September was a milestone month for OpenBOM with the debut of the AI Agent and MCP Server (Private Beta) — a major step toward conversational, intelligent product data workflows.
We also added practical improvements, including an easier way to view Item Revisions, a streamlined Billing Dashboard for account owners, faster Smart Sync for CAD derivative files, and a new integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
To look more in details at these updates, explore how they bring us closer to our vision of connected, graph-driven product data with built-in intelligence to simplify everyday engineering and supply-chain work.
Let’s talk about all these and other topics in more detail.
AI Agent & MCP Server (Private Beta)
In this release, we are thrilled to introduce a major leap in how OpenBOM enables intelligent interaction with product data: the OpenBOM AI Agent with MCP (Model Context Protocol) support, now available in private beta. This is not just a new feature — it’s a new foundation for bridging spreadsheets, CAD data, and conversational AI workflows in product development and manufacturing.
Why this matters
Many engineering teams live in the world of Excel and siloed CAD files. While conventional PLM or PDM systems aim to centralize data, they often remain rigid, disconnected, or user-unfriendly. The real promise of AI is not just automation, but providing contextual intelligence across the product lifecycle.
OpenBOM’s vision is to enable “invisible” engineering workflows, where AI agents can understand your existing tools, ingest data automatically, link it into a shared knowledge graph, and allow you to ask questions or trigger actions in plain language. With this release, we begin turning that vision into reality.
What does it include
AI BOM Agent + MCP support (private beta): The heart of this release. Selected customers and partners can now bring in Excel BOMs and CAD data and see it transformed into structured, queryable product information within OpenBOM.PRESS RELEASE: OpenBOM Announces Private Beta of AI BOM Agent with MCP Support
Conversational interface + MCP protocol access: Users can ask questions like “Where is this part used?” or “List assemblies containing component X,” via chat UI. On the backend, the system translates that into structured queries via MCP.OpenBOM AI Agent with MCP Support: Private Beta and First Video Demo
Full Text Search: You can now search your product data using natural language keywords, without knowing where things are stored or which field to query.OpenBOM MCP New Functions Update: Full Text Search and Automatic Reporting
Quantity / Automatic Reporting: Ask the agent to generate reports such as cost summaries or parts usage across BOMs. The agent uses MCP and the structured data to produce reliable outputs.OpenBOM MCP New Functions Update: Full Text Search and Automatic Reporting
Agentic integration & workflows: Because data is exposed via MCP, developers or low-code/automation platforms (e.g. n8n) can hook into the agent and build multi-step pipelines across engineering, procurement, or ERP systems.OpenBOM AI Agent with MCP Support: Private Beta and First Video Demo
How it works: Architecture & pipeline
Data ingestion & structuring
You upload or connect your Excel BOMs and CAD files. The system parses them, maps fields, and ingests them into OpenBOM’s internal graph-based data model
Expose via MCP (Model Context Protocol)
MCP is a protocol that standardizes how structured and unstructured product data is exposed to AI agents and external tools. Through MCP, the data becomes queryable, navigable, and machine-readable in a consistent way.
Natural language mapping / Agent interface
The conversational agent (chat UI) takes user queries in natural language and maps them via a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) or intent-parsing layer into structured operations. The MCP server handles those requests, runs the queries, and returns structured results.
Results, visualization & automation
Results can be returned in lists, tables, graphs, or reports. From there, you can trigger downstream workflows or hooks into other systems. Because the data is structured, the agent is also capable of chaining operations or automating processes.
Roadmap & Vision: What comes next
This private beta is just phase one. Some of the features we are actively exploring next:
The OpenBOM AI Agent is evolving from a question-answering tool into an active partner in engineering and supply-chain decisions. It will flag BOM issues early, suggest alternates, and surface opportunities for optimization.
Upcoming capabilities include automatic validation to catch missing data, duplicates, or unit mismatches before they cause delays, and costing and trade-off analysis to compare supplier or component scenarios directly in OpenBOM.
The conversational interface will support multi-turn, drill-down dialogues, letting users refine questions naturally, and will add visual graph exploration to switch seamlessly between chat and interactive product views.
We’re also strengthening integration with ERP, procurement, and PLM systems, ensuring that insights from the AI Agent flow across the full product lifecycle.
The overarching goal is to evolve toward a product memory — a persistent, intelligent model of the product and its context, accessible by both humans and machines.
Private Beta: How to join & feedback
The private beta is currently available to select customers and partners. Participants will have early access to the ingestion pipeline, chat interface, and MCP features, and are encouraged to provide feedback that will shape the future versions. OpenBOM+2
If you or your team are interested in participating, contact OpenBOM (e.g. via support or your account rep) to request access. Your use cases, feedback, and data will help guide the prioritization of features and improvements
Item Revisions from Items Panel
You asked… we listened…. We just released an easy way to see all the revisions of any Item directly from the Items dashboard. 1/ Locate and select the item with Search or Browse, 2/ The Item Info panel will display, if there are revisions, the Revisions icon will appear, 3/ Click the Icon to see the full list of Item Revisions in a new Tab. It’s that easy.
