A Bill of Material (BOM) is a complete list of components that make up a finished manufactured product. The BOM consists of Part Numbers of each component, quantity, and unit of measure. A BOM usually has multiple levels outlining each specific assembly, manufactured and outsourced assemblies as well as standard components.

When planning new product there is a need to conceptualize what the new product will look like, outline configurations, dependencies, discuss possible strategies for manufacturing and outsourcing. This is usually the stage where a BOM tool can help you capture ideas and at the same time, bring in existing product blocks (assemblies and components) which can be useful for conceptualization.

It isn’t a simple task to create a BOM and share the product concept with your team. In many situations, product teams end up using a spreadsheet. However, spreadsheets have their limitations, for example, it’s hard to connect together information about existing products, complex data entry, and other important dependencies.

openBoM is designed to be simple and help users make data entry fast via CAD integration, importing of spreadsheets, copy and paste data entry, and using search to quickly identify existing assemblies and components. Along with the ability to share data easily and collaborate with others remotely,  a distributed team of people can come together to conceptualize specific product design and ideas.

openBoM multi-level BOMs allow you to easily pull data between levels while working and collaborating on the same BOM with other users (development continues on improving how we handle multi-level BOMs).  For example, consider a new concept skateboard product structured thus:

For example, consider a new concept skateboard product structured thus:

In the following video, you’ll see how to create a multi-level BOM, connect pieces together using the multi-level BOM view, and assign existing components and Part Numbers to the BOM.