How to Convert Minutes to Hours During an Import in EDGEBIC

Converting minutes to hours during an import in EDGEBIC by User Solutions is a single cell: put a conversion factor of 0.016667 on the time column's mapping row, and every value in that column is multiplied into hours before it is stored. EDGEBIC works in hours, legacy systems often store minutes, and this per-column factor bridges the gap without editing your spreadsheet. Here is how to set it.

For building the mask itself, see how to import a routing from Excel, the import where time columns matter most. Every task in this library is mapped on the EDGEBIC how-to hub.

Before You Start

• You know which columns in your file are in minutes (or seconds) rather than hours. Setup time and run time are the usual suspects.
• You have an import mask, or you are about to build one, for the entity you are loading.
• You can reach the Settings tab, since Import lives there and is permission-controlled.

Step 1: Open the Mask Editor

Open the Settings tab, click the Import tab, and select your entity type, for example BOR for a routing. Select the mask under Saved Masks and click Edit, or click Define New to build one. Map your columns as usual by dragging headings onto the target rows.

Step 2: Find the Conversion Cell on the Time Row

Each mapping row has a conversion cell (labeled with a multiply sign) alongside the source-header and column-number cells. This is where a per-column factor goes. It is empty by default, which means the value is stored exactly as it appears in the file.

Step 3: Enter the Factor

On the mapping row for the minutes column, type the factor:

The factor multiplies the value before it is stored. A setup cell reading 30 with a factor of 0.016667 lands as 0.5 hours. A column with no factor imports unchanged, so you can convert one column and leave the rest alone in the same mask.

Step 4: Save and Run

Click Save, then Do It. The Import Result dialog reports the usual Created ... Updated ... Reused ... Failed .... Non-numeric cells in a converted column pass through untouched, so a stray text value does not multiply into nonsense.

Fixing a Batch You Already Imported in the Wrong Unit

If you imported before setting the factor and the times are sixty times too large, you do not re-type anything. Edit the mask, add the 0.016667 factor to the time row, tick UpdateExistingRecords in the mask Options, and re-import the same file. Records are matched by their natural key, so the existing rows update in place with corrected hours.

What Changes When You Import

The converted values are stored in hours, exactly as if the file had been in hours all along. Nothing is scheduled by the import. For a routing, run the scheduler afterward so the corrected times feed into the plan for the next new job on that product.

How to Check It Worked

Open the imported record and read the time field. A source value of 30 minutes should now show as 0.5 hours, and 90 minutes as 1.5. If the number still looks like the raw minutes, the factor is missing or empty on that row. If it looks a thousand times too small, you likely applied the seconds factor to a minutes column. Spot-check two or three values against a hand calculation before trusting the batch.

Common Mistakes

• No factor on a minutes column. The classic tell is setup times sixty times too large. Add 0.016667.
• The wrong factor. 0.000278 is for seconds. Using it on minutes makes the values far too small.
• Applying a factor to an hours column. Leave the conversion cell empty for columns already in hours, or you shrink correct values.
• Editing the spreadsheet instead. You do not need to. The per-column factor is exactly so the source file stays untouched.

Next Steps

• Load the routing itself with how to import a routing from Excel.
• Control update-versus-reuse behavior with how to set import options for a mask.
• See how routing times drive the schedule on the EDGEBIC product page.