The act of ordering components is not hard. Ordering the right components, however, is an art. You’ve got a few tricks to reduce costs; like ordering less variety of components from fewer vendors so you can take advantage of volume discounts. You need to provide your teams with real-time information about component availability and pricing so they can make the most cost effective choices without sacrificing functionality. Of course, the problem is that engineers work in different systems. How do you build that bridge?
Unproven Parts, From Unproven Sources
Engineers and designers find creative solutions to problems. Sometimes though, those creative solutions involve, shall we say, less than ideal parts and components from not so reputable sources. You need to order only vetted components from your preferred vendors because people will come to you when deliveries don’t arrive on time.
Use Approved Information Sources
Provide the freedom to choose any part and vendor an engineer wants, so long as it is the right one.
- Connect directly to your preferred vendors for real-time pricing and availability information.
Learn More about Supply Chain Visibility - Link directly to your own internal parts database to ensure only approved parts make their way into designs.
Learn More about Connecting to Your Database.
Getting Information To The Engineers
You’ve built your extensive database of information on preferred suppliers and optimal parts. By keeping that data to yourself, you’re just creating more work for everyone at the end of the project by requiring changes to the design. But if you just hand that data over to the engineers directly, they’ll be overwhelmed in all that data and you won’t be helping the organization as much as you could, or should. How do you get just the right data to the right people at the exact right time so they can choose the right parts from the get-go?
Deliver it to Their Design Environment
Get them the data they need to make your life easier.
- Put pricing and supply chain information in the design tools so engineers can make informed decisions thoughout the design process.
Learn More about Supply Chain Visibility
Runaway BOM Costs
BOM costs have a tendency to get out of hand. Every part placed adds up. Without bigger picture context, designers don’t know if the choices they are making are contributing to keep costs down, or are part of the problem. How do you combine accurate pricing information with the BOM to show designers in real-time where they are along the budget, all from inside their design environment?
Managed Approach to BOM
Easily track the total BOM cost as it updates with live pricing information with each part selection
- See the costs add up and the effect of part choices in real-time.
Learn More about ActiveBOM - Easily build your designs to fit the budget.
Learn More about Design to Cost