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OpenBOM provides a platform for users to manage and monitor products throughout their product lifecycle. The subscription options are designed to meet the needs of manufacturers of all sizes. OpenBOM’s subscription options are affordable, reliable, and easy to use. Manufacturers rely on OpenBOM to help them reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve product quality. At…

Throughout the life of a product, there will always be changes. These changes might come during development, or they might come during production. At whichever stage, you need to decide whether you will control these changes or your contract manufacturer (CM) or supplier will control these changes.  Changes in Development During the request for quotation…

CIMdata is a leading independent global strategic management consulting and research authority focused exclusively on PLM and the digital transformation it enables. I had an opportunity to discuss OpenBOM development with CIMdata. The main topic in our discussion was “digital thread”, but we also touched on many topics related to OpenBOM customer development.  One of…

Is your data safe in OpenBOM? According to Gartner, a leading IT research and advisory company, we live in the "cloud shift" trend. Gartner’s ‘cloud shift’ research includes only those enterprise IT categories that can transition to the cloud, within the application software, infrastructure software, business process services, and system infrastructure markets. By 2025, 51%…

There are very few questions that usually trigger more questions than this one - I want to have a single system to manage everything, should we buy ERP or PLM system? Both can manage the Bill of Materials.  I've heard this question many times coming from small and medium size manufacturing companies in the past.…

Files are an essential component of data management for manufacturing companies. From CAD files to specifications and drawings, they are all part of product development. Some of the most crucial pieces of information are stored in files. OpenBOM Drive provides flexible, scalable, and robust mechanisms to manage and link files stored within OpenBOM itself as…

Any manufacturer developing products knows that bringing a product to market efficiently and quickly is key. In order to do this, you will be leveraging multiple companies. One company will be your contract manufacturer (CM). And the best way to collaborate with your CM and other contractors will be through a cloud PLM. When you…

When it comes to engineering work and data management, UX and UI are two very important elements to simplify engineering work, data capturing, and improving productivity. Integration of data management functions into the CAD environment can boost adoption and make data flow seamlessly during the design process. That was one of the reasons we started…

As manufacturing companies are moving forward to discover the future of digital transformation, the question of how to make the shift is coming more often. While no one really is questioning the needs of businesses to connect their data silos, streamline engineering to manufacturing processes, and establish a digital thread of information, I can see…

CAD and design data is the ultimate source of information to create the first bill of materials (BOM) and collect all needed information that must be shared with procurement, contract manufacturing, production planning, and shop floor. At OpenBOM we pay special attention to how to help our customers to get the most seamless integration with…

Speed is crucial in the manufacturing industry. The faster you can get bolts, screws, and other materials to the assembly line, the more products you can produce. Unfortunately, traditional procurement methods are anything but fast. Manufacturing companies are struggling with the complex process of the bill of materials creation, the manual process of generation of…

Manufacturing on demand has been a hot topic in the industry for some time now. It is seen as a way to help businesses become more flexible and responsive to changing customer requirements. In a nutshell, it comes as an online service that is capable of producing what is needed and when it is needed…

Ever since Excel and Spreadsheets were created, manufacturing companies have been sending these to their contract manufacturer (CM) or supplier. Even in the digital world, spreadsheets still seem to be the preferred option when sharing your bill of materials (BOM) with contractors and suppliers. The only reason for this is that it’s been done this…

There is no better way to learn something than actually trying it out live. The same can be said about softwares these days. The time when PLM software needed to be distributed, installed, configured, and only after users are over. All PLM vendors these days are claiming SaaS/Cloud software availability, but not all software is…

The world of software is changing. Most manufacturing companies have some legacy PLM software in place. Those companies that don't have a legacy PLM usually have homegrown spreadsheet-based solutions (usually Excel or recently Google Spreadsheet). As the industry evolves and new requirements arise, those systems become increasingly difficult and expensive to use and maintain. Digital…

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. This is my favorite statement by Leonardo Da Vinci. When we thought about OpenBOM for the first time, our vision was to mix the complexity of the PLM and BOM management environment with the simplicity of data editing and manipulation of Excel (or Google Spreadsheets). At OpenBOM, we are obsessed…

When you are preparing to launch your product, one important step is to transfer your product to your contract manufacturer (CM). This transfer of data is usually done at the request for quotation (RFQ) stage of the development process. The bill of materials (BOM) along with other data is provided to your CM so you…

This article is part of OpenBOM's new video series explaining the basics of OpenBOM, its data modeling organizations, and its fundamental functions. OpenBOM is an online system and its basic data management capabilities are to manage two object types - Items and Product Structure (BOM). The foundational elements are simple and flexible at the same…

We live at a time of total information connectivity. The expectations of “everything to be connected” including people, applications, devices, etc., can create an illusion of total connectivity and a ubiquitous way to work with the information without borders. I’m a big believer in a data-driven approach to digital transformation, which essentially means to escape…

If you're like most business professionals, you're always looking for ways to streamline your data management process. But what if there was a better way? A more efficient way? A way that could help you get more value from your data? It turns out, there is. Graph databases offer a unique way of managing data…

Collaboration can be a challenge in any organization, but when you’re working with data it can be even more difficult. Managing data properly is critical to the success of any business, so it’s important to find ways to work collaboratively and efficiently. But, with different tools and applications, and different ways of storing data, it…

I was on the Tech backstage podcast earlier today with Tullio Siragusa and Eddie Hudson talking about digital transformation and manufacturing networks. Thanks for inviting me - it was very entertaining and interesting at the same time. I didn’t pay attention to how fast 30 minutes passed while Tullio and Eddie were talking about various…

When finalizing your product, it is easy to get overly excited and rush into production. You might have been developing your product for years and are overly eager to start making it. However, there are a number of tasks you must complete before production.  The goal of these tasks and steps between development and production…

The foundation of every digital product development and manufacturing organization is an information system that is capable of managing data and orchestrating a seamless and efficient data handover process. As manufacturing companies move towards digital transformation, the question of what infrastructure and systems can support the most efficient and seamless data workflow is on the…

Engineers and manufacturing professionals are looking for efficient ways to manage information. One of the most essential and critical elements of the production process is to have various pieces of information coming together at the same time connected and transferred between multiple people in the organization without spending too much time creating the information.  OpenBOM…

The hot summer is here and this is a time to bring a few updates and news from the last OpenBOM release. Before moving forward with details and specific features, I’d like to share some of the information about OpenBOM infrastructure and development.  OpenBOM development was investing time in the infrastructure upgrades, scaling some of…

For years, Excel and spreadsheets have been performing the role of BOM managers for many companies. We always say that Excel is the second-best software to do anything related to data management. There is a big truth in this - users like the powerful simplicity of Excel, and the ability to have seamless and easy…

During the new product development process, you can not go straight from development to production. You need to transition into production. One step of the process is to create the golden sample.  The golden sample is important because it’s the perfect sample. The sample represents exactly what the customer wishes to sell. This sample is…

What information should be included in a Bill of Materials? This is a question that is very often asked by engineers and everyone else. While a typical BOM is a list of components with their part numbers, balloons, and quantities, in real-life, you can find a lot of value in bringing additional information from CAD…

