NetSuite Bill of Materials (BOM) - Enhancing Manufacturing Efficiency

Guide to Improving Manufacturing with NetSuite Bill of materials

Completing a bill of materials is an important stage in the production process. Multiple manufacturing and supply chain processes, including production, materials requirement planning, and inventory planning, all rely on the accuracy of a BOM record.

In essence, a bill of materials is a list of parts, objects, assemblies, and other materials needed to construct a product.

A bill of materials also contains instructions for obtaining and using these materials. A bill of materials can operate as a central record of the materials, components, and methods needed to manufacture a product because of the breadth and depth of data it captures.

Understanding NetSuite for Manufacturing

In order to fully grasp how NetSuite can significantly improve the efficiency of BOM record, we must first go through the overall benefits NetSuite assembly bill has to offer.

Manufacturing module

A robust manufacturing module is included in NetSuite assembly bill. It enables businesses to plan, develop, and manage a well-defined manufacturing workflow. 

Your team can keep track of the costs connected with each step in the production process.

When it comes to manufacturing ERP software, NetSuite can easily meet the majority of needs of advanced bill. 

Its Manufacturing module, in addition to being a full-fledged ERP, is designed to streamline your operations. Keeping your company's general ledger, stock management, and Supply Chain Management operations in sync.

Here are just some of the various NetSuite modules you can use for your manufacturing needs:

Quality management

‍

Quality Management in NetSuite helps your firm produce high-quality products while reducing human labor. Defining inspection plans, collecting results, and monitoring purchase order data in real-time are just some of the capabilities available to ensure your items are always of the highest quality.

This module allows you to create and maintain inspection plans, as well as access integrated non-conformance reporting and gather in-process and incoming inspection data.

Financial management

Financial Management is a critical NetSuite ERP manufacturing module that improves overall accounting, costing, and payment management.

Accounts receivables, orders, and accounts payable data are displayed in this module's configurable dashboards. It can also construct a seemingly infinite number of general ledger accounts, sub-accounts, and segments.

You can also speed up invoice preparation by calculating sales taxes, finance costs, and discount conditions automatically.

Production control

Production Control is a NetSuite module that helps with scheduling, work order administration, and product quality. From a single location, users can generate, release, update, and monitor work orders and inventory items throughout the manufacturing process.

In a make-to-order setting, work orders can be generated automatically from sales orders. Allowing a single work order to operate a multi-level assembly simplifies multi-level work order processing.

In addition, this module creates and preserves a detailed history of each assembly items throughout its lifecycle to provide vital information for logistics tracking.

Order Management

This module simplifies order management by automatically transferring all orders for assembly items to shipping and account receivables. It fulfills orders based on global stock availability and business rules.

Order Management allows you to see your whole order management process in real-time. It also contains information on multiple assembly items, orders, trends, and order conversion rates.

Planning and scheduling

Planning and Scheduling is a crucial NetSuite ERP software manufacturing module in NetSuite for Manufacturing.

This feature allows users to balance demand and supply automatically, ensuring that your product and assembly item is in the correct place at the right time.

It provides users with the ability to construct realistic schedules using a real-time scheduling engine and the option to visualize their schedules using numerous graphs.

CRM

NetSuite CRM is a robust Customer Relationship Management product that provides NetSuite users with a 360-degree view of all of their customers from a single platform.

From the moment a lead is generated to the opportunity, sales order, cross-sell, and support, NetSuite CRM ensures that information flows smoothly across the customer lifecycle.

NetSuite CRM is a critical NetSuite ERP manufacturing module for all growing firms with large client bases and a long list of services and products.

What do they have in common?

All modules the NetSuite has for manufacturing have common core features. Among these features is the advance BOM feature.

What is NetSuite Bill of Material Service Items?

A bill of materials is simply a schematic for producing a product or assembly item. It includes all of the ingredients, components, and steps that go into making the product all in a single BOM.

The majority of BOMs are organized in a hierarchy. The finished product is at the top, followed by subassemblies, and then the components and materials that go into manufacturing the product. This comprises information such as part names, numbers, and descriptions.

While the notion of a BOM is simple, producing and monitoring bills of materials, especially for new BOM with component items with multiple pieces, may be challenging.

Using NetSuite for Accurate and Automated BOM

NetSuite BOM makes production more efficient and precise. An organization can assess whether it has everything it needs to move forward with little risk of delays by identifying and pricing all of the materials and components needed to manufacture a product. This decreases the chances of material or component shortages or overproduction.

Companies who deal with contract manufacturers and give them a bill of materials produced by NetSuite can be more confident that the end product will match their needs.

Because a bill of materials is required for every manufacturing project, NetSuite tightly connects BOMs with work orders and allows you to make revisions to existing bill of materials.

Operating without a BOM increases the risk of costly and time-consuming mistakes. Supplies shortages or overages, manufacturing downtime while the materials are assembled, and additional expediting expenses to make up for prior delays are just a few examples.

How to Create and Use BOMs

Here is a quick list that details how you can create and use your own BOM:

Filter your data

Determine what types of data you want to include in your BOM. Make sure to add essential data such as assembly parts and item record replace to ensure accuracy.

