System Overview

Although it is not necessary to use the Bill Of Materials section, it does offer capabilities you may not want to turn down. Often, when maintaining a large number of items in the inventory system, you will run across parts that may be used for more than one system, or in different places though that system. For instance, a roller bearing may used in different machinery and motors that are maintained in inventory. Another example is in the sample inventory database that is shipped with the program; the spokes on the bike can be used for the front and rear wheels. The bill of material (BOM) file specifies what materials, components, sub assemblies, and assemblies are used in making the product. Each product is linked to a parent-component relationship. The records in the BOM file are usually oriented in a tree like structure with level zero being the product and each consecutive level breaking the product into its subassemblies/parts. II offers you the ability to see where the part is used, how many are required, how many are on hand, approximate lead time, and what level of assembly it is needed. You may also use the cost/selling price roll-up feature to determine pricing levels.

 Once you define an assembly, it will automatically be imported into any other assemblies that will use it. If the assembly was to change, then all other BOM's that use that assembly will automatically be updated. The Work Order section of the program will also use the information within the BOM file to determine gross material requirements. Please see the Work Order Section for more information about automatic Work Order creation and inventory management.

 If the BOM section is used, there are six types of reports that can be accessed from the Inventory Section:

• Single Level Where Used ->The Qty (quantity) field displays the quantity required per assembly of the parent item. This report is used in engineering change analysis when the engineer wants to determine what assemblies will be affected by a change in a component. The computer shows only the parent of the item chosen just to a depth of one level.

• The indented where used report is similar to the single level report with the exception that the parent of the item is shown all the way to the top level (level 0).

• The Summarized where used report is a derivative of the Indented report. The only difference is that the Qty field represents the total quantity required to make/assemble the Level-0 item. 

• Single Level Bill - gives a list of those components used directly in making it (going down one level). This is the format used to present the parent tree on the screen to the user.

• Indented Bill - includes all the items in a product or component and the levels at which they occur in the product structure.

• Summarized Bill - is similar to the indented bill but each item occurs only once with the total quantity required to make one unit of the parent.