Since the advent of social media, live streaming has become a powerful way to connect with your audience in real-time. We’ve been active in social media, blogging, and videos. Today, we want to open a new chapter in our communication - Live Streaming.  At OpenBOM we are always looking for ways to innovate and improve…

Dear OpenBOM users. We are starting a new set of videos to demonstrate the fundamental features of OpenBOM. We will be outlining the main OpenBOM capabilities in simple, user-friendly, bite-sized videos and articles.  In this first article, we would like to speak about Items. OpenBOM is an online platform that manages product data and an…

AEC value chain is disconnected. How to connect workflows, teams, and data at every stage of a construction project? At OpenBOM, we are looking at how to help engineers, architects, project managers, and contractors build a full data model about their projects and improve the way they coordinate their activities. OpenBOM provides a simple way…

Integration with engineering software (CAD) was on the priority list from the first day we founded OpenBOM. Getting seamless integration with CAD systems and having the ability to extract data, items, bills of materials, and files and upload this information to OpenBOM has proven to be a huge differentiating factor and a source of optimization…

A very common question every manufacturing company needs to answer is when to start working with their contract manufacturer (CM). While initiating contact earlier is always better, getting your CM involved early can end up hurting your company.  During the NPI steps, multiple steps should be followed to transition into production smoothly. If these steps…

One of the questions I often get asked by our customers and prospects is related to the product release process. The terminology is not precise and can vary. Sometimes, it is a design release and sometimes, it is a BOM release.  What I found speaking to many engineers and companies is that there is a…

As manufacturers, we are always looking for ways to improve our operations and make them more efficient. Cloud technologies are quickly becoming a way for manufacturing companies to improve their operation and agility. The days when manufacturing companies were afraid of the cloud are over. The question now is how to apply cloud technology and…

The CAD and PLM industry have been fighting the problem of file management for many decades. Immediately after the invention of the CAD system, the issue of how to manage these CAD files and control who can access them, how to revise them, and ensure that engineers won’t overwrite them was the hot burning question. …

In the era of advanced manufacturing, collaborative engineering, Industry 4.0, and advanced business process management, is there still a need for a BOM clerk? This is an important question to consider as businesses move towards automation and streamlined workflows. We've been discussing BOM management with many prospects and customers and the question of BOM creation…

During the manufacturing process, we have different production costs that affect the overall cost of your product. Our last post went into a bit more detail and looked at how both variable and fixed costs have an effect on production. Another cost that plays a role in your product quote is your manufacturing overhead cost. …

Excel spreadsheets are a mainstay in most industries, and for good reason – they’re versatile and easy to use. However, when it comes to managing your product information and Bill of Materials (BOM), relying on this single software can lead to some major pitfalls.  In our daily practice at OpenBOM, we meet thousands of engineers…

A few years ago I wrote an article - Are you ready for BOM? If you think it's a funny question, think twice. Here is the deal. Unless you believe that your beautiful CAD design will automatically turn into a manufacturing product, keep reading. Because to turn your design into production, you must take it…

Everyone in a manufacturing organization needs data, but usually, no one is interested in being responsible for data management. When it comes to BOM management and product information, the ability to manage items, BOMs, product documentation, orders, and RFQ/POs is super important and critical.  Easy Data Management  OpenBOM gives you an easy way to manage…

As the manufacturing industry keeps transforming, more and more companies are looking for ways to integrate new technologies into their product development, manufacturing, operations, and maintenance processes. In my last week's article - A post-monolithic PLM world: Data and System Architecture, I brought examples of how companies are using service-oriented architecture combined with a federated…

In our blog last week, What are Production Costs and how to Calculate them, we looked at the differences between direct and indirect costs. This post is going to dive a bit deeper into costs and compare the differences between variable and fixed costs and the effect these have on your production costs.  Fixed Costs…

A few days ago, I wrote an article about OpenBOM platform technological differentiators. Today, I want to share more information about the main elements of the OpenBOM platform and give you a perspective on what OpenBOM technology actually does and how it helps to solve really critical manufacturing and engineering problems in the industry.   Let’s…

In today's economy, manufacturing companies are under pressure to be more efficient and reduce costs. Process improvement is a key part of achieving these goals, and businesses are looking for ways to improve their operations. Manufacturing companies are under continuous pressure to improve their process. In the modern data-driven world, there is a huge cost…

I’m super excited to share the news - we are starting to provide a free 14-days free trial for OpenBOM. To get your 14-days trial, please contact OpenBOM support and we will enable the OpenBOM Drive trial license for you.  The goal of the OpenBOM Drive service is to provide a mechanism for design collaboration…

OpenBOM was developed over the last few years into an advanced online platform that can help you solve many business problems related to product lifecycle management, help manage CAD files and data, control and manages product structure and its revisions, manage Bill of Materials, collaborate and share data instantly. Problem - Product Development and Data…

One of the main drivers of the costs of your product will be the production costs. This is also what we fight to decrease. Let’s see what production costs are and see how we calculate them. What are Production Costs? Production costs are all the costs associated with manufacturing your product. This consists of the…

This blog is dedicated to SolidWorks users. SolidWorks has been famous for its amazing ease of use and user experience for many years. We developed OpenBOM with the same philosophy that for the last few years was proven by the market and a large number of successful customers. Check OpenBOM user stories and G2 Reviews…

In any business, time is money. The more time an organization spends on tasks that don't generate revenue, the less money they have to invest in growing its business. Engineers like to get engaged in the design and actual engineering jobs rather than manage data and organize Excels. From my experience of working with many…

Manufacturing is always changing and evolving. To keep up with the latest trends and changes, companies need to be able to adapt quickly. One of the ways that many companies are doing this is by implementing better BOM management practices. A modern digital BOM is a foundation for efficient product development processes. If you're still…

I’m super excited to introduce you to a set of updates we’ve been developing for the Autodesk Revit Add-in. This development is part of our vision of AECBOM to provide intelligent data management and collaboration solutions for construction companies with a specific focus on supporting engineers, architectures, and, especially, trading contractors in mechanical, electrical, and…

A bill of materials (BOM) is a comprehensive piece of data that includes all the raw materials, parts, and components used in the manufacturing of a product. The BOM is used as a guide to create and track inventory levels, as well as to produce accurate invoices for customers. It's no surprise then that manufacturers…

Design collaboration is key to success in the manufacturing industry. However, many companies are still using outdated methods for design collaboration. This can lead to missed opportunities and can impact the bottom line. PDM systems aimed to help designers and engineers to collaborate.  PDM always was a big promise. It had their success stories, but…

One very common question is, “after this prototype, can we go straight into mass production?” And when they hear, not really, they will ask, “why not? If we can create a prototype, why can’t we replicate that in mass production?” Being able to go straight into production from prototypes is a common misconception, and unfortunately,…

I was invited to speak at the Product Innovation PI DX USA 2022 conference that is taking place earlier today and tomorrow in Atlanta, GA. If you never heard about PI DX, it is an event for Design, Engineering, and R&D Leaders. Started back in 2011 in London by Market Key, the conference is a…

