Articles

All manufacturers building products, regardless of their industry, get started by creating a bill of materials (BOM). The BOM, which is essentially a comprehensive list of parts, items, assemblies and sub-assemblies, can be understood as the recipe and shopping list for creating a final product. Continue reading

A part number system is used within a manufacturing company as a way for individuals and departments to identify and track parts. Categorizing parts in a standardized way can create efficiencies in many manufacturing processes. Continue reading

ERP and PLM systems are complimentary tools that can communicate with each other yet play distinct roles in supporting business needs. PLM is designed to manage a product from initial documentation as it is revised and released for production. ERP uses the product truth (product data that has been determined in a PLM system) to help companies manage production resources and financials among other business activities. Continue reading

When it comes to designing and building a product, the type of product usually determines the approach a company will take. For example, an engineer-to-order (ETO) approach is one in which a company designs and manufacturers a product based on very specific customer requirements. Because the end product tends to be complex, customers engage with the ETO company throughout the entire design and manufacturing phases to ensure their specifications are met. Continue reading

As a product idea moves from conception through prototype and production, a well-managed bill of materials (BOM) is a critical part of the product development process. To properly manage the BOM, most organizations select a BOM management tool to help ensure the most current product revisions are seen by all members of the production team. Continue reading

Product lifecycle management in the cloud―or PLM in the cloud―is an internet-based system for managing a product and its associated information from concept to end of life. PLM in the cloud is growing in popularity with manufacturers around the world as a way to manage the stages of product development in order to collaborate, track and regulate changes to the product. Continue reading

Well-made products are documented with well-made bill of materials (BOM). This list of items, parts, assemblies and sub-assemblies representing the product design (EBOM), or how the product is manufactured (MBOM), serves as a way to maintain an accurate list of required components. Continue reading

Scrap and rework costs are a manufacturing reality impacting organizations across all industries and product lines. Scrap and rework costs are caused by many things—when the wrong parts are ordered, when engineering changes aren’t effectively communicated or when designs aren’t properly executed on the manufacturing line. No matter why scrap and rework occurs, its impact on an organization is always the same—wasted time and money. Continue reading

A successful manufacturing process relies on a manufacturer’s ability to build products in reliable and repeatable ways, so it’s important to make sure that the components used to build and test products are well maintained. Continue reading

In manufacturing, it costs a lot more to fix problems caused by poor part documentation than it does to document product parts properly the first time. Realizing that your product contains parts that have procurement challenges or functional limitations is a misstep no manufacturer can afford. Even more painful is realizing these problems could have been avoided with proper documentation. Continue reading

For small to mid-size manufacturers, a well constructed manufacturing process that maximizes the capabilities of your tools, parts and available labor is an essential part of an efficient go-to-market strategy. Continue reading

The phrase form fit function, also referred to as F3, is used in manufacturing to describe the identifying characteristics of a part (a single component that goes into the final build of your product, typically kept on an item master). Continue reading

Manufacturing a product means you have parts – anywhere from just a few to hundreds, perhaps even thousands, to manage, track and store. Part numbering provides a standard way to reference parts. Manufacturers use part numbering schemes to assign a unique number to each part. Continue reading

In our years of working with manufacturers — from high-tech electronic to automotive to medical device companies — we have learned the terms commonly used in their respective industries and compiled them into a list. Leverage this glossary to build your vocabulary of manufacturing acronyms and terms. Continue reading

Medical device manufacturers are heavily regulated organizations and rightly so. Manufacturing a potentially life-saving device should not be taken lightly. It can take years to get a product to market given the required research, development and rigorous testing that takes place. This article addresses how medical device manufacturers can leverage electronic systems to document and control the product information generated during the entire development process, culminating in successful verification and validation. Continue reading

Products are the heart of a manufacturing firm and the value that keeps customers coming back for more. Parts are the heart of a product, and their influence on a final product costs is huge. In many companies, though, parts are the most poorly controlled data in the organization. Continue reading

One of the key steps manufacturers can take to grow their business is knowing their supply chain inside and out. This article focuses on the how manufacturers can strengthen their supply chain relationships and improve the efficiency in getting their product manufactured. Continue reading

The engineering change process begins when a customer, manufacturing partner or internal employee raises an issue or problem with a product. Manufacturing, operations, engineering and others discuss the problem and determine what action (if any) should be taken. Once the group members agree that a change is necessary, they must agree upon a solution and then drive the implementation. Continue reading

An engineering change request (ECR) form is used to describe a suggested enhancement or problem with a product. The form initiates the change process — it promotes discussions within the organization to help determine the impact of a change and the best possible solution. The ECR form is circulated and reviewed among key stakeholders. It is the predecessor for an engineering change order (ECO), which describes the details of a change and may specify how a change should be implemented. Continue reading

To create the next product in a company’s product line a design team goes through product development process steps. Starting with a product idea, the team moves through several stages to generate all the details and documents needed to get the product built. A NEW product development (NPD) process goes through the same steps, however as this product has not been developed by the team before, new risks and uncertainties are introduced and often additional information is documented and shared with manufacturing. Continue reading

