An Inside Look at Four Companies With Exceptional BOM Management

From 3D printers to portable power systems, meticulous bill of materials (BOM) management keeps complex industries moving by preventing costly errors, reducing bottlenecks, and ensuring every part and change order is tracked, compliant, and up to date.

As companies seek greater efficiency, agility, and collaboration across product development and supply chains, BOM management continues evolving—moving from static, disconnected spreadsheets, obsolete emails, and siloed systems to dynamic, cloud-based, information-driven systems.

Why Is BOM Management Essential for Both Technical and Business Success?

Understanding what BOM management is technically and in business terms is key to using it effectively. Technically, BOM management is a process or function within product lifecycle management (PLM) and product data management (PDM). In business, BOM management is often part of a broader product development strategy for improving efficiency, quality, and collaboration. At its core, BOM management organizes, controls, and communicates the structure of a product or BOM from concept to end of life.

Here’s an inside look at four companies that are leveraging the power of intelligent BOM management.

Four Companies Redefining BOM Management

1. Nutanix, Inc.

Nutanix, Inc., is a cloud computing company that sells software for datacenters and hybrid multi-cloud deployments. This includes software for virtualization, Kubernetes, database-as-a-service, software-defined networking, security, and software-defined storage for file, object, and block storage.

Business Challenges

Nutanix faced significant operational challenges stemming from the complexity of its configure-to-order (CTO) product strategy and fully outsourced manufacturing model. With a global network of contract manufacturers, distributors, and technology partners, the company’s reliance on manual tools like spreadsheets and email for coordinating changes across the supply chain led to serious version control issues. Frequent product revisions and a lack of centralized product record information caused suppliers to build incorrect versions, resulting in costly rework cycles, delays, and a growing impact on time-to-market objectives.

Why Does Poor Change Management Create Risk in BOM Accuracy and Trust?

Central to these issues was an inability to manage change effectively. Uncontrolled and decentralized documents allowed multiple team members to make their own edits and suggestions. This resulted in various versions of the same BOM circulating among teams, fueling loss of trust in the data and prompting numerous local copies based on personal assumptions of accuracy. Even a single incorrect part number in the BOM had the potential to disrupt quarterly results and create difficult conversations with executive leadership. Nutanix recognized that managing BOM integrity was essential for reducing product errors and shipping delays.

BOM Management Solution: How Did Nutanix Use Arena PLM to Improve BOM Management, Reduce Costs, and Boost Collaboration?

To address BOM management and change control challenges, Nutanix implemented the Arena Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. The decision was driven by the need for a scalable, cost-effective platform that could integrate seamlessly with their existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, NetSuite, while eliminating the inefficiencies and risks associated with manual processes. Arena’s cloud-native architecture removed the burden of on-premises infrastructure and administration, offering an always-on, user-friendly environment for global collaboration across engineering teams and supply chain partners.

The pay-per-use model aligned with Nutanix’s financial goals, delivering a strong return on investment without significant upfront capital expense. Arena’s ability to provide engineering with real-time cost visibility also helped enable smarter design decisions by balancing performance and cost trade-offs early in the development cycle. Most importantly, the platform offered a version-controlled environment that improved data trust and minimized product errors.

Benefits of an Exceptional BOM Management System: Transforming BOM Accuracy and Supply Chain Efficiency With Arena

With Arena, Nutanix realized several key benefits, like improved cost visibility and most importantly—zero wrong BOMs built since the system was implemented. This has almost by itself promoted part reuse and standardization in their platforms, a key to shortening time to market.

Additional Benefits Include:

• Suppliers now have access to the same BOM and revision.
• An intuitive, understandable, and readily customizable interface makes common tasks like creating and routing engineering change orders (ECOs) fast and efficient.
• Supply chain partners were up and using Arena in under five days.
• Increased visibility and trust accrue from a centralized system.

2. Markforged

Markforged designs and manufactures industrial-grade 3D printers for printing metal and composite parts, offering a platform that combines hardware, software, and materials called the “Digital Forge” to create strong, functional parts. The company specializes in composite printing, reinforcing parts with continuous carbon fiber, and providing metal 3D printing solutions for applications in aerospace, automotive, and machine shops.