The design and creation of a product begin with a bill of materials (BOM). The BOM outlines the raw materials and components that are needed to manufacture the product. In order to ensure that the product is created correctly and efficiently, it is important to carefully plan and compile the BOM. However, nothing can be…

When you think of manufacturing, you automatically think of China. China has embraced being the manufacturing hub of the world for decades. However, manufacturing companies are starting to re-think their manufacturing strategy. With everything that has happened in the last few years, do manufacturing companies really want to continue to rely on China?  While we…

In a previous blog post, we outlined the basics of an open bill of materials (BOM) and how it can benefit organizations in multiple industries to manage the product development processes and product lifecycle. In this blog, I’d like to take a closer look at how OpenBOM can be used for electronics, BOM for PCB…

Seamless data integration is one of the most demanded features coming from all industries and customer types. No one likes to re-enter data manually which can lead to making mistakes by engineers, purchasing managers, manufacturing planners, and contract manufacturers. I can continue the list. Everyone we are talking to at OpenBOM told us that seamless…

Welcome to what’s new in OpenBOM, May 2022.  The May 2022 Release includes a number of important usability improvements and one of the most requested BOM view features to data - Flatten view of a BOM revision, which answers the question “What do I need to build the earlier Rev x of my BOM?”   We…

Manufacturing companies are under constant pressure to bring new products to market faster and at a lower cost. At the same time, they must ensure that products are reliable and meet customer demands. This can be a challenge, especially for companies with limited resources. Product development is a complex process that involves many different stakeholders…

Most manufacturing companies have realized the importance of using technology to increase efficiency and modernize their production process. If you're a manufacturer, you know that staying ahead of the competition is essential to success. That's why it's important to make sure you have access to the latest technology and tools.  At OpenBOM we provide a…

Collaboration is a very important part of the design and product development process. Modern products are complex combinations of mechanical, electrical, electronics and software components. To get all of these components aligned, you need to have multiple engineers work together and aligned on what they do. Unfortunately, the majority of design systems are still using…

During the manufacturing process, your contract manufacturer (CM) or supplier will often refer to your bill of materials (BOM). This is because the BOM holds the knowledge of the product you are manufacturing. Therefore, the end product and all of the parts fabricated or procured are made as a result of the data provided in…

As your team grows, you need to bring methods to govern both data and processes in your product development organizations. For a small team, you need to be able to share data efficiently and collaborate. This is what the OpenBOM Team subscription does and I described it in my previous article. However, for a larger…

Modern manufacturing is a complex system of relationships between individuals and organizations. The time when product development and manufacturing were located in the same building is gone. These days products are developed by multiple companies OEMs, multiple tiers of suppliers working together. The work is often done globally at multiple plants that make products in…

OpenBOM is available through subscriptions. For the last few years, we made multiple transformations to OpenBOM subscription levels, improving our service and adjusting it based on customer needs, requirements, and also turning it into a business that makes sense to both sides. The more successful we are, the better service we can provide to our…

Industrial companies are constantly evolving with new technology and processes. The engineering and manufacturing process can be complex and difficult to manage. OpenBOM is a cloud-native platform that helps you to manage product information, and product lifecycle, connect your engineering and manufacturing teams as well as connect with contractors and suppliers. OpenBOM is an online…

If you’re developing a product, you can’t just go from prototypes to tooling to production. There is a step in-between tooling and production that you must not forget about. This important step is the pilot run.  What is a Pilot Run? A pilot run is a low-volume production run to test and validate that production…

Change is the most constant thing in product development. Therefore managing changes is quickly becoming a paramount challenge for every product development team. If your product development team relies on spreadsheets, you will quickly find yourself in a mess of multiple Excel files and a continuous process of finding differences between them. The culmination of…

Modern manufacturing is a complex system. The time when a single manufacturing company was located in a big building making everything from glass, rubber, and steel to the end product is gone forever. Back in the old days when Henry Ford created a big Rouge Manufacturing complex in Detroit, the entire car was done in…

Existing data import can torpedo any system implementation. As I learned over the years, Importing legacy data is one of the most underestimated tasks in any data management project. It sounds like a simple task - take the data in Excel, and upload it to the system. However, it gets messy and complicated because of…

Having seamless data handover between design, engineering, and manufacturing is critical for establishing an efficient product development process. Each time data is manually extracted, copied, or adjusted a potential mistake can be introduced. Manual data handover is also a complex operation that reduces the effectiveness of engineers and wastes an expensive engineering time.  OpenBOM For…

Years ago, we all had to go to retail stores to purchase products we wanted to buy. Then, the internet brought us a brand new way to sell with sites such as Amazon and retailers increasing their online presence as well. The newest trend is purchasing directly from the brand's website and cutting out the…

Simplicity is hard. At OpenBOM we’re continuously looking for ways to improve user experience and streamline processes of how data can be entered and created. Today, I want to focus on Bill of Materials creation and how you can optimize and streamline this process by interplaying both new part number generation, adding a new item,…

Digital transformation is in full swing these days. While speaking to many manufacturing companies, I can tell that change is in the air and companies are looking at how to get their data management in order. When I’m talking about digital transformation, I like to speak about files, because the topic of files is very…

Differentiation is one of the most important questions in business as well as in our private life. It is a complex multi-factor decision process. You can ask - what is the best phone, computer, car, TV? You can do the same for business software. The answer is always - it depends. Many factors are playing…

As a manufacturer, it is important to be aware of the various software components that are used in your products. Managing the BOM (bill of materials) for these components is critical in ensuring that you have an accurate overview of your product and can track any changes or updates to those components. As manufacturing products…

SOLIDWORKS is one of the most popular 3D MCAD software packages on the market. It has revolutionized the CAD market by bringing a professional MCAD tool to the Windows platform. For years it was the first choice for many mechanical engineers, it’s a powerful program that can do a lot. However, SOLIDWORKS was born back…

In this era of manufacturing, companies strive to launch customized products for a specific niche faster than ever. As a result of this trend, manufacturers have become vulnerable to certain risks. The way you manage your bill of materials (BOM) will either increase or decrease these risks.  If you are working with a contract manufacturer…

Manufacturing is quickly becoming a digital industry. The days of relying on paper blueprints and hand-written notes are gone. Today, manufacturers are using digital tools to design and produce products. This shift to digital manufacturing is known as the "digital thread." The digital thread is a concept that exists for a few decades, but digital…

CAD and PDM represent the most mature of part of engineering software business. Most of manufacturing companies are using CAD systems to design your products and many of them are using PDM system to manage CAD files and design release process. While these systems are powerful and essential for design processes, these tools are not…

Manufacturing companies are looking to the cloud as a way to improve their operations and achieve digital transformation. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, the cloud offers several benefits that can be tailored to specific needs. With the right planning, manufacturing companies can make the most of this transformative technology. What Analysts Are Saying? According…

You have just completed a successful product launch and now you are planning to scale up production. Just one thing, we are in the middle of a supply chain crisis and chip shortage. So, how are we expected to make more products during this ongoing crisis? One important part is to find ways to maximize…