Many engineering document management software solutions on the market today are geared toward specific industries and company sizes. Arena is suited for small to mid-size manufacturers; high-tech electronic creators, medical device makers, clean technology companies and more. Continue reading

Companies are run on people, processes and tools. Adding new tools into the mix means a change in the way people work and the way the business is run. Taking a step-by-step approach and getting buy-in from all stakeholders when putting a new tool in place will help ensure a smooth, successful implementation. Implementing product lifecycle management (PLM) is no different. This article provides six tips for manufacturers that are considering using a PLM software system or are ready to move forward with a PLM implementation. Continue reading

While the definition of time to market (TTM) can vary depending on the company and product complexity, for the purpose of this article we are going to define time to market as the period of time from when a product idea has general agreement and resources are committed to the project, to when the final product is built and out the door to a customer. There are many complex steps in between where something can go awry and make accurately predicting your time to market seem impossible. Continue reading

Companies need to be able to adapt quickly in today’s constantly changing environment, and often that means making changes to their products. Engineers make modifications during development and production with the intent of adding functionality, improving manufacturing performance or addressing the availability of a particular part. To make sure proposed changes are appropriately reviewed, a solid process is critical—especially if members of your product team are scattered across multiple locations (for instance, design engineers in Boston, the manufacturing team in St. Louis and component manufacturers all over the world). At the heart of a solid change process is the engineering change order. Continue reading

Most small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) start with their product bill of materials (BOM) in Excel spreadsheets — why should you be any different? Excel is a well-known, flexible application that everyone has — It’s easy and it’s essentially free. Small companies can make it through the first release of a new product just fine using Excel. But when companies release more products, grow internally or add more manufacturing and outsourcing partners, the act of managing an Excel bill of materials becomes much bigger and more complex. Those seemingly simple problems can impact you in big ways when you least expect it. But there is another way — you don’t have to use Excel spreadsheets to manage your bills of materials. Continue reading

Manufacturers rely on the information that is included in the bill of materials (BOM) to build a product. The bill of materials typically includes part names, part numbers, part revisions and the quantities required to build an assembly. Thorough BOMs can also include more descriptive information too, for example, the unit of measure for items that need to be cut to length or used by volume, procurement type to indicate if the parts are purchased or made, and level to indicate which subassembly contains which part. BOMs that have printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) contain a column for listing reference designators as well. Continue reading

The engineering BOM is often organized by engineers based on the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) or Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools used. And for any given product design more than one EBOM may be created. For example, the BOM for the Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) designed by an electric engineer lists the resistors, capacitors and chips. The BOM for the product as designed by a mechanical engineer includes custom parts and purchased hardware like an lcd, buttons, and screws. While multiple EBOMs may exist, the engineering BOM is not the only type of bill of material, there is the manufacturing BOM or MBOM that differs from the EBOM in structure and depth. Continue reading

The manufacturing bill of materials, also referred to as the manufacturing BOM or MBOM, contains all the parts and assemblies required to build a complete and shippable product. This includes packaging materials like colored boxes, CDs and printed quickstart guides. It also incorporates items that are used in the assembly process, like liquid adhesives or tape. Both off-the-shelf (OTS) components and custom, made-to-specification (MTS) parts belong on a manufacturing bill of materials, as well as non-tangible items like firmware. Any item that can be found in the final boxed product needs to be included at some level of the manufacturing BOM. Continue reading

Product data management systems (PDM) and Arena should be used together to control product designs from initial concept into final manufacturing. PDM systems, also called CAD vaults, help mechanical engineers store their CAD files and manage the complex file relationships, while Arena allows entire companies to manage their product lines through an accessible bill of materials (BOM) and change management system. Both systems are necessary for proper control over the entire product development cycle. Continue reading

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) encompasses the people, processes and tools used to manage a product and its associated information from concept to end of life. Throughout the stages of PLM, product data is generated and distributed to stakeholders within and outside of an organization. Within the organization, these stakeholders typically represent engineering, operations, procurement, manufacturing, document control, quality, regulatory, marketing and others. External stakeholders include a company’s suppliers, contract manufacturers and design partners. Continue reading

Whether it’s a new product development (NPD) process or new product introduction (NPI) to market, companies must constantly look for ways to optimize product change projects and processes for time, cost, and quality. Continue reading

Arena enables manufacturers to ensure RoHS compliance through its compliance management features. Bundled with a set of RoHS templates and a training workspace, Arena enables companies to ramp up quickly and effectively. Continue reading

OEMs make the strategic decision to outsource design and manufacturing. To be successful in outsourcing manufacturing and design, engineering, sourcing, manufacturing, operations, document control and quality teams need to function in concert with the outsourcing partner. This article provides tips to managing your manufacturing outsourcing relationships and resources to help you make your manufacturing outsourcing strategy a success. Continue reading