Bills of materials or BOMs containing only mechanical items are a thing of the past. Modern products require mechanical, electrical, and even plastic parts assembled seamlessly. Companies now use multidisciplinary BOMs, an extensive list of all types of materials needed to develop and produce an item.
With more complex BOMs, engineers face a dilemma. The tools they used to manage the BOMs, particularly Microsoft Excel, aren’t tailored to handle multidisciplinary BOMs. Coordination becomes difficult, especially when one team applies changes to the BOM.
Change Management in Multidisciplinary BOMs
Product lifecycle management involves multiple changes when the team finds rooms for improvement during design reviews. BOMs, as a result, are subject to multiple revisions.
The problem is that multidisciplinary BOMs involve several stakeholders. Apart from the engineering team, the manufacturers and even the marketing team refer to the BOM to accomplish their tasks. These stakeholders need to be notified instantly if there are any changes — something that Excel can’t address.
Another issue is that there’s plenty of room for error when applying revisions in non-tailored BOM management tools. As a result, people might input the wrong parts or quantities on purchase orders sent to suppliers. Additionally, when one of the parts become obsolete, it must be removed from the BOM swiftly and seamlessly. Tracking this change is difficult with traditional tools.
Handling Multidisciplinary BOMs Efficiently
With so much at stake if even just a single line item in the BOM is changed, traditional tools may no longer be effective. While many companies rely heavily on Excel, this tool doesn’t meet the needs of the stakeholders. Ever-changing BOMs need a tool that’s designed specifically for PLM.
FusePLM is a cloud-based PLM software that simplifies BOM change management. Because it’s designed for PLM, your team can make changes easily across all BOMs and cascade information quickly to all the teams involved. The tool allows you to assess the impact of the BOM changes to the final products. It also has multiple view formats for different teams. Additionally, it has an audit trail of the changes.
Simplify the way you manage BOM revisions. Sign up today for a free trial.
