Is One Big Spreadsheet the right answer?
Without a doubt, everyone likes working with spreadsheets. Most people capturing and organizing data are likely to use them. Here are five reasons why I think spreadsheets are so popular:
- Simple. The idea is simple: one big table. No training required — starting is fast and simple. However, as your spreadsheet grows things become less simple — but until then, you are happy;
- Flexible. It takes time and effort planning how to capture and organize data. The flexibility of spreadsheets allow you to grow them as your requirements grow. There’s no need for data models, just enter your data and search for it afterwards;
- Absorb any data. I often want to introduce a new data type. Spreadsheets are a big help with this. Creating a new workbook, worksheet, adding columns, deleting columns, etc. is easy. Spreadsheet are data agnostic and vendor independent;
- Clear physical ownership. If you have Excel files, you don’t need to be concerned with how to save, copy, and transfer your data. The feeling of owning your work is very important and people appreciate it; and…
- Transferrable. As a file or shareable Google doc, spreadsheets can be sent to anyone. One can control how the files are saved and maintained. One can transfer them inside and outside of organizations to facilitate collaboration.
It’s because of those five reasons spreadsheets are so popular with salespeople and engineers. Is one big spreadsheet the right answer for BOM management?
When we started to think about openBoM and managing Bill of Materials (BOMs), we felt it important to adopt what people like about spreadsheets. These two sources support the notion that spreadsheets are dominant model and tools used to manage Bill of Materials.
The first is a pic from a presentation delivered by Dragon Innovation:
The second is a pic taken from a CIMdata presentation I recently attended:
Are spreadsheets the answer for managing bill of materials?
Actually, no, they are not. Spreadsheets can suck. A lot. Spreadsheets give a superficial sense of simplicity. But go deeper and you’ll discover the intractable complexity of managing BOMs on spreadsheets.
Its starts from just a few columns and parameters, because chances are good you already forgot all relevant dependencies. Making and tracking changes isn’t easily. Bringing information to spreadsheet? Definitely not simple. BOM data is in CAD files, PLM, ERP systems and external databases. “Where is my last or most current spreadsheet?” — is an often heard question. So it’s safe to say what makes spreadsheets popular come with cost.
We’ve seen the evolution of Excel spreadsheets into a collaboration tool. Google spreadsheet is my favorite example. In the last 5–6 years, Google spreadsheets evolved into a tool liked by many people. I personally use it and have found them incredibly helpful for collaborating between people. Microsoft developed an SharePoint / Excel integration and later introduced Office 365, which provide the same paradigm of data collaboration and simplicity of Google spreadsheets.
Inspiration from spreadsheets
When working on openBoM, spreadsheets were one of our biggest inspirations. We asked ourselves how we can provide our users the simplicity of spreadsheet whilst hiding the complexity of BOM and product data management. The idea of taking advantage of what makes spreadsheets so popular with users and hiding the complexity of a powerful BOM and data management system is our source of innovation. We came with a cloud data management solution that can deliver both simplicity and robustness. One that keeps the simplicity of spreadsheets while behind the scene, supporting the sophistication of data management.
This includes the flexible definition of properties, re-use of properties, and property templates. openBoM tracks all operations and captures relationships between different elements of data. In addition, openBoM creates meaningful snapshots of data called “Revisions” that are helpful for traceability, accountability and change management. Take a look on the following video demonstrating how openBoM can help to connect information between multiple bills of materials.
Conclusion
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. We are thinking how to make simple tools users will appreciate and hide the complexity of data modeling, operations and user experience behind the simple paradigm of spreadsheet. How are you managing your BOMs? Share your stories with us, please.
Oleg at @openBoM
