Plan your data flows
Lesson 3 of 21 8 min read
Turn "connect our systems" into a concrete list of Integrations, Configurations and Mappings, and plan how you will test before going live.
The most reliable integrations are planned on paper first. In this lesson you will draw your flows, turn each arrow into a Mapping, work out the Configurations each Integration needs, and decide how you will test. The result is a build sheet you will follow for the rest of the course.
Step 1: draw the arrows
List every piece of business data that needs to move, and draw it as an arrow from the system it starts in to the system that needs it. Use the business event, not the technical name: "web orders go to the ERP", "stock levels go back to the shop", "the warehouse tells us what it shipped".
Step 2: name each arrow's document type
Supply Lens moves data as typed Documents. Common ones:
| Document type | Business meaning |
|---|---|
| Order | A customer's order |
| Inventory | Stock levels |
| Warehouse Order | A fulfilment instruction to a warehouse |
| Shipment | A despatch, usually with tracking |
| Invoice and Credit | Sales invoices and credit notes |
| Purchase Order | An order you place with a supplier |
| Product Update | Product details |
Each system's setup guide lists the document types it supports and in which direction. For example, the Unleashed guide shows Orders, Inventory, Shipments, Purchase Orders and more.
Step 3: each arrow is one Mapping
Each arrow, for one document type from one Integration to another, is one Mapping. Write them down as From, Map and To.
Step 4: work out the Configurations
For every Mapping, the From Integration needs a Configuration for that document type with Receive on, and the To Integration needs one with Send on. Remember, send and receive are from Supply Lens's point of view.
Hilltop's build sheet
Priya draws Hilltop's flows once Brookside is live:
Mappings:
| From | Map | To | Business meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | Order | Unleashed | Web orders become sales orders |
| Unleashed | Inventory | Shopify | The shop shows real stock |
| Unleashed | Warehouse Order | Brookside | Brookside is told what to pick and pack |
| Brookside | Shipment | Unleashed | Unleashed records what was despatched |
| Brookside | Shipment | Shopify | Customers get their tracking |
Configurations this implies:
| Integration | Document type | Receive | Send |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | Order | Yes | |
| Shopify | Inventory | Yes | |
| Shopify | Shipment | Yes | |
| Unleashed | Order | Yes | |
| Unleashed | Inventory | Yes | |
| Unleashed | Warehouse Order | Yes | |
| Unleashed | Shipment | Yes | |
| Brookside | Warehouse Order | Yes | |
| Brookside | Shipment | Yes |
Greenleaf's EDI orders will be a further Mapping (EDI to Unleashed, Order), set up separately with Support.
Good to know
The exact document types each Integration supports, and their names, come from that Integration's setup guide and its Configurations. Check them when you build; the table above shows the planning method.
Step 5: decide how each flow runs
For each Integration, note whether it will run on a schedule, be triggered instantly by webhooks from the other system (Shopify supports these), or be run manually. Module 3 covers this.
Step 6: plan your testing
Never test against live data if you can avoid it.
- Use a sandbox. Unleashed offers a sandbox account, a snapshot of your live account, with its own
API ID and key. Connect it as a separate Integration; Supply Lens automatically puts
Sandboxat the start of its name so you can tell it apart. - Use Test state for EDI Integrations, where partners distinguish test and live messages.
- Use manual Mappings at first, so Documents wait as
Readyuntil you process them by hand. - Write down test cases: a single-bag web order, a multi-line order, a wholesale case order, a product with a partner code.
Recap
- Draw every business data movement as an arrow from where it starts to where it's needed.
- Give each arrow a document type; each arrow is one Mapping (From, Map, To).
- Each Mapping needs a Receive Configuration on its source and a Send Configuration on its target.
- Decide whether each Integration runs on a schedule, by webhook or manually.
- Plan testing with a sandbox, Test state and manual Mappings before going live.
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