In today's modern manufacturing world, there are so many different activities and processes that need to happen for a product to be created. Oftentimes, it can feel like there's just not enough time to do everything that needs to be done. And with all of the competing priorities, it can be easy to forget about…

When it comes to manufacturing, the cost of mistakes can be high. This is especially true when it comes to the bill of materials (BOM). A mistake in the BOM can lead to wasted time and money as well as a shortage of essential parts. In this blog post, we'll explore some of the ways…

Onshape is a great and unique cloud-based 3D CAD system for product development. Onshape unique browser-based technology allows multiple users to collaborate on designs in real-time. However, there are some challenges for Onshape customers when it comes to managing the Bill of Materials (BOMs), organizing multi-disciplinary product development, and integrating with other software applications (eg.…

I’m super excited to share with you new information about the recent OpenBOM release. This OpenBOM update is bigger than usual and we’ve been delivering a setup of very important features and enhancements demanded by our customers.  Here is a high-level list of OpenBOM features and enhancements in this release:  OpenBOM multi-sourcing mechanism enhancements  Advanced…

Manufacturing is all about creating products that meet customer needs. In order to do that, you need to design and build products using the right parts in the right quantities. This is when companies get their first exposure to the Bill of Materials (BOM). And this is where the first mistakes are usually made. A…

Do you feel safe placing orders to a vendor you have never met or audited? I guess it depends on the type of vendor. If you are procuring parts from a well-known vendor then not visiting and auditing their facility is ok. However, if you are searching for a contract manufacturer (CM) or another key…

In today's business environment, the pressure is on manufacturers to optimize the supply chain and keep production levels growing. One way to increase efficiency and reduce costs is to multi-source strategic items in the supply chain. By carefully evaluating supplier capabilities and cost structures, manufacturers can improve their overall competitiveness. In this blog post, I…

As manufacturers know all too well, the business landscape is constantly changing and evolving. To stay ahead of the competition, it's important to be prepared for whatever new challenges and disruptions come your way. Digital transformation is the way companies can get advantages and deliver new products and services faster with a predictable cost. Digital…

Data management is a big topic for all engineering teams and industrial companies. According to many reviews, engineers are spending more than 50% of their time on information and other data-related activities such as extracting, formatting, validating, and sending information downstream and upstream. Old data management habits are still powerful for manufacturing companies and therefore…

As manufacturers continue to feel the sting of supply chain shortages, many are turning to new strategies to ensure they can keep production lines running. To cope with such a problem, companies need to perform multiple orders and hope that some of them will be delivered and, if they will be delivered, will bring the…

There are multiple ways to develop and manufacture your product. On both the development and manufacturing side, there are two ways. You can either contract the work to a third party or you can do it in-house.  If you decide to outsource the entire design and manufacturing of your product then you will need to…

I’m continuing to preview OpenBOM for Onshape enhancements coming very soon for all Onshape customers. If you missed my earlier blog with the demo, please check this out.  OpenBOM For Onshape Enhancements  The key element of OpenBOM for Onshape is to make a completely integrated experience for engineers and everyone else involved in the process…

Education and training are part of the user experience. Working with thousands of companies at OpenBOM, we learned that, knowledge is one of the most critical elements in customer success. Knowledge helps to transform processes, adopt new methods of work. Knowledge and education help companies to move from old ‘analog’ methods of data management with…

Manufacturing companies are under significant pressure to transform their operations to stay competitive. Digital transformation is the ultimate way to change companies' processes and to switch from outdated document-driven processes to connected data-driven processes. IT infrastructure available for companies is the key element that can differentiate companies and make them more competitive. The limitations of…

A large number of manufacturers are facing supply chain shortages these days. This is the reality of current business. Analytics are calling 3 major reasons for supply chain management issues: COVID creating a shortage of workers, distortions to a customer demand due to changes in the purchasing behavior, and the fact that manufacturing systems are…

User experience is important. Period. We are working hard to identify the improvements that can be done in OpenBOM to help you to interact with OpenBOM in an easier and simpler way. In my article today, I want to talk about two small improvements in user experience in OpenBOM that can save you time -…

Electronic and PCB development is in full swing these days. The number of OpenBOM customers developing high-tech, medical and other products with heavy electronic components is growing. Check out some of our recent stories from rf IDEAS, Kuva, Bird Gard, and others. We've been getting a lot of requests from our customers to make enhancements…

Many manufacturing and industrial companies are looking for a way to improve their product development process. PLM is usually the main category of software manufacturing companies are looking at. With a number of PLM solutions available on the market, not all of them are the same and offer the same value. In my article last…

If you're in the process of setting up your engineering and manufacturing business with OpenBOM, here's a behind-the-scenes look at the onboarding process from our team. From provisioning your account to configuring your settings and syncing your first bill of materials from CAD systems, we'll take you through each step of the way. By the…

When manufacturers are looking to scale up production, one of the key considerations is working with the right supplier. One goal of developing a product is to distribute it to the masses. It’s the goal of all product-based companies to sell to as many people within their market segment as possible.  The most obvious thing…

Chances are if you're in manufacturing, you use Excel (or another type of spreadsheet) to manage your bills of materials (BOMs). And chances are also good that your boss has given you grief about it. Excel Can Do It? Earlier today, I was talking with one of the design engineers about OpenBOM. The conversation was…

Earlier this week, I brought up OpenBOM Subscription Overview and provided a map of OpenBOM online services. Today, I want to help you build a value map of OpenBOM for your engineering or manufacturing organization and explain how OpenBOM brings this value with unmatched ROI. OpenBOM is a cloud-native SaaS platform combining functions of data…

If you're in the manufacturing business, then you know that staying competitive means having the right tools and processes in place. To be a competitively manufacturing business means getting efficient control over the data and processes in the organization. Modern manufacturing companies are facing many challenges by digitally transforming their businesses and it triggers many…

At OpenBOM we've helped many engineering teams start to organize their design and engineering data. OpenBOM helps to manage files, versions, item masters, BOM, and changes in a cohesive intelligent data set. The data is collected from multiple sources - CAD systems, Excel files, legacy databases, etc. OpenBOM makes it happen by multiple integrations and…

In today's world, time is money. That's why manufacturing companies are always looking for ways to streamline their processes and reduce the amount of time it takes to get products from design to production. However, it is very easy to say, but much harder to do. Modern manufacturing environments are presenting multiple challenges for efficient…

In order to have a successful manufacturing process, it is important to have a design that takes into account the constraints and goals of manufacturing. There are three main goals of Design for Manufacturing (DFM): reducing waste, reducing cost, and improving quality. In this blog post, we will discuss each goal in more detail and…

Every manufacturing organization these days needs data and data management. The time when the most updated BOM was on the corkboard and any person on the shop floor knew that they need to order some fasteners (because they always do) is over. Modern manufacturing companies demand sophisticated data management to integrate data, manage engineering and…

There are many benefits to using OpenBOM, a cloud-based platform. For one, it allows users to manage product information, its lifecycle, to connect with contractors and suppliers in a secure environment. Additionally, OpenBOM provides real-time updates so that everyone involved in the product lifecycle is always working with the most up-to-date information. Legacy data import…

