BOMs are used within an asset-intensive company’s EAM/CMMS systems to keep track of all of the materials needed to repair and maintain equipment. Essentially, maintenance BOMs help maintenance planners select and order the correct parts for repairs quicker and more efficiently. Good quality maintenance BOMs can significantly increase the speed at which planners can plan work orders and help ensure work orders are completed without delays due to missing parts.
Utilizing BOMs helps increase wrench time which will lead to a wide variety of benefits. Workers being able to find information sooner will decrease lead times. Without BOMs, planners would have to find vendor maintenance documents or recommended spare parts lists to find parts, and this can take time that would be better used planning and scheduling work.
With all that said, BOMs are only effective if they are good quality BOMs. Here are ways in which your company can improve the quality of your BOMs.
Improve Accuracy
To utilize BOMs effectively, it’s important to have accurate BOMs. Inaccurate BOMs are typically a result of errors or a failure to keep them up to date over time. To prevent errors, avoid using spreadsheets to manage BOMs. If you are using spreadsheets, consider using your EAM/CMMS system instead. This will help keep your BOMs up to date by facilitating cooperation and avoiding the use of multiple spreadsheets without version control.
Consider Audience
To create an effective BOM, it’s important to consider who will be viewing the BOM. In addition to inputting data without errors, use detailed and informative parts descriptions that allow easy identification and differentiation between parts. When doing so, be sure to keep things simple and easy to understand.
Use Clear Visuals
Incorporating visuals or diagrams into your BOMs can make things significantly easier for maintenance workers. Through exploded parts diagrams, workers can associate part names and numbers with visuals, making it easier to plan and carry out work. Providing vendor manuals linked to BOMs is also a good idea so that workers won’t have to waste time looking for them independently.
BOMs take time, money, and expertise to create and keep up to date. If your company is going to invest a lot into creating them, you may as well do it the right way. We provide solutions and services to help you build quality BOMs and keep them up to date.
Contact us to watch a demo and learn more about how we can help enhance your BOMs.
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