EBOMs and MBOMs

EBOMs

An EBOM (engineering bill of materials) is a list of materials needed to build a part. Complex EBOMs can have multiple levels. Imagine a (simplified) car: the EBOM may have an engine, chassis, and wheels. The engine will have it's own EBOM for pistons, fuel injectors, etc.

Typically an EBOM is managed outside of Factorial, in PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) software. (like Teamcenter, Autodesk Fusion Manage, Arena, Duro, etc...). Factorial has officially supported integrations for popular PLM software, and keeps a 1:1 sync between the PLM EBOM and the Factorial EBOM. Factorial also supports manually setting up an EBOM without a dedicated PLM, though this is not recommended for large customers.

MBOMs

An MBOM (manufacturing bill of materials) is the link between manufacturing and engineering. Specifically, the MBOM links items in the EBOM to steps in a versioned procedure (TODO: procedures link).

Factorial is designed for teams that are manufacturing while making design changes. As design changes get pushed to the EBOM, the MBOM acts as a buffer, allowing manufacturing to consume those changes without disrupting ongoing builds.

Procedures affected by design changes are flagged, and can be updated to a new version that accounts for the design changes. Seeing the diff and resolving conflicts between the EBOM and MBOM are first class features in Factorial.

Versioning

EBOMs in Factorial are unversioned, since there is typically a 1:1 mapping to an EBOM in a PLM. MBOMs are versioned, since changing the links between a procedure and an EBOM require updating the procedure revision.

Further reading:

• Global and Local Part Substitutes (TODO links)
• ABOMs
• Inventory