Billing Page for Account Owners
OpenBOM is bringing an integrated billing system to its customers. In the coming few weeks, we will start transferring accounts to the new way you can see your account invoices, payments, and all other information.
It will be a gradual process- once your account is transferred, you will be able to see a “BIlling” menu available for each account owner.
Optimize CAD Derivative Files Synchronization
(Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks, coming to remaining CADs in the next release)
The automatic creation of CAD derivative files is one of the most powerful features of OpenBOM. Automatically create STEP, STL, PDF, DXF, and many more.
Likewise, Smart Sync from OpenBOM Workspace Manager efficiently manages file synchronization by transferring only those files that have changed. A significant improvement in User Experience, performance, and reduced bandwidth strain.
In this release, we’ve combined the two in such a way that only CAD derivative files that have changed in your design will cause the (re)creation of these derivative files.
This means that if a CAD file has not changed, and it is already an item in OpenBOM (in other words, you’ve already sent it to OpenBOM), we will not ask the CAD system to recreate the derivative (STEP, DXF, etc).
This is a huge time saver when updating existing files and BOMs.
In the example below, I made a change to a single file, and (after the initial smart sync with the feature enabled), only files affected by the change (models and drawings) will be generated and sent.
The time to send all 300+ files was reduced from 6 minutes to less than 30 seconds.
OpenBOM for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
With this release, we continue our rapid pace of delivering at least one significant ERP integration per release. This month, it is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
This integration provides a direct way to move Item/BOM data from OpenBOM into Business Central for purchasing, inventory, and production planning. It can be done as a built-in workflow, ensuring data flows consistently and securely between the two systems.
The connector supports multi-level BOM structures, preserving the hierarchy of assemblies, subassemblies, and components. It transfers key product data—including part numbers, descriptions, costs, and vendor details—as well as file attachments such as drawings, PDFs, and STEP models. A built-in mapping tool allows users to configure how OpenBOM properties correspond to fields in Business Central, giving teams control over which data is sent. Once a BOM is finalized, the export can be triggered directly from OpenBOM, and the transfer is handled automatically in the background.
Check the sample video with the demo
A demonstration of the release used a road bike product to show how the integration performs in practice. The BOM contained multiple assemblies (frame, wheels, drivetrain) with detailed part data, supplier information, and attached documentation. After export, the same structure appeared in Business Central, with the correct hierarchy, properties, and linked attachments intact. This example highlights the integration’s ability to maintain data integrity across systems.
The integration is built to reduce duplicate data entry, errors, and delays during the handoff from engineering to operations. By automating this workflow, it improves the accuracy and consistency of BOM data across departments and ensures that purchasing and manufacturing teams work with the same product definition as engineering.
OpenBOM–Business Central connection is part of OpenBOM Enterprise Subscription. Learn more about it here – OpenBOM Integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Bugs & Improvements
As always, we fixed a number of issues and bugs reported by our customers and internal teams. Here is a list of some of them.
- Fixed a Case in the AI agent where the predictive button was not active
- It was possible to get an infinite spinner when sending to NetSuite. Fixed.
- Autodesk Fusion warning messages have been improved
- Fixed a case when Orders were updating with BOM Name changes
- Had a rare case when OpenBOM for Aras Innovator missed derivative file(s). Fixed.
- PTC Creo Quickstart part numbering now follows the expected format
- Improved the “Import into BOM” workflow to recognize properties in the contextual BOM. In other words, if REF DES exists in the BOM and you import data with a REF DES property, those values will go to the BOM. We had a case where that did not always work properly. We fixed it. Sorry for the inconvenience.
- Fixed a case when a Change Orders might not appear in the Change Management Dashboard(s)
- A customer reported a weird SSO case when the port numbers were not recognized.. Fixed.
- Improved the PTC Onshape Webhook timeout to better communicate with the Onshape API handler
- The Public API documentation was updated with a few examples.
Conclusion
The September 2025 release marks an important step forward for OpenBOM as we continue to blend intelligence, performance, and connectivity into a unified platform for engineering and manufacturing teams. By introducing the AI Agent with MCP Server in private beta, we’re laying the foundation for conversational product data access and decision support that extends far beyond traditional PLM boundaries. Combined with practical improvements like Item Revisions in the Items Panel, Smart Sync optimization for CAD derivatives, and the new Billing Dashboard, this release delivers both immediate value and a glimpse into the future of more automated, insight-driven workflows.
Looking ahead, these updates are just the beginning of a broader vision: a connected, graph-driven product memory that helps teams make better decisions faster. We invite customers and partners to explore these new capabilities, share feedback, and join us on this journey to transform how product data is managed, connected, and used across the entire lifecycle.
Have questions? Contact our support team to talk.
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Best, Oleg
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