November 25, 2020
I’m super excited to share some news about the coming new OpenBOM release, which will include new options to stop rollup calculations based on a specific custom condition. Feel confused? Let me explain it from the beginning…
Think about a multi-level assembly, which uses some sub-assembly you plan to purchase from the external contractors. A typical example would a pump or electrical motor, but I’m sure you can come with many others. At the same time, you have a 3D model of the product with this “purchased assembly” and you need its parts to be in the BOM because of different reasons (eg. mass, compliance, and others). Let’s say I need to run a cost calculation, but I want to rollup the formula stop under certain conditions. It is hard to define these conditions upfront, but thanks to OpenBOM flexible data model, you define a property that can say, it is a purchased assembly or a normal assembly.
A new coming feature to OpenBOM doe exactly that. It is super flexible and easy to define. Here is an example of the formula builder with a new feature.
Things can be implemented in a very simple way. You can introduce any property (eg. Item Type) with a value that will become criteria to stop a rollup calculation. In my example, the “Purchased” value is a criterion, but you can define your own.
Check the video below for the early demo and example of how to use it.
Conclusion
New formula enhancements provide a super-flexible way to created conditional rollups. The use cases are not limited to cost rollup but can be used practically for anything. I’d love to share more examples, so if you have ideas beyond cost, please bring them up to us and we would love to share them with others.
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Best, Oleg @ openbom dot com.
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