BOM and revision management in your ERP
For complex and customer-specific products the BOM is the basis of costing, purchasing, scheduling and production. A wrong or outdated revision carries through the whole chain.
Good BOM and revision management means: multi-level BOMs with dimensions and material loss, revisions with a clear status, and released structures that do not change casually. In Digital WorkMate revisions have the status work in progress, released or obsolete; released structures are protected against changes. A CAD/PDM integration for automatic takeover is not standard; you can load BOMs through the Excel import.
What to look for when choosing
- Does the system support multi-level BOMs and phantom assemblies?
- Can you record length, width and height and include saw or cutting loss?
- Do revisions have a status and are released revisions protected against changes?
- Does costing follow directly from the BOM, up to reserving, purchasing or producing?
- Can you import existing BOMs reliably and update them repeatedly?
BOMs with dimensions and loss
Multi-level BOMs with phantom assemblies, dimensions (length, width, height) and material-loss rules for saw and cutting loss.
Revisions with a clear status
Work in progress, released and obsolete. Released structures are protected against changes, so an approved structure does not change unnoticed.
From BOM to costing and action
Cost estimates follow the BOM. Per component you reserve stock, create a purchase demand or prepare a production order; a make-or-buy advice helps with the choice.
Product options decide which BOM lines apply to an order or estimate; there is no rule-based product configurator.
What Digital WorkMate offers for this today
For each part you can see whether it is fully or partially available.
- Products and product groupsAvailable
Central item catalogue with units, packaging, sourcing type (purchased, manufactured, customer supplied) and custom attributes per product group.
- Multi-level bills of materialsAvailable
Multi-level BOMs with phantom assemblies, dimensions (length, width, height) and material-loss rules for saw and cutting loss.
- Product revisionsAvailable
Revisions with work-in-progress, released and obsolete status; released structures are protected against changes.
- Product options and variantsPartial
Commercial options decide which BOM lines apply to an order or estimate; no rule-based product configurator.
- Cost estimatingAvailable
Cost estimates based on the BOM; one action per component to reserve stock, create a purchase demand or a production order.
- Make-or-buy adviceAvailable
Transparent, rule-based advice per component on whether to make or buy it.
- Excel import with rule-driven mappingAvailable
Visual workflow editor to transform Excel columns and map them to DWM fields; repeatable through key fields, suitable for data migration.
BOM and revision management: frequently asked questions
What is a phantom assembly in a BOM?
A phantom assembly is an intermediate level that you use to structure the BOM but do not stock or produce separately; its components flow straight into the parent product. Digital WorkMate supports phantom assemblies in multi-level BOMs.
Can I still change a released BOM by accident?
No. Revisions have the status work in progress, released or obsolete, and released structures are protected against changes.
Can I take over BOMs from my CAD or PDM system?
There is no standard CAD/PDM integration for automatic takeover. You can load BOMs with the Excel import, which is repeatable through key fields, and you can build your own integration with the REST API.
Is there a product configurator?
Partly: commercial options decide which BOM lines apply to an order or estimate. There is no rule-based configurator.
Related pages
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