OpenBOM 101 Video – Create first Catalog and BOM

BOMs and Catalogs are fundamental elements of OpenBOM reference instance model. Think about Catalog as a distributed database of parts, components, assemblies. Every component managed by a company or a team is recorded in catalogs.

Bill of Materials manages information about specific products, relationships between components, and assemblies and organizing hierarchical relationships of products – multi-level BOM. Many product BOMs may reference a single Catalog.

OpenBOM has a very simple and robust information model called Reference-Instance Model. Check this article to learn more about this model. In a nutshell, reference is an abstract part (eg. Screw) that can be used in multiple products – BOMs. When you create a reference part in BOM you create an instance of this part. OpenBOM allows you to customize both Catalog (reference properties) and BOM (instance properties).

Today, I want to show you a very quick video of how to create both – catalog and BOM. Here is a scenario of my video:

1- To create a catalog, define part number schema and properties

2- Add data to the catalog (eg. Screw, Widget)

3- Create a new BOM and connect catalog

4- Select Parts (using the part number- later, I will show how to use search)

5- Add instance information (eg. Quantity)

6- Calculate the total cost

Please watch the video. It is very simple.

Conclusion.

OpenBOM has a robust yet very simple model – reference and instance. Catalogs and BOMs. In such a way, every product can be modeled as a set of components defined in the catalog and used in BOM. Simple and powerful. All data (properties) can be customize. I will talk about it in the next videos.

Register for OpenBOM free user version here.

Best, Oleg

PS. Let’s get to know each other better. If you live in the Greater Boston area, I invite you for a coffee together (coffee is on me). If not nearby, let’s have a virtual coffee session — I will figure out how to send you a real coffee.

Want to learn more about PLM? Check out my Beyond PLM blog and PLM Book website