CIMdata Releases Enterprise BOM Research

Moving from a single BOM to a common representation

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, USA 3 November 2022—CIMdata, Inc., the leading global PLM strategic management consulting and research firm, announces the release of a summary of CIMdata research on the application of an enterprise bill of material (BOM).

Manufacturers from many industries face incredible demand to bring their multi-domain products to market faster while differentiating from their competition. As product complexity continues to increase, companies are exploring enterprise-level BOM management strategies to better manage part and product data throughout the product lifecycle and foster collaboration across software, electronic, electrical, and mechanical domains. To better understand the issue, CIMdata worked with Siemens Digital Industries Software (Siemens) to conduct a survey on enterprise BOM practices and plans of industrial companies.

“In CIMdata’s industrial consulting practice, BOM management practices vary widely by company. Some have very mature approaches, and others are clearly not at the same level,” stated Stan Przybylinski, CIMdata’s Vice President. “As we saw in this survey, the applications used for BOM management vary by lifecycle stage. Microsoft Excel is still far too important to many industrial companies, with even very large enterprises using this ubiquitous solution. Almost half said their BOM management approach hurts their business, even though 22% say they already have an enterprise BOM capability. Most of the rest of our respondents plan to go there (eventually),” continued Mr. Przybylinski. “While our survey results show a mix of capabilities and approaches, overall, this research suggests that there is a solid business opportunity to deliver powerful enterprise BOM capabilities to better support the needs of industrial manufacturers.”

The full report is available for download on CIMdata.com.