VIDEO: OpenBOM Data Model Explained

Oleg Shilovitsky
Oleg Shilovitsky
20 August, 2020 | 2 min for reading
VIDEO: OpenBOM Data Model Explained

Flexibility is the key to efficient product data management. Therefore at OpenBOM, we developed the most robust and flexible data model to support product information. Watch the video to learn more about OpenBOM data model

 In this video, I explain 2 fundamental elements of OpenBOM: 

– Items 

– Bill of Materials. 

An item can be anything – screw finished product or even labor. OpenBOM allows you to create a classification of items using a catalog mechanism. Attributes of them items are completely flexible – you can add any property and by doing so to create any semantics for an item – part number, description, cost, manufacturer name, supplier, etc. 

Bill of Materials allows you to create an actual product definition. Once you create a bill of materials you can insert an item from a catalog. An instance of the item can be extended by instance-level properties. Again, you can add any number of instance-level properties – eg. Quantity, Reference Designator, Calculated cost, etc. 

Check out more in our OpenBOM Training Library – Understand OpenBOM

Conclusion 

OpenBOM provides a very flexible and robust data model capable to create a full reference-instance product structure of the product. The main two elements of OpenBOM data model – a catalog and BOM allows to create a database of items and instantiate it in the different product structure. OpenBOM is a full SaaS application. You can register and try to create a product structure using OpenBOM just in few clicks.  Check what OpenBOM can do for you today, by starting a free 14-days trial using a one-click registration.

Best, Oleg @ openbom dot com.

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

Read OpenBOM customer reviews on G2 Crowd to learn what customers are saying about OpenBOM. 

Related Posts

Also on OpenBOM

4 6
23 January, 2026

When customers succeed, their products grow. When products grow, product data grows with them. What often breaks along the way...

23 January, 2026

Over the past few weeks, we’ve received reports from some customers experiencing issues when using OpenBOM with Autodesk Fusion. We...

21 January, 2026

Understanding how hierarchical structure and product structure work across engineering and manufacturing represents one of the most critical capabilities for...

20 January, 2026

A recent LinkedIn comment from Scott Morris captured something many manufacturing companies are quietly struggling with but rarely say out...

19 January, 2026

When experienced configuration management practitioners repeatedly say “CAD is not a part,” it is usually a signal that the industry...

15 January, 2026

The manufacturing companies are not what they used to be. In fact, there often isn’t a single company anymore. The...

14 January, 2026

One of the goals behind the new OpenBOM licensing model is very simple:make it easy to start, even if you...

13 January, 2026

Every engineering team and manufacturing company is using Excel. For years, we thought Excel was a technical problem. But I...

12 January, 2026

At OpenBOM, design integrations are not treated as optional add-ons or isolated utilities. They are a core part of how...

To the top