For anyone in the business of manufacturing items with multiple parts, there is always the issue of keeping track of parts, details of manufacturers and vendors, and their current situation in terms of numbers. The Bill of Material is the single document which records every detail of a product, be it in terms of parts and components, and final products made. Be it design-related details, drawings, and details of parts and components, if there’s one place where they all come together to form a logical whole, it’s on the bill of material.
Till some time back, the entire bill of materials was maintained in registers, and fool’s cape papers put in files. With the ever-increasing complexity of industry in every sphere and the advent of computers, it was just a question of time before everything went electronic. Next came the excel sheets which supplanted the sheets of paper. With excel having its limitations, and industry finding its needs in software, its now come down to BOM management software which while taking care of every element of any product, is also said to keep track of every detail of every part in ways which makes life easy, while taking care of data security, part security, part obsolesce, and the availability of every detail of the manufacturer and vendor.
This brings us to our question: Why do we need BOM management software:
1 To bring things on an even place
Take the case of a smartphone. It’s components if taken apart piece by piece may stretch in hundreds (if not more!). The one place where it is possible to keep track of every element of a product such as a smartphone is the bom management software where everything from drawings to part details are kept in the latest formats. A BOM software is thus the one single place which facilitates a relook at the product for reasons that may stretch from bringing out newer models to completely cancelling an existing product or bringing it out with changes, big or small.
2. To bring clarity on parts and their exact scope and position
How can you possibly know what you need in any product without a document as extensive as a BOM management software? A mobile phone’s BOM itself have sub BOMs to take care of its components. And the only place all of them come together is in the BOM. Also, it is from here that the lines snake down into the logistics department which takes care of every part and components. While production decides how much of what needs to be made and stocked, it is the BOM which informs the production the exact sequence and numbers that are needed. The BOM finally helps production by making parts in the needed sequence and this helps save on materials, costs and time. In times of crises, this knowledge is most necessary to go past a rainy day.
3. To better deal with obsolesce of parts
The BOM is almost like a mind-map which lists out in complete detail all the assemblies, sub-assemblies and parts of a product. In the event of a component either being termed obsolete or likely to be in short supply, knowing how to deal with the same, finding new parts, putting it together logically etc are issues which get done against the backdrop of a BOM management software. Without the same, a manufacturer (or even an assembler) is simply blind, and can’t go a step in the right direction.
4. To know the aspect of product costing in the smallest detail
With a product being turned threadbare with a BOM, it is also the one place which keeps track of product costing. That being the case a BOM software is also the one place which comes in handy to work out the figure of product costs, profits and myriad other things that can make or break a product when it comes to costing. In a situation where production has to be moved from one place to another (India vs China), knowing the likely cost at both the places is something which a BOM software can do at the blink of an eye.
5. To know the exact ways by which better parts can be developed.
A BOM Software does not store information in a jumble. In fact, it does so in a very organized manner such that the same can be used to find newer and better ways to manufacture and assemble products for higher quality at lower prices! A BOM software is as such, a product of great use in the manufacturing of products that have components and sub-components and assemblies!