Digital transformation is leading the minds and actions of people in manufacturing industries. In the past "over the wall" manufacturing methods were a key element to move processes and automate activities between engineering and manufacturing. Companies were closing their designs, throwing them to the side of manufacturing, and were able to move on forward to…

Wow!  February marks a very significant milestone for OpenBOM.  The release of OpenBOM Drive and OpenBOM Approval Workflow Dashboard.  Each individually addresses the most important activities in a company’s design to the manufacturing process. Approval Workflow Dashboard puts the power of the “sign-off” process easily in front of your team without all the overhead and…

In today's fast-paced, digital world, it's more important than ever for businesses to keep up with the latest technology trends. Construction companies are no exception - in order to stay competitive and keep up with the latest industry advancements, they must embrace digital transformation. But what does that mean for construction businesses? And what tools…

Autodesk is making a change to Fusion360 API and scripts. You can read more about it in the following Autodesk community message - Important Python Version Change Information. In the next MAJOR Fusion 360 update, the embedded python interpreter will be upgraded to Python 3.9.7. If you write or use any Python apps delivered as…

OpenBOM production update is out and a new OpenBOM service called OpenBOM Drive is currently enabled. If you've followed our work for the last few months, I’m sure you noticed that OpenBOM Drive is coming to solve the critical problem of design file management and file collaboration.  New Service: OpenBOM Drive  In my previous articles,…

There is no single manufacturer in this world now that is not experiencing challenges with supply chain management and sourcing components these days. We are hearing it from our customers and prospects every day. We found that diversification of your supply chain is one of the most important things to avoid manufacturing pitfalls in 2022. …

OpenBOM is coming from Beta to the production release. If you’ve been following our blog recently, I’m sure you already heard about OpenBOM Drive. OpenBOM Drive is a new enhancement of OpenBOM, which is focusing on collaborative file management and version control.  The Story of OpenBOM, Cloud Files and Collaboration  COVID19 was one of the…

According to the recent research of CIMdata, about 66% of industrial companies participating in their recent study about SaaS PLM are looking for cloud solutions right now. While by itself the number is not shocking, what was very remarkable is to see the reasons companies are looking how to advance into cloud PLM technologies. According…

SaaS is changing the way manufacturers operate. Going back 10-15 years, we’ve seen a very conservative enterprise software stack. Enterprise apps were delivered by software vendors on CD ROMs in FedEx packages, which required installation, configuration, and services on site. Enterprise software such as PLM, ERP, MES was expensive, required long adoption cycles and complex…

As technology advances, manufacturers are increasingly relying on data and communication for their day-to-day operations. Efficient data management is a foundation of successful operations and helps to streamline company processes. There is nothing more disrupting than searching for the right data, working on the wrong document, or sending incorrect information to a contractor or supplier.…

If you're like most engineers, you'll agree that the faster you can prototype a new design, the better. The rapid prototyping process is a foundation of modern design and manufacturing. Companies are spending tons of resources to make it happen fast. It includes new design techniques, additive manufacturing methods, simulations, and many others. However, there…

In 2022, manufacturing will be changing and evolving. The assumptions we had a few years ago seem to be no longer valid. As we proceed into 2022, it is important to point out the common pitfalls and what you can do about them.  Not Diversifying your Supply Chain If there is one thing the pandemic…

If you're like most people in manufacturing, you probably think of a bill of materials (BOM) as a list of parts used to build something. While that's true, the BOM is so much more than that! It's the foundation for everything from pricing and procurement to production and shipping.  At OpenBOM, while working with thousands…

Supply chain shortages and disruption can create a lot of challenges for product development and manufacturing firms. While the procurement team is working on getting available materials and components, it is absolutely important to keep in touch with engineers and get quick approval on new materials, components, or changes. Fortunately, OpenBOM change management capabilities can…

Manufacturing companies are constantly looking for ways to improve their processes and increase efficiency. Change management is a fundamental part of all engineering and manufacturing processes. Improving change management processes can be an important element of overall process improvement. While large manufacturing companies have software for process management allowing to route approvals between departments and…

Digital Thread implementations are on the rise in manufacturing. Companies are moving to a digital era and looking at how to establish seamless information workflows, eliminate old fashion document-driven operations, and switch to online systems that can be available to everyone and everywhere. Many companies are looking for ways to improve factory communication and operations.…

When it comes to managing a business, making changes is an unavoidable reality. It's necessary to adapt to the ever-changing market conditions in order to stay competitive and grow. For manufacturers, this often means adapting your supplier base. But making changes to your supplier roster can be daunting - especially if you're not sure where…

Few things in life are as frustrating as dealing with outdated and disorganized information. Maybe you've experienced this firsthand when trying to track down a specific product part number or price. If so, you'll be happy to know there's a better way. OpenBOM is an online data management software that replaces the need for messy…

I’m excited to bring the first full preview of OpenBOM Drive. The service is currently available in Beta and we already wrote about it earlier. If you missed our article, please check it out here - Introducing OpenBOM Drive.  Virtual Drive for Work-in-Progress Collaboration  OpenBOM Drive is a virtual drive that allows you to manage…

Happy New Year! 2021 is now history and we are excited to share OpenBOM results for 2021 and more details about what we’ve been working on.  Team and Partnership  OpenBOM team is fully remote located globally in multiple places in the Americas and Eastern Europe. For the last two years, we’ve been embracing fully remote…

Change Order is a fundamental element of change management processes. It is a way to establish formal control over the changes and to create a mechanism to manage approvals. In a nutshell, a change order process (sometimes called ECO or MCO, but can have different names), provides a framework to define changes, get them reviewed…

There is a strong link between the success of your company and the quality of partners who support you. This success can be captured by your company's bottom line. This also holds true for the contract manufacturer or the supply chain partners you have in place. Successfully vetting and choosing suppliers who can support your…

In today's article, we continue to explore OpenBOM's new change management features. Change management is a fundamental function that is needed for every company that is thinking about how to get product development under formal control. It is part of governance functions. Originally, it was very complicated and slowed engineers down. At OpenBOM we took…

Change Management is a fast-growing part of OpenBOM, which is expanding. In OpenBOM, engineers, production planners, contractors, managers, and everyone else in the company can manage data and organize the process of revision and change management in a flexible way. OpenBOM data management platform provides a flexible way to organize the data for items, bill…

A long time ago, manufacturing was only associated with large companies, big buildings, and production lines. Not anymore. Today, new manufacturing technologies, such as 3D printing, contract manufacturing, and many others are changing the world of manufacturing and democratizing an entire engineering and manufacturing discipline.  We also live longer which allows people to pursue their…

Nothing is constant, but changes. In engineering and manufacturing organizations, change orders (ECOs and MCOs) are a necessary part of the product development, manufacturing, and maintenance process. A change order defines a formal process of the design, production, or already physical product. In this article, we start a series of blogs that speaks about how…

Excel (or Spreadsheet) is a common problem for many engineers and manufacturing companies. What sounds like a simple solution (to know what parts your customers are using in their products) is not that simple. This leaves engineers, procurement, and production planners spending countless of hours on spreadsheets trying to figure out what part goes where…

