Summary
You use OCR Templates with most COAs because the COAs are in an image format (JPG, BMP, etc.) - however we all have those COAs that come in with poor/illegible quality. For these COAs, we resort to the Blank Zone. The Blank Zone is our last-resort option to get COA data into TraceGains, and requires some manual data entry, so it is not the preferred method of acquiring data. A Blank Zone file has only one zone on it, which surrounds and captures all the text on the document. Talk to your CSM before resorting to the Blank Zone method.
If your supplier's COA came to you as a paper, use a scanning program to create a PDF, TIFF, or TIF file from it. If the COA came as an electronic file, but not in PDF, DOC, DOCX, TIFF, or TIF file-format, open Adobe, load the COA, and save as a PDF; or open an image editor and save the COA as a TIF.
Handwriting cannot be read by OCR - only machine-printing.
Step 1: Hover over Configuration and select 'Import Templates'.
Step 2: At the top of the Import Templates page, click 'New', then 'OCR Template'.
Step 3: Open the Process Type drop-down and select "COA, CAR, or PO Data".
When you've finished filling in the basic OCR Template header (see the first part of Creating a New Zone Template), load the illegible COA you've received by clicking the Zone File Editor button.
Step 4: Click 'Browse' to find and select the COA file on your computer. Once added, click 'Save' and 'Back' to return to the Template Editor.
Step 5: Click 'Mapped Attributes' and the default source when you first open this page will be "Next Zone". Click 'Attribute to Map' and scroll until you find 'Blank Zone File ID'. If you don't find this attribute in the list, you may need to add it on your Configuration > Attributes page. Click 'Add'. Click 'Save' at the top.
Step 6: Return to the Zone File Editor to draw the zone box. Use your mouse to draw a box around all the text. Click anywhere else on the page, outside the zone-box, to lock that box in. You will see the box turn red and the number of the box pop up inside the box. Also, make sure both the Source boxes have a "1" in them.
Step 7: Click Save, at far upper-right in your browser window. Then click 'Back'.
Step 8: Now back on the Manage OCR Template screen, click 'Mapped Attributes'. Click the 'Source' drop-down and select the entry 'Zone 1' ; because you only want one zone on this template, setting the source to this value will keep the system from looking for the 'Next Zone' for the next attribute to be added.
Step 9: In 'Attribute to Map', find and select the Data Entry Required attribute and add it to the list. If cannot locate this attribute in the drop-down list, you may need to add it via Configuration > Attributes.
In the 'Norm Sql Script' field it needs to have a Normalization Script added. Click the edit gear.
In the pop-up, click 'Configuration Library' and choose the "Blank Zone - Data Entry Required Attribute". Type some text to 'Validate' at the top, then click 'Apply to Attribute'.
It then should appear like this.
Step 10: Click 'Save.'
Your Blank Zone OCR Template is now complete. Test it in the Template Tester to ensure it is working properly.