Overview

BOM scrubbing consists of correcting or validating three basic content fields from a bill of materials – orderable part number, manufacturer’s name, and component description. BOM scrubbing compares each line item against an internal “golden” database, or purchased or rented external database, or compares the line item against the component’s datasheet gathered from the web.

Introit’s BOM (bill of materials) scrubbing service is part of our content service offerings. BOM scrubbing is a key service that guarantees ordered part accuracy. BOM accuracy impacts many parts of an enterprise.

BOM Origins

Design engineers start the BOM process by creating a design using EDA tools and then passing a completed BOM to purchasing. Purchasing aggregates BOMs from multiple designs, and procurement then passes the BOM list to distributors and/or electronic component manufacturers themselves and/or contract manufacturers. Somewhere along this supply chain, somebody is responsible for making sure that the BOM content has been scrubbed for accuracy. Who is actually responsible for BOM scrubbing? Who will incur the cost of BOM scrubbing?

BOM Usage

A BOM may be used by an enterprise to facilitate forecasting, sales, and purchasing functions and is the part of the foundation for component-based, enterprise-wide knowledge management and business intelligence systems. The BOM is also critical in the proper functionality of many purchasing, procurement, component second sourcing, planning and manufacturing execution systems. If the BOM is so critical, and is an important part in the enterprise decision and financial process, why isn’t more attention paid to BOM accuracy?

BOM Scrubbing Benefits

BOM scrubbing provides the following benefits:

• Guarantees orderability – the correct manufacturer’s name, address, and telephone number and the accurate orderable part number are a minimum requirement to place your part order
• Minimizes spend errors – by guaranteeing accurate orderable part numbers, part order aggregation is supported and increased parts discounts are now available.
• Minimizes obsolete inventory – by correctly ordering the appropriate part, obsolete inventory and subsequent write-offs are kept to a minimum.
• Removes manufacturing down time – if the correct parts are ordered, manufacturing down time is kept to a minimum also.

BOM Scrubbing Process

An automated, validation process is used if an internal “golden” database or external, aggregated database is available and selected by the customer (BOM scrubbing algorithm details are available with a signed NDA). If no match is found with the selected comparison databases, then Introit will attempt to find the datasheet from the web and provide a patented, automated process to extract the orderable part number directly from the pdf datasheet.

At a minimum regardless of the BOM process selected, a decipherable manufacturer’s name, a partial part number, and a good, complete description is required to generate an orderable part number. Otherwise, Introit reserves the right to return the part number for more details.

BOM Scrubbing Service Options

BOM orderable part number scrubbing services options include the following:

• A Yes/No verification feedback report on whether an orderable part number line item is accurate or not ( this is the minimum BOM option).
• Generation of an accurate orderable part number as a result of Introit’s patented validation and generation process based on the availability of a comparison database and a good description.
• Generation directly from the pdf datasheet an accurate orderable part number as a result of the line item manufacturer’s name, partial part number and a complete description given.
• An alias option that maps duplicate or inaccurate part numbers to a correct part number in an ancillary duplicate part number database for future reference and mapping will also be available.
• The elimination of duplicates with a report is another option.
• A BOM-ready description option is available that generates a parametrically laden, abbreviated description that assists purchasing, shipping, receiving, and manufacturing in identifying a part without knowing how to interpret the orderable part number.
• Upgrading the partial description to the pdf datasheet tagline description is another option.
• Upgrading the partial description to the taxonomy leaf node description is available.
• Introit can suggest an aggregation of part numbers to a parent part number for possible inventory reduction and aggregated purchase discounts.
• Introit can also place the components into a taxonomy of choice for component organization based on shared attributes.
• The manufacturer’s name can be normalized to their legal name recognized by D&B’s DUNN’s number.
• Correcting or adding a datasheet URL is also available as an option.

For more information, pricing, and/or datasheets, please contact us.