Bill of Materials (BOM) has transformed several operational processes in the both the construction and engineering & electronic components industries. From concept to planning and steps in between finally production, Bill of Materials and Bill of Quantities has brought great efficiencies to the original equipment manufacturers (OEM).
Every project manager will not commence any project without viewing one of these two documents: BOQ and BOM. In this blog, we will see how oemsecrets.com has improved the BOM creation process.

BOM & BOQ: What is it and Why is it Important?

Bill of Materials (BOM) and Bill of Quantities (BOQ) help surveys, project managers and construction contractors in understanding the requirements more so inventories associated with any project.
A BOM in simple terms shows list of items needed to complete a project from parts and components to raw materials. We will be touching on some of types of BOM available.
A BOQ on the other hand goes into details, listing the quantities in numbers of parts or components needed to complete a project.
These two documents have a mutual relationship and often they go hand in hand to ensure the project is error free and the necessary resources are available when they are required during any phase of the project whether it is a construction project or a new electronic component product.

How BOM Aids the Construction Process what can the electronics industry adopt?

Transparency in the construction industry is paramount. In the UK and most developed countries, it is becoming apparent that people are living longer and as such there is more need for housing for younger families. As such, we have seen great housing projects been undertaken and the success of these projects are down to accurately developed BOQ. This is accuracy is what has helped projects like the Shard in London and Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. The construction industry have refined their processes with the help of automated BOM and BOQ.
BOM improve the construction process and as a result, promoting what stakeholders like to see, transparency in inventory control by project managers. Furthermore, the accuracy of BOMs assist project managers prepare and start the project by understanding the overall project needs and stock check that they have everything. In the case that they are missing somethings, they can procure the materials with plenty of lead time to eliminate or reduce any delay in the project.
Similarly, the electrical and electronics industry have their own Bill of Materials which help in the manufacturing of white good, consumer goods, pet products, baby accessories etc.
Oemsecrets.com has developed a great bill of materials tool for the electronic parts industry which has helped project manager cost control and to some extent save big. One case study indicates, a particular OEM during the COVID-19 period managed to save thousands of dollars compared to sourcing directly through their suppliers.

How to Create a Bill of Materials

Bill of materials have not changed as much; they remain traditional excel like spreadsheets. However, what has changed is how they are generated and created for projects to be implemented. Majority of new BOM management tools are automated and can be run online or cloud based to an extent and all you need to do is feed a list of the materials or components you need to a parts search engine and in a click of a button your BOM is generated. You will need to do a few tweaks to customize it to your needs and save it for future reference.
Similar to the construction industry where a quantity surveyor is needed who conducts a manual survey based on the project details, to generate a bill of quantities, to generate a bill of materials you need either specialist designs like computer aided drawing (CAD) to generate procurement list of electronic components online with the relevant details .
Oemsecrets systems over the years has made the process streamlined and accurate especially since they use manufacturers part numbers (MPN) to identify products. These numbers are usually unique and reduce errors unlike parameter search terms.
More information about generating your Bill of materials can be found on this page: https://bomtool.oemsecrets.com/

Conclusion

Bill of materials help achieve for key elements which include: control costs, transparency in procurement, ensure product availability, reduce waste and most importantly gain inventory control.
Article researched and published by BT-webworld.com team