What is the most important output of hardware engineers?
There is a possibility that the various answer exists to this question.
E.g. Specifications, Drawing, assembly planing on a CAD.
However, I'm sure BOM is the most important output as engineer.
Engineers will work with the various departments in the company.
It is important to cooperate with them. For example, sales, manufacturing, Purchasing. Relevant departments proceed with the work based on all BOM that was created by engineers. BOM is the basis of all of the work in the manufacturing industry.
BOM can be generalized by simply referred to as a list.
the BOM will be able to manage all information.
Such as Cost, quantity, lead time, QCD is can be managed by using BOM.
It is important to think about what to put on the BOM item.
This sense of engineers is important.
By placing the exhaustive information on the BOM to be a master,
Everything will be able to visualize, searchable, and can be filtering.
I think that the BOM is first starting point to cross-analysis for the product.
To proceed efficiently in the development of hardware is important the following idea.
- MECE (there is no missing, there is no overlap) should be a list. It should be Data Cleansing
- Never adulteration to human error and mechanically generated, automatically. You should take advantage of, such as CAD, scripting language.
- Thorough centralized management ensure the master data.
BOM can try a variety of ideas by expanding freely.
The quality of the design will be able to improve by leveraging to actively applying in the design the BOM.
Engineers sometimes have a misunderstanding, such as the following.
BOM make for the downstream processes (such as manufacturing and purchasing.).
I propose to take advantage of the BOM in the upstream of the process (feasibility study and concept design).
There are many means to create a BOM
For example, a spreadsheet, a relational database.
A necessary function is, search, sort, filter, SUM.
Nonlinear operations such as trigonometric function is not required.
All items of BOM should be a calculated parameters describe in SUM.
Many engineers would be feel boring in SUM.
Many people who want to express complex mathematical functions and calculus is exist.
But, it is dangerous to leave a non-linear and complexity.
Any complex parameters can be represented in SUM by making full use of mathematical techniques.
E.g. Mapping and coordinate transformation, geometric.
For example the error (or tolerance),
You can not calculate by SUM, if you represent by the standard deviation,
But it is possible operation by SUM if it be expressed in the variance.
if you use the idea of the loss function in quality engineering,
Any parameter can be representable in terms of Monetary value.
If we also discussed in the dimension of the energy, complex phenomenon can be converted to the SUM.
The Conclusion is as follows.
- If full use of mathematics and physics, It is possible to convert a complex phenomenon in SUM.
- Any parameters become enabled handling in the SUM. Then, it can be well consolidated in the BOM efficient.And it realizes a Cross-cutting analysis. The reason is searchable, it can be filtering, easy to visualize.
- Thorough centralized management improve efficiency in the BOM.
- First, Create a BOM in the upstream of the design process. It is the ultimate front-loading development to design with aggressively BOM.
- This concept is valid for hardware development.
