A supply chain management process can only run as smoothly as its BOM or bill of materials. If you are looking for a way to provide manufacturers with an accurate, whole picture of product data in real time, a BOM is the answer to your problem. Furthermore, investing in a BOM will help the manufacturers share data within the organization and all of the supply chain partners who produce their products. With a holistic, complete set of data in front of you, your team can make faster and more efficient decisions that will speed up the production process, improve quality, generate higher revenue, contribute to overall employee satisfaction and retention, and improve the overall health of your entire company. When we say BOM will change your life – we mean it!
First, let’s define basic terms. What is a BOM? Think of the BOM as the foundation of your supply chain management processes. A BOM is simply a list of the raw materials, components, parts, and quantities needed to manufacture an end product. For example, if you’re in the business of producing mountain bikes, you must oversee the production, design, quality of the bike frame, seat, rims, spokes, wheels, handlebars, and paint, among other parts. Truthfully, there comes a point when most businesses hit a place where they outgrow, excel or other primitive methods of organizing and keeping track of production.
Regardless of your organization’s size, a BOM will save you both time and money. When your team is spread out in offices across the world, it can be difficult to streamline production, company culture, production and the quality of products produced. Take a moment to consider the language barriers and time difference alone and the impact those two have on communication within an organization and ultimately, efficiency and quality. Manufacturing is difficult but BOM makes it easier.
A BOM is essential if you plan to grow your company. A BOM will allow you to keep track of your part of data, assemblies, drawings and data sheets, without you having to check various places to track down this information. In fact, you can make real-time decisions by seeing how all of these components interact with each other. The system will manage everything from your production plan, vendor and factory selection, supply robustness, version control, cash flow, production schedule, overages, and much more. The data makes it easy to assess risk and ultimately pull the trigger on an important business decision.
A BOM will revolutionize the communication within an organization, resulting in higher job satisfaction and a more successful communication in-house. Companies who are frustrated with the slow exchange of ideas can now quickly share product information, exchange ideas, and accelerate changes throughout the product life cycle. If you are tired of employees working in silos and you see how this is impacting the overall health of your company, a BOM is the answer to your problem. Regular and accurate data is crucial especially when you have employees working on teams in different parts of the United States and the world. Most BOM’s allow for team members to upload and share files with the team. An administrator can set an employee’s level of access. Designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, team members can easily view a list of approved manufacturers on a list, adding a “thumbs down” allows team members to indicate that these are not suppliers you’d like to work with and all team members are notified and can view that decision. Effective communication will result in higher productivity on your team, higher revenue, better quality products, and ultimately, employees who want to stay at their jobs.
Anyone who has worked in any capacity in supply chain management knows that production delays happen far too often. Too many companies are unsure of how to prevent these hiccups in the process, throwing their time and money into solutions that do not tackle the root cause directly. The answer is clear; invest in a BOM and you will wonder how you ever managed without one. With a BOM at your disposal, you can make informed decisions rooted in data. Members of your team can quickly and easily see queries for part availability, current specifications, and key compliance information. If you are looking for a way to unify product lifecycle and quality management for successful product realization, BOM is the answer.
Building a company on a solid foundation is crucial for your business. A BOM allows you to bring the entire product record, unifying the mechanical and electrical systems together. If you have plans to grow your company, increase the efficiency of your supply chain, retain top talent and build stronger relationships among your team, you cannot afford to operate without a BOM. There are companies who specialize and provide this type of service so you don’t have to. The testimonials from satisfied companies speak for themselves in this situation.
