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Active Sensing, Inc. Visit us at www.BuyPLM.

com
18-Jul-2007
Template column Function or usage
Parent assembly to be specified by BOM author
Parent assembly should not need to change contents of these cells
Child items these are common item properties shared by all assemblies
Assembly details these values may be unique for this assembly
Source items these supplier source items are related to child items, and independent of assembly details
Source items do not change contents of these cells
Find Item locator on assembly drawing, so that assembly drawing does not have to maintain actual part number
Owner Company responsible for creating or specifying the capabilities and performance of applied item (usually the assembly owner, or "home" organization)
Type Classification of the item, typically with a unique set of business rules
Number Item identifier, typically corresponding to an inventory location
Revision Data record iteration; best practice is that physical items do not have revisions, but their data records may
Description Summarizes the major characteristics of item
Quantity Number of units required for current assembly
Units Units of measure
RefDes Identifies the schematic and/or physical location a single instance of a child item
Supplier Company responsible for creating or specifying the capabilities and performance of supplied item (the "partner" organization)
Identifier Supplier's part number
UnitCost Cost of a single unit in same Units as child item
Extended Cost of a single unit, multiplied by the Quantity
Note:
Some of the risks of using Excel:
1 Use caution when sorting. Since cells are not tied together, sorting a list by, say, part Number or Type
risks mismatching adjacent cells. Any SUM() that relies on rows should also be checked.
2 Inspect each BOM carefully after every edit. You'll be entering the same data over and over again and
any cell can be changed (even accidentally), so it's likely that a child part number or description on one
assembly may not match the same part on a different assembly.
3
Changes in one place won't get propagated across all other assemblies. Each spreadsheet must be
separately discovered and updated (imagine changing the supplier source for a single screw or resistor).
4 Watch out for proprietary data, which may need to be cleaned before sharing with your supply chain (do
you want your new suppliers to know what you pay your current suppliers?).
5 Carefully verify that units of measure are consistent (no mixing "each" and "gram") and calculated to
ensure that the cost roll-up is correct. If a wire is specified in mm, and purchased in cm, will that
conversion be caught?
6 When you decide to adopt a true BOM database system, you'll find that spreadsheets with little or no
formatting will import easier than highly formatted (and more readable) spreadsheets. This BOM
spreadsheet template will be somewhat useful for importing into a PLM database, but be careful about
making significant changes (for example, do not put supplier parts directly below home parts).
7 Ensure you have access to all released BOMs every time you revise an item. Searching across
spreadsheets to discover where a specific item is used is difficult, slow and error-prone.
8 Keep good records. There is no audit trail to identify why or when a change was made, or who
authorized it.
9 Review and enforce business rules, such as item numbering and data revisioning, change approval
authority, and using approved suppliers.
10 Verify each item's release status (pending, released, canceled) and lifecycle (prototype, production,
obsolete) to ensure production assemblies aren't using prototype, unreleased or canceled parts.
Excel is a very cheap solution that could easily cost you a lot of money in time & errors.
On the other hand, PDXpert PLM offers:
1 Automatic assignment of part numbers according to specified rules
2 Free-form text searches to precisely locate exact matches and possible alternate parts
Many people hope to use Excel to manage bills of materials because it's commonly available, relatively cheap,
and very familiar. While we've tried to make a useable BOM template, the fact is that Excel makes a really
poor BOM tool compared to a specialized PLM database, and in most cases we don't recommend its use.
3 Snapshot duplication of an existing BOM for modification
4 Drag and drop of complete items onto the BOM
5 automatic application of each child item's current revision to existing BOMs; the released assembly
always shows the latest released child item revision
6 Built-in "where used" lists for each item in your database: what assemblies use it, where it appears as a
source, and what changes have affected it
7 Instant information about each item's release status and lifecycle
8 Unlimited supplier sources with preferred rank
9 Design, production and acceptance files attached directly to database items, for immediate viewing by
engineers, quality personnel and supply chain managers
10 Data export for supply chain data exchange
11 A full audit trail of all changes
You can download a free, fully-functional evaluation of PDXpert PLM now. Visit us at www.BuyPLM.com
Company responsible for creating or specifying the capabilities and performance of applied item (usually the assembly owner, or "home" organization)
Company responsible for creating or specifying the capabilities and performance of supplied item (the "partner" organization)
BuyPLM.com YourCompany Assembly
Find Owner Type Number Revision Description
1 YourCompany
2 YourCompany
3 YourCompany
4 YourCompany
5 YourCompany
6 YourCompany
7 YourCompany
8 YourCompany
9 YourCompany
10 YourCompany
11 YourCompany
12 YourCompany
13 YourCompany
14 YourCompany
15 YourCompany
16 YourCompany
17 YourCompany
18 YourCompany
19 YourCompany
20 YourCompany
21 YourCompany
22 YourCompany
23 YourCompany
24 YourCompany
25 YourCompany
26 YourCompany
27 YourCompany
28 YourCompany
29 YourCompany
30 YourCompany
31 YourCompany
32 YourCompany
33 YourCompany
34 YourCompany
35 YourCompany
36 YourCompany
37 YourCompany
38 YourCompany
39 YourCompany
40 YourCompany
41 YourCompany
42 YourCompany
43 YourCompany
44 YourCompany
45 YourCompany
46 YourCompany
47 YourCompany
48 YourCompany
49 YourCompany
50 YourCompany
1 each Source Total cost:
Quantity Units RefDes Supplier Identifier UnitCost
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000 each 0.0000
0.0000
Extended
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
BuyPLM.com XYZ Co. Assembly 102256 A Assembly, PCB, LED with drivers 1 each
Find Owner Type Number Revision Description Quantity Units RefDes
1 XYZ Co. PCB 100010 C Printed circuit board, LED driver 1.0000 each
2 XYZ Co. Solidstate 100022 A Diode, light-emitting, red, 20mA, T-1 3/4 6.0000 each L1-L6
3 XYZ Co. Solidstate 100231 A Transisitor, NPN, 2N2222A 6.0000 each Q1-Q6
4 XYZ Co. Passive 100176 A Resistor, 120 ohm, 5%, 0.25W 6.0000 each R1-R6
5 XYZ Co. Passive 100149 A Capacitor, 10 uF, 15WVDC 1.0000 each C1
6 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
7 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
8 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
9 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
10 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
11 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
12 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
13 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
14 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
15 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
16 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
17 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
18 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
19 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
20 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
21 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
22 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
23 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
24 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
25 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
26 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
27 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
28 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
29 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
30 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
31 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
32 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
33 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
34 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
35 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
36 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
37 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
38 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
39 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
40 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
41 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
42 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
43 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
44 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
45 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
46 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
47 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
48 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
49 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
50 XYZ Co. 0.0000 each
Source Total cost: 2.7780
Supplier Identifier UnitCost Extended
BestPCB Co. 23-00918-A-2 1.2300 1.2300
LEDex 761992.245 0.0720 0.4320
XistorFactory 2N2222A 0.1400 0.8400
PassiveStuff 876-0050-121 0.0250 0.1500
PassiveStuff 962-0015-106 0.1260 0.1260
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000
0.0000 0.0000

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