CSV Import Automation for Enterprise Tool

Technologies & Skills:
Vue.js, PHP, Laravel, JavaScript, CSV data parsing, backend integration, data validation and error handling, RESTful API communication, frontend–backend coordination, documentation writing, cross-environment deployment (local, staging, production), automation of manual workflows.

Problem

Our internal team frequently needed to import data from a third-party enterprise tool that only provided CSV exports.

However, the exported files were highly inconsistent — with unpredictable column names, varying structures, and formatting irregularities.

The import process had to integrate with an existing frontend UI that handled imports from other sources. Doing this manually was tedious and time-consuming, taking the team well over an hour each time.

Automating the process promised to save hundreds of cumulative man-hours across the team.

Challenges

The project required working within a Vue.js frontend and a Laravel (PHP) backend — both new to me at the time.

I needed to quickly learn these frameworks while maintaining high-quality standards and collaborating across multiple environments (local, staging, and production) with a team I didn’t usually work with.

Another major challenge was the unpredictable structure of the CSV files. The data exports from the enterprise system had inconsistent headers, varied delimiters, and occasional human errors (typos, renamed columns, missing fields).

Designing an importer that could handle this gracefully was critical to success.

Solution

I implemented coordinated updates across both the Vue.js frontend and the Laravel backend to enable smooth CSV file imports.

On the backend, I wrote robust parsing logic with multiple layers of validation and error handling, allowing the system to adapt to varied CSV formats.

On the frontend, I created a simple, guided upload flow to make the process intuitive and prevent user errors.

To ensure reliability, I built in safeguards for edge cases — such as unexpected column names, inconsistent table structures, and minor formatting deviations.

I also wrote comprehensive documentation for the internal team, detailing how to prepare and export their data for best results.

The end result was a streamlined import system that reduced the task duration from roughly 90 minutes to 20–30 minutes, freeing up valuable time for higher-impact work.

Future Improvements

While the importer handled most cases effectively, a few niche CSV structures still required manual adjustment.

Future iterations could include expanded format recognition to eliminate the need for any pre-export formatting.

Overall, the project successfully automated a critical workflow and continues to deliver measurable productivity gains for the internal team.