How create multi-level Bill of Materials in OpenBOM from scratch

One of the most often asked question on OpenBOM website is how to create multi-level (or how people sometime call it “nested”) Bill of Materials. People often confused about the definition of multi-level BOM. I found the following TechTarget article as a very good source of information.

Navigate to What is Bill of Materials article. It offers a very clean definition of BOMs and 2 types of BOM structures: single-level and multi-level.

Typically, a BOM is hierarchical in nature, with the finished product at the top. It includes product codes, part descriptions, quantities, costs and additional specifications. Among the most common methods of representing a BOM are the following:

• Single-level bill of materials, which is a relatively simple list for a product. In this type, each assembly or subassembly is shown only once, with the corresponding quantity required of each to make the product. Though easy to develop, this type of BOM is unsuitable for complex products because it does not specify the relationship between parent and child parts or between assemblies and subassemblies. If the product fails, a single-level BOM makes it difficult to determine which part needs to be replaced or repaired.
• Multilevel bill of materials, which takes more work to create but offers greater details and specificity on the parent and child parts in the product. In a multilevel BOM, the total material required is shown. Additionally, the product structure is indented to show the relationship between the parent and child product, as well as assemblies and subassemblies.

I captured the following picture as an example.

I thought Wheelbarrow is a good example of simple product I can use to demonstrated how OpenBOM can handle the task.

To create multi-level BOM is sometimes tricky and requires some skills and product knowledge. At OpenBOM we are looking how to provide seamless and easy way to edit information. Multi-level BOM included.

Below you can see a video that I capture creating a structure of BOM from the picture above. I used “restructure” editing method OpenBOM provides in multi-level BOM.

The video is logically contains 3 steps:

1. Get prepared the environment — create BOM, add properties (columns). Note I used preconfigured View (Default View) that included all properties I needed in BOM.
2. Editing top level subassemblies — at that stage BOM is really flat — nothing is nested.
3. Including parts and restructuring sub-assemblies. This is where magic of level down restructure happened. I used “Level down” command.

Conclusion.

To create and manage multi-level BOM is one of the most complicated tasks in Bill of Materials management. It can lead to many mistakes and it requires sophistication. At OpenBOM we took on a challenge to make Multi-level BOM done as simple as Excel, but actually manage it in a structured way, keep history and support collaboration. We are big advocates of agile development. So, what you can see in the video above is the most updated OpenBOM version. However, we are looking forward to your feedback and comments to make it better. Remember, OpenBOM new version is going out every 4 weeks.

Stay tuned and let me know what you think.

Best, Oleg

PS. Let’s get to know each other better. If you live in the Greater Boston area, I invite you for a coffee together (coffee is on me). If not nearby, let’s have a virtual coffee session — I will figure out how to send you a real coffee.

Want to learn more about PLM? Check out my Beyond PLM blog and PLM Book website.