Modern manufacturers come in all shapes and sizes. In fact, many of them don’t physically manufacture anything themselves at all, choosing rather to focus on designing an awesome product and leaving the dirty work up to someone else. But regardless of who does the manufacturing, and where it is done, having the ability to create and communicate an accurate and flexible bill of materials (BOM) is an important foundational element of the product lifecycle.

In the 17.2 release, NetSuite is enhancing its existing BOM functionality to meet the needs of modern product companies with several key features:

  • New BOM Structure
    • When a user selects the Advanced BOM feature, all of their existing assembly item BOMs are automatically migrated to the new record structure. Under this new design, the BOM, Revisions and Components are all moved into their own records, which can be fully customized using SuiteCloud Developer tools. For example, customers can now add custom fields to the component list to track such information as drawing links, reference designators etc.
  • Separate BOM Record
    • This new record structure can now be created entirely separately from the assembly item. So, for example, your engineers can now build and cost BOMs during the design and prototyping phases, long before they have to create the item that it will be manufactured and sold under.
  • Multiple BOMs
    • One of the key drivers behind this new feature was to provide the ability to create and link multiple BOMs to a single assembly item. Any manufacturer who has a single item made in multiple locations, potentially by a combination of internal plants and multiple contract manufacturers, needs the ability to create and track multiple BOMs with subtle differences based on the method of manufacture. Using this new feature, you will also be able to create and track engineering, prototype, repair BOMs and more.
  • Location-Specific BOMs
    • In addition to having multiple BOMs attached to a single item, each of them can be limited to being used in a specific location. Ensuring that your manufacturing facility is using the correct BOM is critical to ensuring your customers receive a consistently manufactured product. Each BOM can now be made available to any combination of plant and contract manufacturing locations.
  • Multiple SKUs
    • Uniquely, this new BOM structure also allow a single BOM record to be linked to multiple end SKU’s. Many modern product companies design a single product that can be sold through multiple channels with different brands – most ERP solutions would require that you create and maintain a separate BOM record for each SKU that it is sold through. NetSuite’s new Advanced BOM feature eliminates this need saving your designers and engineers hundreds of hours when changes are required.
  • Enhanced Revision Capabilities
    • Finally, NetSuite has enhanced its existing revision capability to meet the needs of the customer base. This new structure displays multiple revisions in a more user-friendly way with the component details being tied to the revision record itself. Additionally, integration with PLM systems will be a lot simpler, and future enhancements in this area will lead to a fully native ECN process.

These significant new enhancements are designed to satisfy the needs of our manufacturing, distribution and retail customers as they continue to grow and compete in the global marketplace. Learn more about the latest NetSuite release, 17.2.