OpenBOM is expanding to the AEC industry. If you missed our earlier announcement, check out our press release OpenBOM™ and VIM Announce AECBOM data management and collaboration platform for construction industry. Earlier we announced the preview of OpenBOM Add-in for Autodesk Revit. In my article today, I want to show you how you can get…

Welcome to OpenBOM's December update! I’m super excited to share information about new features and updates that are included in OpenBOM. As we are approaching the end of the year, it is also time to give you some updates about OpenBOM's business and customers. OpenBOM has been developed tremendously, check out the Looking Back in…

Im super excited to introduce you to OpenBOM's enhancements that Changes Management functions. The new functionality expanding PLM features and capabilities of OpenBOM provides support for advanced lifecycle management, change management, and configuration control. This will become available in OpenBOM's Company Subscription.  What is new in Change Management? OpenBOM's update later this week and now…

I often explain what we do at OpenBOM by saying “we build an airplane and fly it at the same time”. The number of features and functions has been growing tremendously since we last defined OpenBOM subscriptions. For the last year, we worked with thousands of engineers and manufacturing companies and we’ve added many new…

We are moving fast towards the end of 2021 and it is time to start looking back on everything that was done during the year. I wanted to give you a quick summary of what was done at OpenBOM in 2021, but quickly realized that that article will be way too long for anybody to…

As we are getting closer to the end of the year, it is a great time to talk about the OpenBOM roadmap for 2022 and speak about what was done and what is coming up next year and beyond. We live in a SaaS world and leverage all great things about being able to develop…

Holidays are always a great moment to stop and reflect on what we do, what made us who we are, and to say thank you for everything we have. We appreciate our customers, as well as all of those who make up our team! Without everyone's hard work, we wouldn't be where we are today.…

Earlier last week, I shared the first set of information about OpenBOM change management function enhancements we are planning to introduce in the next release. If you missed that, check this out -  Change Order Dashboard. New functionality will include a new change management model, which contains existing revision and change requests that now can…

Change management is a fundamental part of the engineering and manufacturing processes. In a modern manufacturing environment, it becomes even more important than ever. The complexity is growing and multiple companies are involved in development activities. Contract manufacturing is just one of the reasons. There are many others such as supply chain turbulence, cost pressure…

I’m super excited to introduce a new OpenBOM product service that is coming soon - OpenBOM Drive. The goal of the OpenBOM Drive service is to provide a mechanism for work-in-progress collaboration and file storage. OpenBOM Drive will provide virtual storage accessible via Windows File Explorer and (new) OpenBOM Document Dashboard via the browser user…

Welcome to the next session of the “Demystifying Modern PLM” event. Our online event is a set of four webinars for manufacturing companies, engineers, contractors, and suppliers who work in a modern online industrial world. If you missed our previous session you can get a recording here: Demystify Modern PLM - Product.  In this session,…

Welcome to the next session of the “Demystifying Modern PLM” event. Our online event is a set of four webinars for manufacturing companies, engineers, contractors, and suppliers who work in a modern online industrial world. If you missed our previous session you can get a recording here: Demystify Modern PLM – Sales and Marketing. In…

Welcome to the October 2021 release of OpenBOM where we continue to focus on usability and manufacturing with several exciting improvements in performance and data exporting. First, the ZIP export option delivers a single archive of files linked to your BOM, a huge efficiency boost for anyone sharing CAD, DXF,s STEPs, or other files with…

“Demystifying Modern PLM” is a four-part online virtual event for manufacturing companies, engineers, contractors, and suppliers who work in a modern online industrial world where they need to collaborate with teams located everywhere, and they must embrace the best technology to deliver innovative products. The Event  In this web event the co-founders of OpenBOM™, a…

Time is money. Nobody will argue with that. However, when it comes to engineering, time can be a lot of money. Inefficient engineering processes and data management can lead to mistakes, which will cost even more money moving forward and downstream into organizational processes. When speaking with engineers and manufacturing companies about the way they…

Outsourcing production to a contract manufacturer (CM) is a common business practice. Most brands would not be cost-effective if this option was not available. There have always been common pitfalls when manufacturing. However, COVID has highlighted some of these pitfalls and has made them more obvious.  Here are the most common pitfalls in manufacturing to…

User experience is a very important thing for us at OpenBOM and we are passionate about building a configurable and flexible user experience. OpenBOM visual dashboard for Items and BOM is the greatest example of such a user interface. The most important part of the dashboard is the ability to configure it with any set…

Part Number assignment can be a tricky process when you work with complex CAD assemblies. When you build a new design or re-use an existing design, the files can come with different names and you need to get them organized and apply part numbers to each component and assembly. It sounds like a simple task,…

Serialization is a process that allows creating a BOM with a specific (serial) part number once the product is manufactured and delivered to the customer. The serialization process can be quite complex and involves rules of how many levels (or what levels) in the product structure will be serialized. In a simple use case, only…

You have evaluated a few different contract manufacturers (CMs) and you have finally decided which CM to proceed with. This is an exciting but also nervous time.  The next step is to organize the documents and data you need to send to your CM. But, what kind of data do you need to send your…

OpenBOM is available through subscriptions. For the last few years, we made multiple transformations to OpenBOM subscription levels, improving our service and adjusting it based on customer needs, requirements and also turning it in the business that makes sense to both sides. The more successful we are, the better service we can provide to our…

I have never seen a single company that is not interested in cost calculations when it comes to product development, manufacturing, and many other processes. The ability to rollup cost (and many other attributes) is an essential part of the planning process, yet companies are struggling to do so in a very efficient way.  When…

Have you heard about Conway’s Law? I found it to be a very interesting and important topic for most product development and manufacturing organizations these days. Here is a general wording of Conway’s Law. It is named after computer programmer Melvin Conway, who introduced the idea in 1967. His original wording was: Any organization that…

User experience is a big deal these days and at OpenBOM, we pay attention on how to make continuous improvements in every aspect of the user interface and experience of our users and customers. Simplicity is hard and it sometimes takes a few attempts to get what is needed.  Today, I’m super excited to make…

The support of seamless information flow is one of the most important features when it comes to integrations between engineering and enterprise systems. Each time you eliminate the need to copy and paste data, you eliminate the chance of a mistake, and hence the quality of data grows. This leads to fewer mistakes, fewer chances…

At OpenBOM, we’ve always been focused on how to provide the most flexible solution for data management understanding that no one manufacturing company in the world is the same and to be able to adapt and support design and manufacturing processes is important without coming with a “one big bang” solution.  The Importance of Part…

Here is the story, I’m hearing every day when I talk to OpenBOM prospects. Usually, the dialog starts with how the company is managing its processes and data. For most companies, it is about designing or assembling the products. Very quickly we come to the point that the company is heavily relying on the data…

Working with data is hard, especially when you need to re-enter data multiple times alongside the information flow, duplicate operation, and do copy/paste. Badly organized information flow is the root cause of mistakes, additional costs, and delays. OpenBOM integrates with CAD software which streamlines the flow of information and eliminates the need to deal with…

