Vossberg depot import notes
By Clara Rossi · created 8 Sep 2026, 07:40 UTC · last updated 28 Sep 2026, 14:15 UTC · version 8
vossbergdepot-importdepots
How we loaded Vossberg's 60 depots from a file. Initiative "Vossberg depot import" (ENG-1710), live Friday 25 September. Product page: Depot import.
Why
Vossberg has 60 depots. Until September ACME had 41, made by hand since 2024, and several codes didn't match the depot codes Okta sends (MG-01 in ACME, DE-MGL in Okta). People at the 19 missing depots were homed at the nearest one, so their requests went to the wrong approvers and the Access report by depot was wrong for them.
The file
CSV, UTF-8, one row per depot.
| Column | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| code | DE-MGL | Must match Okta's vossbergDepot |
| name | Mönchengladbach | |
| address | Am Nordpark 12, 41069 Mönchengladbach | Optional |
| country | DE | |
| replaces | MG-01 | Optional: the old code of a depot made by hand |
What happened
| Date | What |
|---|---|
| Tue 8 Sep | Format agreed with Matthias. |
| Tue 15 Sep | First file rejected (SUP-1171). It came out of Vossberg's ERP in Windows encoding: "Mönchengladbach" arrived as "Mönchengladbach". The import now refuses anything that isn't UTF-8, with a message saying so. |
| Thu 17 Sep | Second file, dry run: three depots with the same code twice (Lüneburg, Celle, Uelzen). Matthias fixed them. |
| Tue 22 Sep | Third file, dry run clean: 19 new, 41 updated, none removed. |
| Fri 25 Sep | Import run at 10:15 by Matthias in the portal. Took 40 seconds. |
| Mon 28 Sep | 812 people moved to their real home depot with a people import from Bettina's HR export. |
Lessons
- Ask for UTF-8 and say why. Excel's "CSV" is often not UTF-8.
- The dry run is the useful part. Every problem showed there.
- Fix the codes before people arrive, not after: re-homing 812 people was most of the work.