Product Spotlight - Anodizing Machined Parts for Electronics Manufacturers

1. The practice of anodizing — a form of electrolytic passivation that thickens the oxidized outer layer of a metal part — has existed for around a hundred years. 

2. Most widely used on aluminum, anodizing can also be applied to metals like magnesium, titanium and zinc, providing those materials with a hardened, corrosion-resistant coating.

3. Anodizing produces a number of positive effects and is therefore used for a variety of applications. 

4. However, it can be particularly useful in the electronics industry, where CNC machined aluminum parts are required to be long-lasting, aesthetically pleasing and safe for consumer use. You can see anodized aluminum on products by Apple and other market leaders.

Integrating EBOM/MBOM into PLM systems

1. A BOM can define products as they are designed.” Most people now acknowledge the role of another critical enterprise business system to manage product design, which is product lifecycle management or PLM software.

2. The concept of an engineering bill of material (EBOM) was introduced in PLM systems, since there is very rarely a single tool that fully defines the design intent of a product. This is most commonly due to the increasing number of products that require mechanical, electronics, and software engineering — also referred to as mechatronic products.

3. Each of these engineering disciplines have different design tools that are used. When this is the case, the PLM EBOM addresses individual design tool limitations by synchronizing the CAD design structures from multiple tools to items in a single product’s EBOM.

Implementing BOM into ERP System

1. Poor master data management is often a hindrance to using an ERP system well. Bills of Material, BOMs, are a key piece of that ERP master data. Let’s look at a BOM to understand how it can be used and managed in your ERP system.

2. A BOM is organized by levels and includes all the parts that are used to build your product. Level 0 is the final product sold to your customer. Level 1 might be one or more subassemblies used in level 0. There is no limit to the levels but generally you want as few as possible to keep things simple.

3. Within a BOM level are a list of part numbers and the quantity needed to make up the next level. 

4. Part descriptions, units of measure, procurement types, etc. are often thought of as parts of a BOM but they really are items in the part master file which is a different ERP master data item. 

5. Those values will affect how the BOM works in your ERP and they are very important.

Creating An Effective Bill of Materials (BOM)

1. A bill of materials (BOM) is a comprehensive list of parts, items, assemblies, and other materials required to create a product, as well as instructions required for gathering and using the required materials.

2. The bill of materials can be understood as the recipe and shopping list for creating a final product. The bill of materials explains what, how, and where to buy required materials, and includes instructions for how to assemble the product from the various parts ordered. 

3. All manufacturers building products, regardless of their industry, get started by creating a bill of materials (BOM).

4. Because the bill of materials pulls together all sorts of product information, it is common that several disciplines (design and engineering, document management, operations, manufacturing, purchasing, contract manufacturers, and more) will consume data contained within the BOM record to get the job done right. 

5. In fact, engineers and manufacturers rely so heavily on BOMs that their own special subsets called the engineering bill of materials and the manufacturing bill of materials.

6. The BOM guides positive results from business activities like parts sourcing, outsourcing, and manufacturing, so it is important to create a BOM that is well organized, correct, and up-to-date. 

7. And for companies that outsource manufacturing activities, it is especially important to create an accurate and revision-controlled bill of materials. Any time the BOM is handed off to a contract manufacturer (CM) or supplier, it should be correct and complete to avoid unnecessary production mistakes and product launch delays.