Manufacturing companies are facing substantial challenges coming from multiple sources - product complexity, supply chain shortages, competition and cost pressures, innovation, and speed. Looking ahead, data is a strategic asset that all manufacturing companies need to figure out how to use. Companies are producing huge amounts of data, yet need to figure out how to…

Digital Transformation has become a priority for companies these days. We live in a time where companies are going through a massive upheaval of changing the way they design, prototype, manufacture, and operate products. Digital transformation means many things, but one thing is very clear and important - the need to change the way companies…

Data is by far one of the most strategic assets in many companies. While almost no one will argue with this statement, it is shocking to see how often manufacturing companies are ignorant to the fact and don’t count how much value they lose when dumping tons of Excels as a solution for data management. …

Almost every day, I speak to companies that state they use Excel and it is very inefficient for their data management needs. Unfortunately, these companies are so ingrained with Excel that they feel stuck and are unable to stop using it.  We hear variations of reasons for not breaking away from Excel such as, “we…

Data is a center of any modern manufacturing company. Therefore, we’ve been building the OpenBOM data management platform as a foundation of everything we do. At the same time, we didn’t want to overwhelm our customers and we wanted to bring the most simple user experience paradigm possible, which is, of course, Excel. As a…

Spreadsheets (or Excel) is the second best software to manage your data. I have a love-hate relationship with Excel and I can see how engineers and manufacturing companies may feel the same way. Excel is powerful and messy at the same time.  A spreadsheet can be a quick remedy for your problem but in the…

In my previous blog, I provided a quick introduction to OpenBOM's formulas and demonstrated how you can use formulas to rollup any property value in a BOM (eg. Cost, Mass, Volume, etc.) If you missed this article, check it out here - Jumpstart your efforts with OpenBOM cost rollup.  Use Case Today, we are going…

Modern manufacturing products are complex and contain components and elements with multiple disciplines. These are not only mechanical products, but complex systems combining mechanical components, electronics, software, and other systems.  Flexible Data Model and Multi-Disciplinary BOM  OpenBOM's flexible data model allows users to create items of different types and organize them into multi-disciplinary product structures.…

I've never in my life have had a manufacturing company tell me that cost management is not important to them. One of the most important elemental solutions OpenBOM provides that almost all users and customers are implementing is the way to manage and calculate the cost of the product, organize the list of parts to…

Intelligence is in the air these days. Every company (whether they know it or not) has a goldmine these days, and that goldmine is the data they own and produce every single day.  According to research, the global big data market size will grow from 138.9 billion USD in 2020 to 229.4 billion USD by…

Whether you are at the prototype stage, in pilot-run production, or are in mass production, quality problems most likely will occur. Contract manufacturers boast how they don’t have quality problems but honestly, they all do, and we have had a number of them as well.  However, what makes a contract manufacturer or supplier great is…

Files are basic forms that allow you to manage design information today. Despite migration to the cloud and SaaS CAD tools, the presence of files in the design, product development, and manufacturing environment is huge. Our customers are continuously looking for better options to manage native files and their derivatives in a variety of formats.…

Technology is moving forward and pushing our demands to new highs. Just a decade ago, no one was asking a toothbrush to give them recommendations on how to change the pattern they use it, your grill was not adjusting the product based on the recipe downloaded from the internet and cars were not self-adjusting to…

One of the frequently asked questions by customers is, how can OpenBOM help manage revisions and lifecycle of objects?  In my blog post today I’m going to provide a synergy of materials explaining how OpenBOM's flexible data model can be used to create a record of files and more specifically CAD files. I'll also be…

I’m super excited to share with you an early preview of OpenBOM storage functionality for OpenBOM CAD Add-ins. The functionality will be part of every OpenBOM CAD add-in (eg. Solidworks, Autodesk Inventor, Solid Edge) and it will allow storing CAD files and their derivatives in the OpenBOM storage. Before going into more detail, let me…

In my previous article, we discussed design for manufacturing (DFM) and why it is necessary.  As a refresher, as stated from Quality-One, DFM “enables a product design to be efficiently manufactured and easily assembled with minimum labor cost. Through the use of DFM/A, a company can prevent, detect, quantify and eliminate waste and manufacturing inefficiency…

Graphs and Networks are important parts of OpenBOM's vision and strategy. Today, I want to go into more detail on why it is important and how OpenBOM is using Graphs, and how we plan to offer applications for data intelligence and analytics.  Graphs and Networks  Graph technology is the foundation for many applications focusing on…

To begin the process of manufacturing, you have to calculate expenses, do resource planning, and do system items. Every case is different, so it’s challenging to calculate the exact prices and not forget any data, such as descriptions or stock numbers. What is clear is that by adding up exact expenses of maintaining infrastructure and…

When it comes to the development of data management solutions for industrial companies, manufacturing OEMs, engineers, suppliers, and contractors, we know that flexibility is a key element of successful architectures. Flexibility is a powerful concept that is appreciated by engineers and IT professionals. As much as out-of-the-box functionality is appreciated, the requirements for flexibility are…

In today's blog post we'll be finishing up a 5 part series about OpebBOM's data management best practices. If you missed the first 4 installments of this series, please check them out here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.  In the previous blog posts, I covered basic principles of OpenBOM data management…

Today, I'll be continuing a series of articles about OpenBOM data management best practices. If you missed the first 3 parts, please check this link for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.  In my previous articles, we discussed fundamental data objects (properties, catalogs, and product structure/BOM/). Today I’d like to talk about “Views”. Before continuing…

Today, I'll be continuing a series of blogs about contract manufacturing. In today's blog post I want to talk about DFM (Design For Manufacturability) and how you should think about DFM in the context of Contract Manufacturing.  Let’s assume you have a new product you’re looking at bringing to the market. You have gone through…

In today's blog post I am continuing a series of articles about OpenBOM's data management best practices. If you missed my first articles, please check this link for Part 1 and Part 2.  In the previous articles, I touched on the fundamental ideas of the OpenBOM platform, data objects, properties and explained the strategy of…

I’m continuing a series of articles about OpenBOM data management best practices. If you missed my first article, please check this link for Data Management Best Practices - Part 1.  In my article today, I will focus on how to set up building blocks for data management using OpenBOM. It includes four steps: 1/ disconnect…

OpenBOM is a SaaS network-based global collaborative platform that manages product data and connects manufacturers with their customers, contractors, and suppliers. In this article, I will speak about how you can leverage the OpenBOM data management platform in the best way.  OpenBOM Core Data Management Foundation  The core of OpenBOM is a global multi-tenant flexible…

I’m super excited to share a set of new capabilities for OpenBOM CAD integrations related to data classification. The last OpenBOM update introduced a new feature - support for CAD categories. In a nutshell, the feature allows you to classify CAD data objects according to some criteria and to store each category separately in a…

Welcome to the new OpenBOM release! It includes a lot of new and exciting features that we’ve been working on for a long time. These features include substantial enhancements to the OpenBOM object model (introducing catalog item revisions) and also introduces OpenBOM integrated file storage, which is moving from Beta status. This release represents a…

