OpenBOM Feature Preview: Automatic Connected Items & Embedded Workspace Manager for SolidWorks

Oleg Shilovitsky
Oleg Shilovitsky
20 February, 2025 | 2 min for reading
OpenBOM Feature Preview: Automatic Connected Items & Embedded Workspace Manager for SolidWorks

At OpenBOM, we continuously strive to enhance the way engineers and manufacturers manage product data. A core part of our mission is to embed powerful tools directly into CAD applications and connect key pieces of information seamlessly to improve efficiency and collaboration.

Today, we are excited to preview two major enhancements to OpenBOM’s Design Projects functionality:

  • Embedded Workspace Manager – Now available directly within SolidWorks, eliminating the need to switch between applications.
  • Automatic Connected Items – A new capability that automatically links BOM items to design files, bridging the gap between “as-designed” and “as-engineered” data.

These updates mark a significant step in improving the user experience and ensuring that product data remains well-connected throughout the design and manufacturing process.

Embedded Workspace Manager: A More Seamless CAD Experience

Managing product data should be intuitive, not disruptive. With the new Embedded Workspace Manager, SolidWorks users can now access and manage OpenBOM Design Projects directly from within the SolidWorks interface, without needing to jump between multiple windows.

Embedded Workspace Manager

This enhancement significantly improves workflow efficiency by allowing users to:

✅ Stay within their familiar CAD environment while managing Design Projects.
✅ Quickly access BOM and project details without leaving SolidWorks.
✅ Improve focus and reduce interruptions in the design process.

💡 Coming Soon: Support for additional CAD platforms!

Automatic Connected Items: A Smarter Link Between Design & Engineering

One of the persistent challenges in product lifecycle management is keeping design data connected to BOMs. Traditionally, “as-designed” and “as-engineered” data exist in separate silos, making it difficult to maintain traceability.

Connected EBOM and As-Design

With OpenBOM’s new Automatic Connected Items feature, when you create a BOM from a SolidWorks assembly, OpenBOM now automatically links BOM items to their respective design files in Design Projects.

🔗 What This Means for You:

  • The BOM and design files remain connected, ensuring easy access to critical information.
  • Engineers can quickly trace where an item originated within the Design Project.
  • It improves collaboration between design and manufacturing teams, reducing errors and miscommunication.

This new functionality closes the loop between design and engineering by ensuring that product data remains consistent and easily accessible.

Watch the video 

Check the following video for an early preview of these functions.

Conclusion and What’s Next?

At OpenBOM, we believe that two fundamental aspects drive digital transformation in manufacturing:

1️⃣ User Experience – Tools should integrate seamlessly with existing workflows.
2️⃣ Connected Information – Data should be structured in a way that fosters collaboration and traceability.

The introduction of Embedded Workspace Manager and Automatic Connected Items represents another step forward in achieving this vision. By embedding OpenBOM deeper into CAD workflows and improving data connectivity, we are making it easier than ever for teams to manage product information effectively.

📺 Check the video demonstration, where we will showcase these new features in action and highlight how they can improve your workflow.

👉 Contact us today to learn more about how OpenBOM can help you streamline your product data management!

REGISTER FOR FREE and check how OpenBOM can help. 

Best, Oleg 

Related Posts

Also on OpenBOM

4 6
9 July, 2025

A few days ago, I posted an article titled Is your data BOMable?, where I explored the readiness of your...

8 July, 2025

Let’s be honest – keeping track of accurate Bills of Materials (BOMs) is one of the biggest challenges in engineering...

3 July, 2025

Walk into any engineering office today, and you’ll see it immediately: Excel open on someone’s screen. Spreadsheets have been the...

2 July, 2025

Engineers rarely build entirely new products from scratch. Whether designing machinery, electronics, or high-tech projects, most products are evolutions of...

1 July, 2025

At OpenBOM, our vision has always been clear – to create an open and flexible information model, built using modern...

30 June, 2025

At OpenBOM, we know that managing changes is one of the most critical – and often challenging – aspects of...

27 June, 2025

At OpenBOM, we talk to manufacturing companies of all sizes – startups, mid-sized innovators, and established enterprises, and most of...

26 June, 2025

Products are becoming increasingly complex and teams are distributed across geographies. It brings up a question about how to improve...

25 June, 2025

At OpenBOM, we make engineering data accessible to business functions—procurement planning, supply chain management, cost estimation, and more.But to make...

To the top