Business Challenges

Markforged faced a range of operational challenges as it scaled its product portfolio to meet growing market demands. The company’s traditional product development practices struggled to keep pace with increasing product complexity, resulting in inefficiencies such as missed deadlines, rework, and additional costs. Disconnected systems such as siloed product data management (PDM) and computer-aided design (CAD) platforms and reliance on spreadsheets further complicated product data management, making it difficult to maintain consistency and accuracy across teams.

Why Did Manual ECO and BOM Processes Create Bottlenecks and Quality Risks?

Managing ECOs and BOMs, both of which were handled manually and lacked centralization, became major pain points. As the product line expanded, the manual tracking of ECOs and inconsistencies between CAD data and vendor documentation created a bottleneck, introducing errors and slowing down project timelines. These challenges highlighted the urgent need for Markforged to modernize its systems and processes to support continued growth and ensure product quality.

BOM Management Solution: How Did Arena PLM Help Markforged Streamline Operations and Improve Product Quality?

To address their growing operational complexities and process inefficiencies, Markforged implemented Arena PLM as a centralized solution for managing their product lifecycle. Arena offered the scalability, configurability, and integration capabilities needed to streamline processes, eliminate reliance on spreadsheets, and create a single source of truth for product information. This allowed engineering teams to manage part numbers, engineering change orders, and BOMs more efficiently, while also improving quality, traceability, and real-time collaboration with contract manufacturers.

Arena’s cloud-native platform enabled Markforged to accelerate development cycles and maintain compliance with industry standards. In the short term, the solution has helped reduce ECO cycle times and improve visibility into manufacturing schedules.

Benefits of an Exceptional BOM Management System: Why Is a Centralized Single Source of Truth Critical for Managing BOMs, Revisions, and Product Data?

Since implementing Arena, Markforged has experienced significant operational improvements across its product development and manufacturing processes. The most impactful benefit has been the establishment of a single source of truth for all product information, which has greatly improved accuracy, consistency, and efficiency across teams and systems.

Additional Benefits Include:

• The centralized, single source of truth for all critical product information, BOMs, drawings, part numbers, revisions, sourcing details, and more, eliminates confusion and version control issues.
• Improved traceability allows engineers to track issues down to specific serial numbers, identify affected parts, and confirm whether corrective changes have been made.
• Streamlined collaboration has enhanced communication with contract manufacturers, reducing the risk of building to outdated revisions and significantly cutting down on costly rework and scrap.
• With greater control and visibility, teams have full transparency into what is being produced, by whom, and under what specifications.

3. instagrid

Instagrid designs and manufactures advanced portable power systems for professionals who demand uncompromising performance, sustainability, and flexibility. With operations across Europe, North America, and Asia, instagrid is redefining mobile energy for a cleaner future.

Business Challenges

Instagrid faced critical business challenges as it set out to transform the concept of sustainable portable power into a market-ready product. The company needed to scale its product development capabilities quickly to meet growing demand for professional-grade, environmentally friendly power solutions while maintaining a lean startup operation. Accelerating time to market was essential, especially in a competitive industry driven by innovation and sustainability goals.

However, instagrid’s reliance on Excel spreadsheets and a disconnected set of MCAD/ECAD tools made it difficult to manage product designs and BOMs effectively. As product designs became more complex, the lack of a unified system led to issues with revision control, collaboration, and change management causing confusion between internal teams and external suppliers. These limitations posed significant risks to product quality, development timelines, and operational efficiency.

BOM Management Solution: Unifying Product Data and Accelerating Development With Arena PLM

To overcome its product development challenges, instagrid implemented Arena’s PLM solution, creating a single source of truth for all product-related data. By unifying mechanical, electrical, and software components in one centralized system, Arena has enabled instagrid’s multidisciplinary engineering teams to collaborate more effectively and design with manufacturing in mind. This streamlined approach ensures greater control and traceability across the entire product lifecycle.

Through automated BOM and engineering change processes with built-in revision controls, both internal teams and external suppliers now have real-time access to the most current product information. This has significantly reduced confusion, minimized production errors, and helped prevent costly delays—allowing instagrid to accelerate development while maintaining product quality and operational efficiency.

Benefits of an Exceptional BOM Management System: Empowering Cross-Functional Collaboration and Supply Chain Alignment

Since adopting Arena, instagrid has achieved greater efficiency, collaboration, and control across its product development and manufacturing processes. The platform has become a critical enabler of cross-functional teamwork and supply chain alignment, supporting the company’s mission to deliver sustainable, high-performance portable power solutions.