Since the rollout of the new OpenBOM Concurrent Licensing mechanism on July 1st, 2021 we've had a few customers reach out with questions pertaining to its use structure. With that in mind, I’d like to give you a short dive into how you can monitor the number of concurrent licenses used by your organization when…

Over the course of the last few blog articles, I introduced you to a few new features of Item Revisions and how Item Revisions will be seamlessly integrated and enhanced with already existing functions of BOM revisions. In this blog post we'll be digging a bit deeper.  Catalogs, Items, BOMs and Item Revisions  The foundation…

We've got some exciting news. A new catalog item revision mechanism is coming to OpenBOM in the next release. I’m sure you’ve heard about it already, but if not, please check out a few of these articles that include in-depth demo videos.  Preview - Item Revisions and File Storage First preview of Item Revision Support …

In this article, I’d like to give an overview of the recently introduced features in OpenBOM for Autodesk Fusion 360 and also provide a summary of best practices of how to use OpenBOM for Fusion 360.  A Video Demo Let’s start with this video demo below which shows you the end-to-end process of how OpenBOM…

In my last post, An Inside Look at the RFQ Process, I discussed the overall RFQ (request for quotation) process. This post went into details of what you need to provide your contract manufacturer (CM) and suppliers with for a smooth process. But after you send this to your supplier, what should you expect to…

In my article today, I’d like to continue my early preview of the new item revision functionality of OpenBOM and explain how you can manage files and item revisions together in OpenBOM Catalogs.  OpenBOM Catalog - A Database of Item Records  Catalog is a flexible database you can use to store any item information. You…

In today's blog post. I’m going to give you the first preview of OpenBOM's new Item Revision mechanism support. The purpose of the Item Revisions mechanism is to provide an out of the box support to preserve and manage granular revision history for each item in the catalog. Such support was available for Bill of…

In my short video today, I’d like to preview several new features coming in the next OpenBOM release that is soon coming. The enhancements are related to the new item revision mechanism in the catalog and OpenBOM file storage mechanism.  File Storage  OpenBOM is moving the file storage functions from “beta” support level. File storage…

When it comes to an online platform, before anything else, user experience comes first. And when it comes to the adoption of new software and new processes it matters a lot. During our years of working with customers, engineers, and manufacturing companies, we’ve learned a lot about the system adoption process.  Fixing The Most Broken…

In my blog post today, I will be discussing a very common process you can have with any company contractor and supplier. I’m sure you’ve heard about it many times - Request for Quote (RFQ)  Let’s assume your development project is coming to an end. You have vetted a few contract manufacturers (CM) and suppliers…

Digital Thread is one of the most discussed topics in engineering and manufacturing software these days. You can call it a catchy new name to replace an old-school PLM, but it actually can go much further.  What is Digital Thread?  In a nutshell, Digital Thread is all about linking data. This is how it works. …

Unless you've been living under the rock, you’ve heard about the new cool term - Digital Twin. In my previous article Digital Buzzword Detox, Digital Twin was named as one of the terms that actually have a good chance of surviving.   Models (and Model Driven Approach)  In our world, the word Model is of great…

As I’m sure you have heard, OpenBOM is moving to a concurrent licensing model. In an earlier article, I shared more information about why OpenBOM is switching to concurrent subscriptions, and today, I want to answer some typical questions about the new OpenBOM licensing and how it may or may not impact your work.  What…

The time when manufacturing companies solely focused on building mechanical products is gone forever. These days, every product is a combination of mechanical, electrical, electronics and software.  For products containing software, some of these products' software can be embedded while another portion of the software can be hosted in the cloud and connected with the…

If you are manufacturing a product with an electronic component, you most likely have heard of the chip shortage. Your prices are going up and the supply is thinning. If you are a consumer, you will start to see prices increase for everything from laptops to electric toothbrushes and everything in between.  The Wall Street…

I’m super excited to share an early preview of the new item revision mechanism we are going to introduce in the next release. This mechanism is going to expand on existing history tracking and BOM revision mechanism which already exists in OpenBOM.  OpenBOM Revision and Change Management  I'm going to take a second and give…

It's the 21st century and data has become the new oil. Companies of all types and sizes are hunting for data because it is the only way in the modern manufacturing environment to become agile and efficient, to move from selling products to selling services, and to innovate outside of a single building and a…

Data is a central focus in most modern software and experiences. Nothing is more important to users than the ability to provide a smooth and seamless information flow, capturing data, sharing data, and making data available to the right people at the right time is of the utmost importance.   OpenBOM Integrations provides an automatic process…

The manufacturing industry is slowly but surely switching from selling products to selling services.  This fundamental change is being driven by many innovative technologies such as IoT and Industry 4.0 as well as increased demand for environmentally friendly products, recycling, as well as the demand of the manufacturing companies to offer more custom products.  While…

Unfortunately, a few bad apples can spoil the bunch, this saying is true for many areas in life but especially true when it comes to creating a business relationship.   There have been a few bad contract manufacturers (CMs) that have made engineers, product development teams, and companies in general skeptical of partnering with them. So…

The manufacturing industry is in dire need of new technology to enable better connectivity between users and companies.  Times have changed and the tools used in the production process need to reflect these changes. Modern companies are working out of multiple locations and are working directly with an extensive network of suppliers and contractors.  Such…

At OpenBOM we love receiving and sharing customer stories. There is something special about being able to help your audience and customers solve problems that are otherwise holding them back.   We find that with each customer story we learn a little bit more about our client base. This in return helps us develop our platform…

Technologies are easy, but people are hard. People and education are a central place of digital transformation project failures. The adoption of software tools is a critical element in companies' digital journey. In order to support OpenBOM's growth last year, we came up with a very unique and custom-tailored onboarding program.  Customer experience is always…

Today, I want to talk about the management of revisions and files. This is a topic that is under active development at OpenBOM and I wanted to share what OpenBOM does and also give you a heads up on what we plan to bring to you in the next few months.  Our goal here at…

The steps to verify and choose your contract manufacturer (CM) are very important to lay the foundation of your relationship. However, selecting the right contract-manufacturing partner is only an intermediary step in building long-term success. The proceeding steps and results are what build the long-term relationship. Just like any business or personal relationship, you must…

A Part Number is one of those things that always generates a lot of debates and discussions among engineers and other people involved in the product development process within a manufacturing organization.  If you were to just look at the name "Part Number" you would think that such discussions are ludicrous. I mean what can…

With globalization here to stay, worldwide competition is a real and serious obstacle that most product development companies need to keep an eye on.  Globalization has made it so that what is new today may be obsolete tomorrow. Time pressure is another obstacle that is currently hurting companies in their race to deliver new products.…

According to the recent research of CIMdata, about 66% of industrial companies participating in their recent study about SaaS PLM are looking for cloud solutions right now.  While that number can seem staggering to some, I've got to say I am not one bit surprised.    In this article, I'll be sharing my insights on why…

In my previous article, I discussed how companies should be evaluating their contract manufacturer (CM). The key takeaway was to compile as much information as you could about the supplier before you move on. This first step, evaluating your supplier, will set the tone for how you proceed with the following three steps.  In this…