What's the Scoop on Multi-Layer Bills of Materials?
When is it Appropriate for Producers to Employ Complex Bill of Materials (BOMs)?
When it comes to understanding the nuts and bolts of your product, a multi-layer Bill of Materials (BOM) is your go-to guide. Unlike the single-layered BOM that focuses on the primary components, this bad boy delves deeper into the sub-assemblies that make up your product.
By breaking down BOMs for sub-assemblies, the components of said sub-assemblies, and so forth, manufacturers with in-house production can keep tabs on every minute piece they need. On the other hand, manufacturers only purchasing sub-assemblies require a single-layered BOM to stick to their gameplan.
Imagine building a complex machine like an automobile. Components such as the chassis, engine, hydraulics, and more can be broken down into smaller, even smaller components that keep on fragmenting until you reach the nitty-gritty details.
So When to Use Multi-Layer BOMs?
These BOMs work wonders when your product is as complex as a well-oiled machine. As the complexity grows, multi-layer BOMs become practically indispensable for managing numerous sub-assemblies and simplifying inventory, production, and purchasing tasks.
Managing a multitude of sub-assemblies through separate single-layered BOMs can make tracking inventory and coordinating production a real headache, especially when customization options come into play.
Multi-layer BOMs are also a solid choice for optimizing material kitting during inventory picking. In this scenario, lower-level BOMs (material kits) are used to create the main product.
But What About When Not to Use Multi-Layer BOMs?
In the realm of production planning, examining a product's detailed structure may become unnecessary (or even detrimental) when the production process is streamlined and straightforward. Manually managing a multi-layer BOM increases the risk of errors, especially when dealing with thousands of interconnected data rows.
Additionally, when a product contains numerous sub-assemblies, but there's a single production operation that must be done at once, multi-layer BOMs would not be the best pick from a production scheduling perspective.
Spreadsheets for Multi-Layer BOM Management? Forget About It!
While spreadsheets have been utilized in production planning for ages and affordable templates abound online, they're far from perfect when it comes to managing multi-layer BOMs. According to Ray Panko, Professor of IT Management at the University of Hawaii, a whopping 90% of all spreadsheets contain errors. Managing multi-layer BOMs in spreadsheets may prove fatally expensive due to mounting errors.
Enter ERP Software: Say Goodbye to Multi-Layer BOM Worries
Modern ERP software like MRPeasy is a total game-changer for manufacturers struggling with BOM management and production planning. By allowing users to create multi-layer BOMs that seamlessly connect with shop-floor and inventory management systems, it significantly reduces the admin work involved in planning and managing the production of items with a multi-layer structure.
Setting up BOMs and production routings within the system enables you to create manufacturing orders for your products, which in turn include MOs for all the sub-assemblies required to build the end product. This way, you can book the necessary quantities of raw materials and components from stock and scheduling manufacturing operations becomes a breeze.
If customization options are on the table, MRPeasy also simplifies managing configurable sub-assemblies. Compared to using separate single-layered BOMs for all sub-assemblies, it drastically reduces the amount of paperwork and time spent on MO creation, material planning, and production scheduling.
Best of all, MRPeasy allows you to easily import multi-layer BOMs in bulk as CSV files if you've already set them up in spreadsheets or use CAD software to design complex products. No more time wasted on manual data entry or excessive system setup resources.
Happy manufacturing with MRPeasy! mrpeasy.com
- The multi-layer BOM is significant for manufacturers dealing with complex products due to its ability to manage numerous sub-assemblies, simplifying inventory, production, and purchasing tasks.
- In scenarios where a product's production process is streamlined and straightforward, manually managing multi-layer BOMs might increase the risk of errors and prove inefficient.
- ERP software like MRPeasy is beneficial for manufacturers, as it enables the creation of multi-layer BOMs that connect seamlessly with shop-floor and inventory management systems, reducing administrative work and making production scheduling a breeze.
- By using MRPeasy, manufacturers can easily import multi-layer BOMs in bulk as CSV files, saving time and resources that would otherwise be spent on manual data entry or excessive system setup.
