iRobot's Journey to Product Nirvana
To ensure stakeholders were receiving maximum value from bill of materials management, iRobot adopted a quick-win approach to deploy projects in three- to six-month increments.
Hear the StoryWhat is BOM Management?
BOM management is the capturing, configuring, and managing of all product data that is developed throughout the lifecycle of a product. Effective BOM management is critical to a manufacturer’s success no matter the size or the number of parts in the product.
Your Digital Transformation Starts With BOM Management
Most manufacturers are grappling with speed and agility in the face of growing numbers of product options and variants. Homegrown tools and processes make it very challenging to find and ensure traceability and associativity of the right product information.
By adopting a parts-centric approach to managing their bill of materials, manufacturers can foster collaboration from the point of product conception through manufacturing, device connectivity, and field service.
Benefits of BOM Management
Here are ten ways manufacturers can realize immediate benefits from a digital product definition that provides full connectivity across engineering, supply chain, manufacturing, sales, and service.
Establish a BOM-Centric Approach and Become a Digital Leader
This white paper provides additional details on the ten ways an organization can gain immediate benefits from a digital product definition with a comprehensive BOM.
Key BOM Management Software Features
Comprehensive out-of-the-box configuration management for a model-based digital thread. Downstream digital content is associative (not copied) with traceable links to manufacturing, service, and more.
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Visualization: See product configurations in 3D including loading components on demand, perform interference checking, color coded search and visual compare in Creo View, while fully leveraging these viewables in downstream in process plans, work instructions, catalogs, AR, etc.
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Editing: Create and manage product designs including inline editing, autocomplete search, save-as, import from spreadsheet, and driving BOM built from CAD
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Compare: Compare product structures including differences in parts, bill of materials, CAD, documents, etc. View differences and explore in 3D
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Part replacements and supersedes: Define relationships of interchangeability including alternates, substitutes and part obsolescence
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Part classification: Define attributes that streamline finding parts using graphical navigation or attribute searching. Ensure part standardization through classification driven naming
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Options and variants: Build configurable product platforms and create configurations and 3D deliverables for design and downstream needs such as MBOM and process plans
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Part AML/AVL: Tie supplier part information to product design and allow definition of preferred suppliers for commodity parts. Enable part request process for supply chain and engineering collaboration
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Integration for embedded software: Link software deliverables from SCM tools to BOM to provide a complete product definition including software
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Transformation: Associative engineering, manufacturing, and service bill of materials views to streamline reconciliation; support for textual and graphical transformation
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Part types: Define parts definitions that help describe and capture different business needs with varying attributes, lifecycles and access control.
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Part history: Timeline history; compare information and part structure directly from history table
Customer Stories
Learn how these companies have adopted a parts-centric approach to managing their BOMs in order to drive their digital transformation.
Types of bills of material
Engineering BOM (EBOM)
Enable product design to associatively create the EBOM from up-to-date CAD and PLM data.
Manufacturing BOM (MBOM)
Enable manufacturing teams to associatively create the MBOM from the EBOM and prepare process manufacturing plans and work instructions.
Service BOM (SBOM)
Enable service teams to associatively create the SBOM from the EBOM. Prepare work instructions, manage service parts and information, and establish connected field service.
Learn More About Windchill
Explore PTC’s Windchill enterprise PLM solution. With its breakthrough PLM capabilities, Windchill enables you to adopt a parts-centric approach to managing your bill of materials with a single source of truth to all product data. Experience true closed-loop lifecycle management from early concept through all iterations, design cycles, and stages until your product is fully released.
