CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
5 May 2009
CIMdata News
Ask the Expert: Why Synch the Bills of Material?
Managing Automation offers the opportunity to ask a question of PLM expert and CIMdata Director of Research, Ken Amann.
A reader submitted this question for Ken:
I'm currently exploring the Teamcenter MRO product. I would like to know how MRO activities are being handled in any organization which is using Teamcenter Enterprise without TC MRO. Also, why would we really need to have a synched EBOM and service BOM?
Ken’s answer:
Companies that do not use TC MRO use a variety of methods to handle their MRO activities. These include:
Implementing a third-party MRO application
Customizing a logistics system
Developing a solution in-house
Handling it manually
Some combination of the above
Each of these approaches requires separate data entry of information or the development of custom point-to-point integrations with other systems. They do not leverage the product definition information and do not maintain links between the as-maintained version and the as-designed/as-built versions. This increases the effort to maintain the integrity of the product as it is serviced and updated in the field.
Having a link between the EBOM and the SBOM provides the ability to ensure that changes to the product over time are consistent with its design and the evolution of that design. Further, service issues can be directly fed back into engineering so that they can address failures, reliability, etc. in the design. Having a synch between the EBOM and SBOM also allows companies to better evaluate the impact of changes on the design, both for planned production and for upgrade/retrofit to in-service units.
Do you have a Product Lifecycle Management question for Ken? Click here to submit it.
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