Live Workshop: Production Planning & Inventory Control Processes

Oleg Shilovitsky
Oleg Shilovitsky
18 October, 2023 | 3 min for reading
Live Workshop: Production Planning & Inventory Control Processes

In today’s fast-paced manufacturing landscape, the key to success lies in efficiently connecting various processes within your organization. Among these processes, two critical silos are engineering and procurement. The ability to seamlessly connect these departments can significantly accelerate the product development process, reducing lead times and improving overall efficiency. OpenBOM’s production planning and control system plays a central role in bridging this gap, making it an indispensable tool for modern manufacturers.

The key fundamental process in OpenBOM connecting engineering to manufacturing is the new product development process. It includes multiple stages, but most importantly allows multiple people and departments to work together fast in an agile collaborative environment. 

OpenBOM Catalogs: The Central Hub

At the heart of OpenBOM’s production planning and inventory control processes lies the concept of catalogs. These catalogs serve as a centralized database that houses all essential components, including inventory information, vendor data, and comprehensive engineering details. Having all this information in one place simplifies decision-making, reduces errors, and enhances collaboration between engineering and procurement teams.

BOMs in OpenBOM: The Recipe for the Product

Bill of Materials (BOMs) are the blueprint of any manufacturing process. In OpenBOM, BOMs are more than just a list of parts; they are a recipe for what your company needs to build a product successfully. What sets OpenBOM apart is its ability to automatically generate BOMs from CAD systems, saving time and minimizing the risk of manual errors. These BOMs serve as the foundation for future order creation, ensuring that all necessary components are accounted for.

Orders: Streamlining the Process

Production planning is a complex task that involves coordinating various components and resources. OpenBOM simplifies this process through its order management system. Orders act as a batch mechanism to plan production, and OpenBOM automates the calculation of gaps in inventory, helping you make informed decisions. With this information at your fingertips, you can effortlessly generate Purchase Orders (POs) or Request for Quotations (RFQs) to vendors, ensuring that you have the right parts at the right time.

Production Planning Process in OpenBOM

Let’s take a closer look at how OpenBOM seamlessly connects the dots from Computer-Aided Design (CAD) to Purchase Orders (POs):

CAD Integration: Engineers design the product using CAD systems, and OpenBOM automatically generates BOMs from these designs.

Catalogs and Inventory: The BOMs are populated with data from catalogs, including inventory information and vendor details.

Production Planning: OpenBOM’s order management system calculates gaps in inventory and streamlines the production planning process.

Vendor Communication: POs or RFQs are sent to vendors, ensuring timely procurement of necessary components.

OpenBOM Live Workshops: Learning from the Experts

To help you harness the full potential of OpenBOM, we’ve introduced a new format called OpenBOM Live Workshops. These sessions provide an opportunity for anyone interested in OpenBOM to learn how it can revolutionize production planning and ordering processes.

Recently, Pedro Branco, our customer success specialist, and Jared Haw, our VP of Revenue, conducted a live workshop, showcasing the power of OpenBOM in production planning. You can watch the recording of this insightful session.

Conclusion: Speeding Up New Product Development

OpenBOM’s production planning and control processes offer manufacturers a game-changing solution. By seamlessly connecting engineering and procurement, OpenBOM accelerates product development, saving time and ensuring efficient operations. The foundation for new product development is built on OpenBOM’s robust BOM and production planning capabilities. Embrace OpenBOM and experience the transformation of your manufacturing processes into agile, efficient, and highly effective operations.

REGISTER FOR FREE and start a 14-day trial to check how it can help you today.

Best, Oleg

Related Posts

Also on OpenBOM

4 6
5 February, 2026

Getting started with engineering software should feel like starting work, not like starting a procurement process. Yet many teams still...

4 February, 2026

Most product teams collaborate all the time. Engineers work in CAD systems and exchange files. BOMs are exported to Excel...

3 February, 2026

When people talk about inventory management or purchase orders, the conversation usually starts in accounting or ERP systems. That is...

2 February, 2026

This is the first article in a new series called “OpenBOM: Getting Started 2026.”  The idea behind this series is...

30 January, 2026

One of the things that has always bothered me about PLM and PDM software is how hard it is to...

29 January, 2026

Across the manufacturing industry, digital transformation initiatives often begin with ambitious investments in digital technologies. Sensors are installed, dashboards are...

28 January, 2026

Managing a bill of materials for a SolidWorks sheet metal design is very different from managing a standard mechanical part....

27 January, 2026

Bill of materials cost analysis is a foundational practice in modern manufacturing operations. Without a structured approach to BOM cost...

24 January, 2026

In a recent article, Why ECOs Need a Workspace: Rethinking the ECO for Agentic Change, I focused on a fundamental...

To the top