Managing bill of materials (BOMs) is a crucial aspect of manufacturing. Accurate and up-to-date BOMs are essential for efficient production, compliance with regulations and standards, and ensuring the quality of the final product. However, managing BOMs can be a complex and challenging task. This article will discuss some common problems associated with BOM management. We’ll also examine how Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central can streamline BOM management. Finally, we’ll introduce the Multi-Level BOM Viewer app from Insight Works, an add-on for Business Central that can help manufacturers to optimize their BOM management process.
BOM Problems Faced by Manufacturers
Managing BOMs can be a complex task, and it’s not uncommon for manufacturers to face a set of challenges, including:
- Keeping BOMs up-to-date and accurate: As products and their components change over time, ensuring that BOMs reflect the most current information can be complex.
- Lack of visibility and collaboration: Without a centralized system for managing BOMs, different departments may be working with other versions of the same information, leading to confusion and errors.
- Inconsistencies and errors in BOMs: BOMs can contain errors or inconsistencies, such as duplicate items, incorrect quantities, or outdated information, leading to production delays and increased costs.
- Managing large and complex BOMs: BOMs for large and complex products can be challenging to understand and manage, especially when they have many levels of components.
- Managing phased-out and obsolete components: As products and components are phased out or become obsolete, it can be challenging to ensure that BOMs are updated accordingly.
The Consequences of Poorly Managed BOMs
The problems associated with BOM management can have significant consequences for manufacturers, including:
- Production Delays and Inefficiencies: Inaccurate BOMs can cause delays in production as they can lead to missing components, incorrect quantities, or the use of outdated information. This can cause delays in assembly and lead to inefficiencies in the production process.
- Increased Costs: Inaccurate BOMs can lead to increased costs in several ways. For example, if a BOM includes incorrect quantities or outdated information, it can lead to overproduction or underproduction. This can result in wasted materials and labor costs. Additionally, if a BOM includes incorrect or obsolete components, it can lead to increased costs in rework or scrap.
- Quality Issues: Inaccurate BOMs can lead to incorrect components or quantities. This can lead to product failures, defects, or recalls, leading to financial loss, damage to the company’s reputation, and legal issues.
Difficulty in Traceability: Inaccurate BOMs can make tracing a product’s origin, the components used, and the manufacturing process challenging. This can be a significant issue when dealing with safety-critical products, such as aerospace and medical devices, or in the case of recalls or product liability issues. - Difficulty in managing phased-out and obsolete components: As products and components are phased out or become obsolete, ensuring that BOMs are updated accordingly can be challenging. This can lead to inventory and supply chain issues and production delays if obsolete components are still used in BOMs.
Using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central to Help Manage BOMs
is a cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that helps manufacturers manage their BOMs. Key features include:
- Centralized BOM management: Business Central allows manufacturers to create, manage, and access BOMs in a centralized location, ensuring that all departments work with the same information.
- Automated BOM updates: Business Central can automatically update BOMs when items are added, modified, or removed from the system, ensuring that BOMs are always up-to-date and accurate.
- Version control: Business Central provides version control for BOMs, allowing manufacturers to track changes, understand the impact of those changes, and report on them.
- BOM cost management: Business Central can calculate each BOM’s cost based on its components’ cost, allowing manufacturers to track their costs and make informed decisions about their products.
- Inventory management: Business Central provides inventory management capabilities, which help manufacturers track components’ availability and manage inventory levels.
- Supply Chain Management: Business Central allows manufacturers to connect and collaborate with suppliers, which helps to improve visibility and collaboration throughout the supply chain.
User Challenges when Managing BOMs in Business Central
While Dynamics 365 Business Central helps manufacturers manage BOMs by providing a centralized platform, navigating BOMs within Business Central can sometimes take time and effort.
Business Central’s BOM management system allows for multiple levels of components, making it difficult for users to understand the overall structure of a BOM. Additionally, with complex BOMs (or even simple BOMs), it can be difficult for users to make changes, such as adding or removing components, without introducing errors or inconsistencies.
Filling the Gaps in Business Central with the Multi-Level BOM Viewer App
The from is an add-on for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central that helps to streamline the BOM management process. The app provides an easy-to-use interface for viewing and editing BOMs. This can help to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the BOM management process by providing users with all the information and tools they need in one central location.
Some of the features and benefits of those using the Multi-Level BOM Viewer app include:
- An easy-to-use interface for viewing and editing BOMs,
- Detailed BOM information, including multiple levels of components, making it easy to understand the overall structure of a BOM,
- Quickly identify if an item can be produced based on available raw materials,
- Making necessary changes to BOMs without having to jump from screen to screen, which can help to reduce errors and inconsistencies,
- Improving the efficiency and accuracy of the BOM management process,
- An enhanced user experience by providing a more straightforward, more organized, and efficient way of working with BOMs,
- Providing an easy way to track the status of all BOMs and items,
- Ability to export BOMs from and to Excel, and
- Improved visibility and collaboration with suppliers.
The Multi-Level BOM Viewer is part of the , a suite of add-ons for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central that can help streamline and optimize the planning and production process. The Enhanced Planning Pack app includes several other tools like a planning worksheet, forecasting worksheet, and routing analysis tool. These tools work together to provide manufacturers with a comprehensive and integrated solution for managing their production process.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive and efficient solution for managing your BOMs, we recommend checking out the Multi-Level BOM Viewer app from Insight Works. This app, part of the Enhanced Planning Pack, provides an easy-to-use interface, detailed BOM information, real-time inventory updates, and other features that can streamline your BOM management process, improve the efficiency and accuracy of your production process and enhance your overall planning process. We encourage you to look at the Multi-Level BOM Viewer app and see how it can benefit your organization.
To learn more, check out the video below, and contact your Microsoft Partner or visit .
