Forum Discussion

EdwardHefter's avatar
EdwardHefter
Qrew Cadet
2 years ago

Fully exploding a Bill of Materials

I am trying to write a system that will allow a multilevel BOM. I can use a many-to-many table to allow the same part to be attached to many different higher level parts. I can write reports that show high level parts and all the parts that go into it, and reports that show all the higher level parts that a single part can go into. But, I don't know how to write a report that shows a high level part, the parts that go into it, and the parts that go into those parts, all the way down to the base level parts.

In other words, a fully exploded BOM.

Does anyone have any examples or can give me a general framework on how to generate that? Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
Edward Hefter
www.Sutubra.com
------------------------------

7 Replies

  • MarkShnier__You's avatar
    MarkShnier__You
    Qrew #1 Challenger
    I have worked with Clients to develop those kind of apps.  I put an App in the Quickbase Exchange (Explore Sample Apps) off the My Apps page called Assembly Costing.  I believe I added some help notes as some automations are required to do the multi level costing updates if yo are trying to roll up the parts  and labour costs up to the top level Assembly.

    The help text refers to Webhooks but it was written before we had Automations and Pipelines.

    ------------------------------
    Mark Shnier (YQC)
    mark.shnier@gmail.com
    ------------------------------
    • EdwardHefter's avatar
      EdwardHefter
      Qrew Cadet
      Thanks for the quick response and apologies for my slower one! This app looks like a good way to roll up costs (and anything else that can be summarized) to the top level. I am hoping to find a way that will give me details (names, quantities, etc.), of the sub-components and their subcomponents, too.

      Any thoughts on that?

      ------------------------------
      Edward Hefter
      www.Sutubra.com
      ------------------------------
  • DonLarson's avatar
    DonLarson
    Qrew Commander
    I am assuming that you have your application has a structure that lets you build the BOMs.   Something like this:



    Now there are two answers I use.

    1) In the Sub Assembly Table run a report

    Grouped on Related Product
    Group again on Related Assembly
    Sort on Related Item Master

    Instead of the "Related Field", you should use the Description field for those tables or what ever data from the tables makes sense for your BOM Report.

    2) Get the data out and use Tableau, PowerBI, Sigma, QLIK or another BI/BA tool.   This is more work but gives you the control to really make the report look like you need it, so it is intuitively inform the user.  




    ------------------------------
    Don Larson
    ------------------------------
    • MarkShnier__You's avatar
      MarkShnier__You
      Qrew #1 Challenger
      In my experience with these type of apps, the issue is that a subassembly gets used in other  subassemblies recursively.

      ------------------------------
      Mark Shnier (YQC)
      mark.shnier@gmail.com
      ------------------------------
    • EdwardHefter's avatar
      EdwardHefter
      Qrew Cadet
      Thanks Don. I am set for going down (or up) one level in the assembly/sub-assembly chain.

      I am looking for a way to see everything above or everything below a component (assuming that a component is made of sub-assemblies, which in turn are made of sub-assemblies, which in turn are also made of subassemblies, etc.).

      ------------------------------
      Edward Hefter
      www.Sutubra.com
      ------------------------------
  • Hello Edward,
    An approach you may consider is described below:
    1 - Every item on a BOM has a parent coming from part master table or another part/assembly table.
    2 -  Create a BOM table that references part master table
    3 - Assemble your product BOM with parts by selecting from part master table. Identify each BOM part with a parent. The parent will be a part. Same as you do with project task dependency
    4 - Identify each BOM part with an order
    5 - create your report by grouping on the parent and sorting on the order.





    ------------------------------
    Souheil Karam
    ------------------------------
    • EdwardHefter's avatar
      EdwardHefter
      Qrew Cadet
      Thanks Souheil. I see how this can show all assembly/sub-assembly relationships, but I can't see a way to limit the view to just one particular top level assembly and all of its sub-assemblies. For example, if I also had an ASSMB that had components F, E, and H, how would I just see that?

      ------------------------------
      Edward Hefter
      www.Sutubra.com
      ------------------------------