Analysing changes in table with imports from different times

Hi Joxxe, how are you?

When importing your data this would be going to a “Metrics” table where every record is the monthly metrics of every active supplier.

So to be able to have your Metrics neatly grouped by Supplier, you would need to create a “Suppliers” table, and link every Metrics record to its corresponding Supplier record by using a “Linked Record” column type (“Link to Suppliers”).

This link can be done automatically if you set the “Supplier ID” as the Primary ID column of the “Suppliers” table and change your “Supplier ID” column in your “Metrics” table to a “Link to Suppliers” column. This would allow you to save on an automation and the link will be done immediatelly. It will also take care of creating new Suppliers, if new ones appear in the current month’s import.

Then, in the Supplier table you can make calculations based on the Supplier’s linked Metrics:

• Lookup the first Metric of the Supplier to determine when they were created.
• Lookup Metrics of specific months and use a formula field to compare them.
• Count Metrics for a specific month to know how many and which Customers were deleted.

Let me know if understood correctly!

And if you need some guidance to get it up & running we can do a quick meet, feel free to schedule one here: https://calendar.app.google/BDT6pyk35Xk1F9jB8

Best regards,

Matt Nixon

It’s definitely best to reconstruct your base as Matt mentions for longer term, but in the short term you can accomplish these kind of comparisons manually by using a combination of filters, sorting, and (potentially) groups.

For instance, start with a filter for upload dates on 1/1 and 6/1. Then sort by Supplier ID, which should set matched Supplier IDs next to one another. Then if you can also group by Supplier ID, which breaks out the groups so they pair up and you can run column calculations. This is a very manual and temporary solution (when you have hundreds of suppliers, this kind of grid is annoying to scroll through and keep track of) but it can work in a pinch. 

Hi Matt, Hi Disraeligears01,

thanks a lot for your feedback and help!

I already have the supplier table linked to another table and at the moment link them by views of specific import dates. Sorting and grouping works great to analyses the overall performance of the different imports but comparing with each other is proven more difficult as you have new suppliers or suppliers disappearing from the list. I am still lost if want to compare the performance field between different import dates.  If I introduce a third table, I have the same issue of missing out suppliers either added or deleted, depending which date I am linking. 

Cheers Joxxe

To compare overall metrics by import dates a Dashboard in the Interfaces layer would be helpful, there you can graph and visualize the desired metrics, grupoed by import date.

If you want to compare metrics at a Supplier level, then you could do the same but using the Suppliers table, making sure all imports are correctly linked to their Supplier.

If you want to build more complex metrics at an import date level, maybe there you could rely on a “Imports” table, where you link all records by their import date.

Do you have some examples of the exact metrics you’d like to build?

If you’d like to review it on a live on video meet, feel free to schedule one here: https://calendar.app.google/BDT6pyk35Xk1F9jB8

Best regards,

Matt Nixon

Hey Jochen,

I see the challenge you're facing with tracking supplier changes across different import dates. I’ve helped many clients automate similar processes in Airtable, eliminating manual work while ensuring accurate comparisons.

With my expertise in Airtable automation and data structuring, I can:

✅ Automate supplier additions/removals tracking

✅ Highlight performance changes dynamically

✅ Ensure a scalable, efficient solution for future imports

What’s your timeline for getting this resolved? Let’s discuss the best approach—book a consultation here: https://calendly.com/aderibigbenoah2001

Looking forward to helping you streamline this!

Best,

NOAH