Centralize the BOM record

In order for the BOM to remain accurate and up-to-date, data from all of your systems and processes must be combined into an integrated source.

Control who has access 

Human error is always a factor you need to consider, especially when multiple revisions are made. To minimize this risk, be cautious about who can create multiple revisions to your advanced BOM record and who can make BOM revisions.

Track changes and BOM revisions

Many BOMs are updated on a regular basis. All modifications must be tracked in order for the BOM to continue to be useful and accurate. Make sure to keep a close eye on your BOM revision record and track any BOM revisions.

It is worth noting that it is more efficient to make revisions to the same BOM instead of creating a new bill of materials.

What Should be Included in a BOM?

Now that we know what a BOM is and how to use it, we can now go into what should go into a BOM.

Parts number

This one-of-a-kind number identifies a material or component, allowing anybody involved in the manufacturing process to instantly identify it.

Intelligent numbers can help you recognize each component more quickly. An example would be "product name-001". They do, however, need that the person creating the numbering scheme has a thorough understanding of each component before assigning numbers.

No descriptions are included with non-intelligent part numbers. They're often easier to make and are more likely to remain consistently accurate in the future.

Phase

This identifies what stage the product is in during the manufacturing process. 

Description

The description, which is also unique to each part or component, contains more essential information specific to the product in question. 

Quantity

The number indicated here will tell the number of parts to be used in assembly or production.

Procurement method

This specifies the method of obtaining the part or component; whether it was purchased, created internally, or manufactured by subcontractors.

Notes

This section provides the opportunity for those involved in the production process to make independent notes about the default BOM or the product itself.

Employees and managers can create notes about BOM revision, component yield level, existing functionalities, fresh features, and other such information.

Key Features of NetSuite's Bill of Materials

We know how inaccurate inventory management and inefficient production planning can give you a lot of headaches. With NetSuite’s Bill of Materials feature, these problems can be a thing of the past. Here are several reasons why businesses find NetSuite's BOM helpful:

Real-Time Data and Analytics

NetSuite Bill of Materials (BOM) gives you real-time data and analytics that allows you to make decisions almost instantly. It allows manufacturers to have up-to-the-minute information on inventory levels, production status, and material requirements to minimize delays and inaccuracies.

Customization and Flexibility

NetSuite Bill of Materials (BOM) is also highly customizable and flexible. It allows manufacturers to tailor the BOM to their specific needs to accommodate various product configurations which is vital for businesses that require frequent changes to the BOM due to evolving product designs or market demands.

Integration with Other NetSuite Modules

NetSuite Bill of Materials (BOM) seamlessly integrates with other NetSuite modules, such as Quality Management, Financial Management, and Order Management. This integration links all aspects of the manufacturing process to enhance overall efficiency.

Benefits of Implementing NetSuite BOM in Manufacturing

With so many moving parts, manufacturing businesses need all the support they could possibly get. From sub-assemblies to costing, keeping track of so many components can be overwhelming. NetSuite's BOM module provides comprehensive support for manufacturing processes so that manufacturers can have all the time to focus on defining and managing their products. Here's a closer look at how it makes things easier:

Improved Accuracy and Efficiency

Implementing NetSuite Bill of Materials (BOM) improves the accuracy and efficiency of your manufacturing process. By automating BOM management, NetSuite reduces the risk of human error to maintain quality standards and meet production deadlines.

Cost Reduction and Better Budget Management

NetSuite Bill of Materials (BOM) also reduces your manufacturing costs. By providing detailed insights into material usage and production costs, it’s easier to identify inefficiencies and waste areas which leads to significant savings.

Enhanced Collaboration Across Departments

Finally, implementing NetSuite Bill of Materials (BOM) fosters collaboration across departments. Departments such as procurement, production, and finance can easily access and share information to ensure alignment leading to a more cohesive manufacturing process.

Conclusion

Creating and managing BOMs by hand can rapidly become cumbersome and error-prone. Look for an ERP management system that incorporates stock control, end dates ability, tracking, and optimization to assist firms to manage stock levels across their supply chains.

A complete, accurate, and up-to-date bill of materials aids decision-making and streamlines production processes. It can assist firms in moving designs into production faster, thus allowing them to grab more customers.

Consider getting an experienced ERP implementation partner with a full history of successes to fully customize your system to what you need. 

Key Takeaways:

• NetSuite Bill of Materials (BOM) is essential in manufacturing to ensure accuracy in production, materials requirement planning, and inventory planning.
• The BOM serves as a central record needed for product manufacturing that highlights the depth of data it captures.
• NetSuite's robust manufacturing module aids in developing manufacturing workflows for ERP implementation best practices compliance.
• NetSuite Quality Management enhances product quality while reducing manual labor. The alignment with ERP implementation best practices leads to more efficiency.
• Financial Management within NetSuite improves accounting, costing, and payment management which are key aspects of a successful ERP implementation.
• Production Control in NetSuite streamlines work order administration and product quality.
• NetSuite's Order Management module optimizes order processing to also reflect ERP implementation best practices for a more streamlined operation.
• Accurate and automated BOM in NetSuite reduces risks of delays and material shortages which demonstrates effective ERP implementation strategies.