Additional Benefits Include:

• Using streamlined collaboration integrated with Altium and SOLIDWORKS, Arena enables seamless handoffs between electrical and mechanical design teams.
• Improved supply chain coordination with external suppliers that now have secure, real-time access to up-to-date printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) information, BOMs, and design changes, reduces delays and errors.
• Centralized BOM management enables mechanical engineers to build comprehensive BOMs that include accessories and service kits, improving product completeness and readiness.
• Automated change control allows the product team to review, approve, and release designs faster.
• Quality assurance teams use Arena to manage change orders and accelerate quality workflows.

4. Haltian

Haltian is a leading Internet of Things (IoT) company focused on transforming workspaces into smarter, sustainable environments through innovation and engineering. Haltian’s technology improves efficiency and work-life quality, making daily operations smoother for customers. The organization provides a comprehensive IoT and product creation service that helps companies evolve ideas into finished products.

Business Challenges: Centralizing BOM Management to Support Global Growth and Collaboration

Haltian faced increasing challenges in managing the complexity of its IoT devices, which require tight integration between sensors, software, and electrical components. Relying on disconnected systems and Excel-based BOMs made it difficult to maintain accurate, current product information, leading to time-consuming manual updates and a high risk of errors. As the company’s product portfolio grew, so did the strain on its existing processes.

The shift to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic further exposed the limitations of Haltian’s siloed systems, introducing communication gaps and workflow inefficiencies across geographically dispersed teams. To support its global expansion and product development efforts, Haltian recognized the need for a centralized solution to streamline BOM management, improve collaboration, and ensure all teams can access a single source of truth.

BOM Management Solution: Scaling Product Development and Enhancing Lifecycle Control

To support its growing product complexity and global operations, Haltian implemented Arena PLM to establish a structured, scalable approach to managing its entire product record. Arena’s ease of use and robust capabilities for BOM and engineering change management made it the ideal solution to meet the company’s evolving development needs.

With Arena’s centralized, cloud-native platform, Haltian now maintains a single source of truth for all product components, drawings, documentation, and other elements relating to the BOM. The solution enables teams to collaborate more effectively, streamline design approvals, and ensure full visibility into changes that impact production, helping to reduce errors, accelerate development, and maintain product integrity across the lifecycle.

Benefits of an Exceptional BOM Management System: Driving Global Development and Enhancing Lifecycle Control

Since implementing Arena PLM, Haltian has significantly improved the way it manages complex product information across its global operations. The platform has enabled a more structured and collaborative approach to product development and BOM management, supporting faster innovation and greater accuracy throughout the entire lifecycle.

Additional Benefits Include:

• Shared access to the same BOMs, revisions, and associated documentation eliminates confusion between engineering teams and subcontractors, reducing mistakes and delays.
• Centralized product record management for all components, drawings, BOMs, and files ensures up-to-date and accurate information.
• Improved collaboration gives distributed teams consistent access to Arena, enabling real-time input and better alignment on product designs and specifications.
• Automated engineering change workflows and proper revision controls make updates to parts, BOMs, and documents fully visible and traceable across teams.
• A robust part numbering system and “Where Used” functionality ensure accurate component tracking across multiple product configurations.

What Does the Future Hold for BOM Management?

BOM management is evolving rapidly as manufacturing becomes more complex, global, and digitally integrated. In an era where efficiency, agility, and cross-functional collaboration are non-negotiable, companies are rethinking traditional approaches, driving the evolution of BOM management into a strategic asset that aligns engineering, manufacturing, and procurement like never before.

Looking ahead, BOM management will be increasingly centralized and integrated within broader digital ecosystems such as PLM, ERP, supply chain, and manufacturing execution systems (MES).

Key trends shaping the future include:

• Cloud-based and collaborative platforms
• Connected data and systems
• Configurable and modular BOMs
• Automation and AI
• Sustainability and compliance integration
• Supply chain risk and mitigation

Ultimately, the future of BOM management is intelligent, connected, and agile—empowering companies to innovate faster, collaborate more effectively, and deliver high-quality products in a rapidly changing global market.

Arena Helps Bring Your Entire Product Record Together

Arena PLM provides a structured framework for managing complex product information. By organizing parts, assemblies, and related documentation in the context of engineering changes and quality events, Arena helps streamline collaboration and maintain consistency across the product lifecycle.

Learn more about how Arena can simplify BOM management and ensure you consistently produce and deliver high-quality products.