Use the bulk upload suppliers feature to add multiple suppliers and their primary contact persons at once using an Excel or CSV template. This helps you onboard your supplier network efficiently into kolum so they can provide emissions data for your assigned articles. When uploading, each supplier entry must include supplier details, address, and a mandatory primary contact person who will receive the invitation to join kolum, complete their supplier profile, and submit emissions data.

What You Need to Know

Download the sample Excel template provided in the upload modal when you click "Upload suppliers file" in the Suppliers page. Always download a fresh copy of the template before preparing your file.
Fill in each supplier's:
- Identifier (mandatory). Enter the identifier yourself for every row; kolum no longer generates one when the cell is empty, and a row with a blank identifier is reported as invalid. Identifiers must be unique within your account.
- Name (supplier's legal name).
- Contact Person First Name, Last Name, Phone Number, E-Mail (mandatory).

Street Name, Street Number, PO Box (optional).
Postal Code, City, Country (mandatory for every supplier, use country code e.g., IN, CN, BR).
The primary contact person's email domain should match the supplier's domain for security verification.
The primary contact person will be the person invited when you send out invitations after upload.
Additional contact persons can be added later under the supplier's page, but invitations to them must be sent manually by clicking the envelope icon.
You can invite or bulk invite suppliers any number of times. If you need to re-invite the same person, wait at least 24 hours before resending.
All postal code, city, and country fields are mandatory. Missing values here will prevent upload.

Working with the Identifier column

The Identifier is the key kolum uses to tell your supplier rows apart, so it must be filled in for every row.

A blank Identifier makes the row invalid. Fill it in and upload again.
If an identifier in your file is already used by a supplier in your account, that row is rejected as a conflict rather than creating a duplicate supplier. Because of this, uploading the same file twice no longer creates a second set of suppliers.
If two rows in the same file share the same new identifier, both rows are flagged as invalid at preview; fix the duplicate before re-uploading. This mirrors the existing check for duplicate BPN values within a file.
To check which identifiers are already in use, download your current supplier list from the Suppliers page before preparing the file.
Use the same identifiers in the supplier production facilities upload so facilities are matched to the right supplier.

Uploading the File

Click Select file and upload your completed CSV or Excel file.
kolum will validate your file:
- If all rows are valid, you will see a success confirmation.
- If there are issues (e.g., a blank or already-used identifier, missing postal code, invalid country code, or email issues), kolum will highlight these rows for you to correct in your file before re-uploading.

What Happens Next

After upload:

All valid suppliers will appear in your supplier list immediately.
No invitations are sent automatically; you need to trigger invites manually or via bulk invite when ready.
Invited suppliers will receive an email to create their kolum account with prefilled information you provided. Once they accept, your company will appear in their Buyers section, allowing them to submit emissions data for your assigned articles.

Business Partner Number (BPN) column

The supplier upload template includes an optional BPN (Catena-X Business Partner Number) column. Leave it empty if you do not use Catena-X. Always download a fresh copy of the template before preparing your file.

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