Re: BOM logic

Otto Hason writes:

>  Hi all,
>  we need to use alternative items in BOM -
>  e.g. there are 2 almost the same bearings, each of them can be used in 
> product on the same position,
>  and we use that one, which is on the stock.
>  
>  Our BOM is authorized by customer, we can maintain list of material in 
> SFC500, and then we could see in history, what was issued.
>  
>  I don't like very much idea of using material methods in BOM,
>  now we have only one BOM per product.
>  Our BOM is rather complicated - up to 8 level.
>  
>  Any ideas?
>  
>  TIA
>       oTTo

From Al Macintyre 405 CD

I do not know how to measure complexity ... some of our wiring harnesses have 
like 100 wires & some of the wires are hundreds of feet long.  I think of 
complexity as being how they cope with all those pieces such that quality 
control can verify correctly made at many points in the process, and how they 
label work in process so that the correct ingredients will be used, when 
there are so many that look so similar.

Our BOM is also authorized by customer although they rely heavily on our 
engineering know how for best way to make parts.  We have engineering changes 
initiated by customers & by our suggestions accepted by customers.  This has 
permanent change on how part is made.  We have termporary changes approved by 
customer in which official BOM remains intact but SFC540 handles material 
substitutions before the work is done that other way.  

This is usually due to shortages of approved material, but some other, 
usually more expensive material has the same electrical properties, e.g Tin 
alloy instead of Copper alloy, will be substituted until the shortage is 
resolved ... even though this is more expensive, the increase in price 
sometimes is less than what it would cost us to expedite replacement of the 
correct material, especially when its vendor also has a capacity or supply 
line problem.

There is also repairs.  Perhaps a customer had an engineering change & they 
want us to rework an older version into the new version.  There are several 
ways we have handled this.  We have used material methods on this, but most 
often we use the identical part number with letter "R" on the end, which 
everyone in company recognizes as "REPAIR REWORK" scenario requiring slightly 
different operations.

We heavily use copper wiring which comes on spools & out of barrels in which 
the direction of how the wire is "wound" makes a difference going into a 
machine & some machines have to have it "wound" a particular way ... we can 
have plenty of the material except it is "wound" the wrong way for a 
particular machine.  So we have an operation to "rewind" the spool 
(fortunately there is a machine to do this since we talking like 100,000 feet 
of wire on a spool) & at this point we "switch" item numbers from the one for 
"wound this way" to the ond for "wound that way."  Now the part is identical 
& it makes no difference to the BOM, but it does make a difference to which 
machines will accept which spools.  We have the same scenario with what we 
call "terminals" which are the little connectors that go on the ends of wires 
- spools have to be "wound" a particular way to go through these machines & 
"wound" opposite way to go through those machines.

Al Macintyre  ©¿©
MIS Manager Green Screen Programmer & Computer Janitor of BPCS 405 CD Rel-02 
running on AS/400 V4R3 http://www.cen-elec.com Central Industries of 
Indiana--->Quality manufacturer of wire harnesses and electrical 
sub-assemblies
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