What is DASH?

DASH (Data Acquisition Standardisation Hub) is a digital bridge between the suppliers who produce certificate-of-analysis (CoA) data and the manufacturers who consume it. Instead of re-keying results from PDFs and spreadsheets by hand, you configure DASH once to translate incoming data into a standard structure, verify it against your rules, and digitally sign it before it is transmitted to the client.

The result is a repeatable, auditable pipeline: a supplier’s CoA arrives in whatever format they send, DASH maps it onto your agreed data structure, a Quality Person signs it, and the signed certificate is delivered to the recipient’s system — with every step recorded.

Before you start

You only need a DASH account and a browser to read this guide. To follow the setup path end-to-end you will need an Admin or Account Owner account so you can create the underlying records. See Roles & permissions.

The building blocks

DASH is organised around six connected concepts. Data flows through them from left to right: you set up the first four once, then produce certificates from them again and again.

flowchart LR
  O[Organisation] --> M[Material]
  M --> C[Certificate]
  D[Definition] --> DM[Definition Map]
  DM --> C
  M -.-> DM
  DC[Data Channel] --> M
  C --> OUT[(Signed & submitted)]

• Organisation — the client you produce data for. One account owns many organisations. See Organisations overview.
• Material (also called a Project) — a unit of work configured for one product or data stream. It carries the users, metadata and data channels for that work. See Materials overview.
• Definition — the reusable, versioned data structure (the properties and their types) that describes a record. See Definitions overview.
• Definition Map — the rules that translate an incoming file (CSV, Excel, XML, JSON or PDF) onto a Definition’s properties. See Definition Maps overview.
• Certificate (also called a Submission) — a single signed data record produced from a Material, a Definition, a Definition Map and some input data. See Certificates overview.
• Data Channel — a connection attached to a Material that either brings data in (source), sends the signed output out (submission) or archives a copy (storage). See Data channels overview.

How a certificate is produced

1. A supplier’s CoA reaches DASH — either you upload it, or a source channel polls for it automatically. See Automated ingestion.
2. DASH applies the Definition Map to turn the file into structured data against the Definition.
3. Your validation rules check the mapped values.
4. A Quality Person reviews and digitally signs the certificate.
5. The signed certificate is transmitted through the Material’s submission channel and archived through any storage channels.

Every action along the way is written to the Audit log, so you always have a complete, tamper-evident record.

Tip

New to DASH? The fastest way to get productive is the Setup checklist, which walks you through each building block in the right order.

Related

• Key concepts & glossary
• Roles & permissions
• First login
• Setup checklist