OpenBOM Multi-level BOM 101

For the last few days, I’ve got several support requests from our users manually creating multi-level bill of materials. There are few articles about it in our help.

Recent introduction of Views in OpenBOM, created some changes in the way you control properties in BOM grid and I wanted to use this opportunity also to show how it can be applied in multi-level BOMs.

Today, I will show you a short video demonstrating how to create a simple BOM for Skateboard project. My fictitious skateboard contains very few items. It has Axle assembly, Board and Breaks. In addition to that, Skate Axle assembly contains axle and wheels.

Pretty simple.. Huh? Think about is following structure.

The following video is a demonstration how to create such a simple structure as a multi-level BOM in OpenBOM.

So, here is summary of steps:

1. Register for OpenBOM (I didn’t demo it, but you can certainly create a new account)
2. Create BOM for skateboard assembly, add some properties
3. Create BOM for Axle subassembly part.
4. Add properties and add parts — Axle and Wheel.
5. Close BOM and OpenBOM multi-level BOM view.
6. Remaining part is how to control what properties you see in the grid. So, we move to View config and add an additional property.

So, check video- it is simple and easy.

You probably noticed absences of screws in my scenario. I will come to this later in my future articles.

Conclusion:

I hope you’ve got some idea how to operate OpenBOM and manually create multi-level BOM. Starting OpenBOM from scratch and just working with BOMs is one of possible ways to create BOMs. It is not a replacement for OpenBOM integrations with Excels and CAD systems. However, it is a good jumpstart to get familiar with OpenBOM basics. This video covers very basic scenario and in future blogs I will expand it with scenarios of managing Parts , Catalogs and integrating with CAD systems.

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.