Job Budget. Things to consider:
Budget mus be created first
Budget’s Input must be At Revenue & Cost Element (not At Cost Element, nor At Activity, Work Centre), which has a format of Revenue lines and cost lines under each Revenue line. The Revenue lines are Benchmark Project Items, and the Cost lines are the Benchmark Resources.
Import stored procedure is Benchmark Budget Import (wbImportBenchmarkBudget).
Create remove any lines that have a Line Rate = 0.
Tips to troubleshoot errors:
If you get an error when importing the file in Workbench, the error displays a line number, that is the row in your file. The file can be opened using either Excel or Notepad (or any text editor). Duplicate the file and work with the copy o fthe file. Delete all lines except for the headers, the row that caused the error, the previous row and the next row. This way you can just focus on a smaller data set that will make it easier to find what could be wrong. Any columns that are marked as mandatory in the import screen must be populated. Play around with this data set, modify the data and try to import again. Once you have aidentified what it is you can fix that on the original file. Delete the budget lines impored while you were testing, and import the original file with the data fixes you have done and import it again.
Technical details about the Resource data mapping between Benchmark and Workbench
A key rule used in this export file from Benchmark to Workbench relates to how Resources are classified and “mapped” between the two systems. The following Table explains this mapping and is provided for your information: