How PDXpert PLM multi-level bill of material roll-ups helps meet design
targets
Engineering design seeks the best possible solution
within a specified set of physical, economic, environmental
and competitive constraints. Although creating a bill of
materials is often an after-thought to engineering design,
the product BOM can be the key to monitoring the product
development process.
As an example, PDXpert PLM
software can help engineers (and their managers) predict
whether a product will meet its targets by totaling the
cost, mass and material composition of a multi-level bill of
materials.
Creating the pieces: Part properties
In order to efficiently manage a product's bill of materials, a
product lifecycle management (PLM) application starts by
providing a set of part attributes that includes product
costs, item mass, and the materials that make up the part.
PDXpert PLM software permits engineers and designers to
track two costs per part: a budget or target cost, and
another cost which reflects the current supplier forecast or
actual purchase cost.
In addition, PDXpert also lets
users specify the total mass of a part. Many industries
carefully monitor product mass (think aircraft, automobiles
and sports equipment), and being able to track this
information lets designers make appropriate trade-offs
between expensive, but very lightweight materials, and
lower-cost but heavier components.
While part mass is
sometimes specified in response to a marketing requirement,
a part's constituent materials are often the subject of
regulatory constraints. PDXpert PLM software provides the
capability to conveniently list all materials of interest
within a part. Each material in the list is specified as a
percentage of the total part mass (or ppm or ppb, as
appropriate), and PDXpert can track materials that are
regulated (e.g., lead or asbestos), have end-of-life
recovery value (gold, platinum), or represent less
attractive recycling properties (polypropylene versus
high-density polyethylene).
Putting the pieces together: The product structure
The product structure
(i.e., "bill of materials") establishes a parent-child
relationship between an assembly and its component items.
This relationship includes the part quantity required (for
instance, 3 units), as well as its unit of measure (such as
"each" or "grams"). Beyond this, the child row may also
define reference designators to match pictorial drawings, or
notes that describe an aspect of the item assembly process.
The collection of part attributes is treated within the
product structure as a single object, which can be applied
to any number of assemblies. This is in contrast to
general-purpose office tools, such as Excel, which require a
copy-and-paste of each part attribute into the single-level
BOM. While creating a single-level spreadsheet BOM is both
time-consuming and prone to clerical error, multi-level
cost, mass or material aggregations are practically
impossible.
As users add items to the bill of
materials, PDXpert PLM software tracks the quantity and unit
of measure of each item, and converts each row into the
system default units. For instance, a part cost in Japanese
Yen will be multiplied by the quantity used by the assembly,
and this cost will be included in the total assembly cost
in, say, Euros. Similarly, the part total mass will be
multiplied by the quantity, and added to the product weight.
Each material used by a part will be separately calculated
to provide the sum of all materials used for the complete
assembly.
Making it useful: Assessing the results using roll-ups
As individual parts are added to
subassemblies, which in turn are assigned to higher-level
assemblies, the product structure becomes increasingly
useful. Not only can users navigate the bill of materials to
view a part's attached drawings or list of approved
suppliers, but the cost, mass and materials of each part can
be converted to the system default units, aggregated and
then compared to the product goals and constraints.
PDXpert PLM software provides reports that calculate the
total cost, mass, and sum of each identified material for
all parts in a multi-level bill of materials. These reports
can be run even while the assembly and its components are
being defined, thereby allowing product refinements and
resource allocations prior to design release.
As each subassembly's cost (or mass or material) is calculated,
engineers can assess how to allocate their budget. Part
substitutions can be easily dragged and dropped onto the
structure, and a revised roll-up report can be run in a
matter of minutes. Changing an individual part's attributes,
such as changing the part mass and cost by using a different
material, is immediately reflected in all instances of that
part across the entire product.
Learn more about how PDXpert PLM can manage your BOMs
PDXpert product lifecycle management software is specifically designed to
provide the following BOM management capabilities:
- Easily find items using powerful attribute search
- Drag and drop complete parts onto the BOM in a single operation
- Identify and use only the most current data on BOMs
- Know what changes
have been made to each BOM revision (Add / Remove / No Change)
- Enforce rules for each assembly type (a BOM template) to ensure correct
BOM evolution
- Create reports for assembly costs and RoHS/WEEE materials
- Retain a full audit trail of all changes to the BOM, including when and
why it was changed, who approved the changes, how affected items were
dispositioned, and the total recurring and non-recurring cost
PDXpert PLM software will automatically assign document and part numbers
according to your specified rules; precisely locate exact
matches and possible alternate parts using free-form text
searches; and has a "where used" to show what assemblies use
the item, where it appears as a source, and what changes
have affected it. PDXpert PLM software keeps you informed of
part and document release status and life cycle, and
simplifies your work by automatically displaying, on
released bills of materials, each child item's current
revision.
To get learn more, view our video
presentation PDXpert PLM
Features: Bill of Materials management.
Then download PDXpert PLM software
to see the full benefits of a simple, flexible, and secure PLM solution.