(1) Assigning an inventory of parts to a BOM is fast and easy. Click the “Parts and Catalogs” button in a BOM view.
(2) A dialogue box will appear in the BOM. Use it to select from the available list of Inventories either you created or are shared with you.
- You can select more than one inventory to assign to the BOM.
- Note: A default Part Catalog automatically created by OpenBOM named “<your user name> Items”; you can use that Part Catalog as your starting point. However, make sure you have first added data to it (empty of data otherwise).
- When done selecting the desired part catalogs, you can choose “Use only Catalog Part Numbers” if you would like to ensure no other Part Numbers can be used in the BOM other than those selected.
(3) If you wish to link the Part Numbers in a Part Catalog to a separate part number attribute in a BOM, for example, Catalog Part Number, then you can do so by selecting BOM to Catalog link in the dialog box. Select from the drop-down menu the desired part number attribute:
And click close when done:
Catalog Part Number will now be linked to the Part Numbers in the assigned Part Catalog.
Note: Changes made to an assigned inventory are automatically reflected in the BOM. This ensures your BOM is always in sync with the assigned inventories. So for example, if a value of an item, e.g. QTY Available, changes in the inventory list, it will automatically be reflected in the BOM.
Here is a video that describes the process in a typical workflow: