The Item Master, sometimes referred to as the Part Master, is at the very core of the company enterprise management system, but more often than not it contains only listings of component parts and part-based assemblies. By limiting the Item Master to hardware components only, there are significant lost opportunities for cost accounting and correct revision build verification.
For maximum benefit, the Item Master must contain all of the numbering assignments and descriptive and accounting data for every item the company buys, sells, produces, supports, and maintains. This not only includes parts or components, but also numbered assignments for user manuals, warranty cards, installation kits, marketing brochures, software and firmware programs, training manuals, company procedures, shipping materials, inside and outside labor, mechanical drawings, schematics, silkscreen artwork, and basically anything else the company has assigned a value to and wants to track as an inventory, non-inventory, direct or indirect Labor, or outside services type with a location with a standard cost (indicating where it is used, and at what revision). Here is an example of how all of these various items may fit into a process or a bill of materials (BOM).
Beginning with a specific numbered and revision schematic and a subsequent set of Gerbers, we can now fabricate a bare printed-circuit-board. For the sake of example, let's construct a simple indented BOM:
010-00001-001 = Bare PCB
S010-00001-001 = Represents the schematic
C010-00001-001 = Represents the CAD or Gerber Files
Now let's go back to the Item Master and examine the assembled PCBA and modify our BOM to nested version:
021-00001-001 = Populated printed circuit board assembly
010-00001-001 = Same bare PCB
S010-00001-001 = Represents the schematic
C010-00001-001 = Represents the CAD or Gerber Files
028-00004-001 = Crystal of a specific value
030-00008-001 = Switch of a specific value
042-00010-001 = Resistor of a specific value
800-00001-001 = Outside assembly labor
Now we have a small printed circuit assembly populated with components and included in the BOM -- at the same level as the components is the assembly labor cost for the specific board being assembled. This labor cost is picked up from the assembly house quote and included in the Item Master. Now when the cost of a printed circuit card is tallied, the labor is a "component" of the cost. Now we continue to build a higher-level assembly, and this time we will include revision indicators:
021-00001-001 Rev 2B = Populated printed circuit board assembly
010-00001-001 Rev 2B = Same bare PCB
S010-00001-001 Rev B = Represents the schematic
C010-00001-001 Rev B = Represents the CAD or Gerber files
012-00007-001 Rev A = Metal bracket with insert Grommet
012-00007-000 Rev A = Bracket without Grommet
011-00001-001 = .25" O.D. Grommet
W500-00000-001 Rev A = Work instruction document for attaching the Grommet
028-00004-001 = Crystal of a specific value
030-00008-001 = Switch of a specific value
042-00010-001 = Resistor of a specific value
800-00001-001 = Outside labor
Now our assembly has grown to include a bracket. In order to build the bracket, it had its own sub assembly, including a work instruction on how to affix the grommet to the bracket. We have this work instruction under revision control so when we order the PCBA from the assembly house, they can retrieve the latest revision of the instruction as it shows on the BOM.
Let's take it up a notch higher to an electromechanical sub assembly that incorporates the PCBA, and an RF shield over the crystal:
131-00004-001= Electromechanical sub-assembly with sheet metal with silkscreen pin indicators
012-00009-002 Rev B = silkscreened shield
012-00009-001 Rev B = shield without silkscreen
A012-00009-001 Rev A = silkscreen artwork under Revision Control
D012-00009-001 Rev B Mechanical drawing for shield fabrication
021-00001-001 Rev 2B = Populated printed circuit board assembly
010-00001-001 Rev 2B = Same bare PCB
S010-00001-001 Rev B = Represents the schematic
C010-00001-001 Rev B = Represents the CAD or Gerber files
012-00007-001 = Metal Bracket with insert grommet
012-00007-000 = Bracket without Grommet
011-00001-001 = .25" O.D. Grommet
W500-00000-001 Rev A = Work instruction document for attaching the Grommet
028-00004-001 = Crystal of a specific value
030-00008-001 = Switch of a specific value
042-00010-001 = Resistor of a specific value
800-00001-001 = Outside labor
Now if we want to order a shield, we call our fab house and order a 012-00009-002 Rev B and give them the Artwork REV A and the Drawing Rev B each time we order. We do not leave it up to the fab house to retrieve previously used documents. We order the part and include the new documents with revisions reflecting exactly what we want the house to build.
Mario8a, the second page brings it all together. The Design Engineer has a huge responsibility at every step of the design stage right on through Sustaining Engineering. That means after the handoff to manufacturing, the documentation should be as self explanatory as possible so there is a complete audit trail for every ECO/ECN with the DE's authorizing signature. Suppose as a DE, you were not allowed imput into the operator's manual or troubleshooting guide because they were not under Document or Revision control. Now imagine, you wrote the first guide and someone changed it without your knowledge. If there is a problem in the field with the integrity of the guide, it will be considered your problem because your name is on it. But, if you had to authorize any changes and bump the revision to match the latest BOM build, the blame game won't even get started and more importantly, the customer has the right troubleshooting guide for the correct BOM build.
ThinkNThanks has identified the crux of the material presented. I also share the sentiment that this looks cumbersome, however, if I may suggest, cumbersome implies problematic in much the same way an overstuffed suitcase may be heavy, but when you get to where you are going, you have everything you need and you don't have to make extra trips to the store, interrupting your planned get-away, and changing your schedule. In fact, I am working on a prototype build first board, first BOM, and I am adding all the things we talked about right up front.
On another level, this level of documentation lends itself to configurable BOMs quite ideally. Highly optioned products using a configurable BOM front end becomes as easy as picking items off the store shelf and dropping them in your shopping cart. I suspect Dell Computers are configured, assembled, and packaged in just this manner. In short, doing all the heavy lifting up front, builds muscle into the whole company and allows significant time and effort savings when the company's volumes and schedules are becoming more critical when the bulk of the effort needs to be focused on manufacturing and not documentation. Documentation Control pays for itself in a very short time because the long-term efficiencies gained more than cover the extended investment up front.
Cost of making very good docuemntation and bullet proof products are very high. If customer is ready to pay for this price, company can perform it. However, customer is so short of money, it is difficult to justify very complete documentation and quality.
The benefits of a comprehensive item master depend more on where the product is in its lifecycle no matter what the size of the organization. Generally the further a product is out of R&D, the more beneficial a stable BOM is. Peripheral items, such as documents and the contents of flash memory, benefit from an item master that can be accessed and administered by both product management and marketing.
I think the focus of this post is on Cost Saving strategies. At time, the organizations try to drive for cost reduction on the products, they only aim at DE and CM levels but did not focus on Documents Control. I think the DE doesn’t have to drive the process, it is not their function anyway, but the expectation is DE has to work in detail with Document Control to implement the process. We all know “garbage in is garbage out”, that why can’t throw the Document Control out of the Cost Saving Plan or deliver the great products. I think this should be done at any small or large size of organization.
I agree with you that this works great with a large company. Some smaller companies would have issues with the time and money it would take to implement a system like this.
This is good for large organization. However, it needs significant man power and time. If you work in design department, most of work finally ends up with design engineer. How can we find a way to implement this procedures without invoving design engineers?
Machine-to-machine technology is growing so rapidly that one report says there could be 10 billion connected devices by 2016. That's a big market opportunity.
RFID makes it possible not only to increase the quantity and types of products streaming through the supply chain, but also to build higher-level products and services.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
To save this item to your list of favorite EBN content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This