Outsourcing with an EMS Solutions Provider and the BOM Challenge

Understanding the Importance of Comprehensive Bills of Material

As a premier EMS solutions provider, we intrinsically understand what an important role bills-of-material (BOMs) play in accurate quoting, and the viability and success of outsourcing and manufacturing products that meet all conformity requirements. We also understand OEM trepidation over the fitness of their BOMs and drawings when contemplating outsourcing of products currently manufactured in-house, or perhaps transitioning to off-shore manufacture, possibly reshoring, or moving to a new EMS partner—fearing they may fall victim to lost “legacy knowledge.” 

Mature Products

The one constant in any business is change. Companies evolve, and goals and objectives change over time in response to dynamic circumstances—both internal and external. If you are contemplating transitioning or outsourcing a “mature product”—for example, an electro-mechanical assembly or box-build, you have much to consider. Depending on how much detail went into the original documentation package, there is a possibility that your BOM in manufacturing resource planning (MRP) is of a “flat” structure, and may, therefore, not (without accompanying subordinate sub-assembly BOMs and drawings) convey the necessary information needed for accurate quoting and successful outsourcing manufacture, as the “flat” BOM format alone may not identify the required component detail for the sub-assemblies contained within the top-level product.

Ideally, all sub-assembly content should be defined, and a documentation package for each created that typically includes an assembly drawing and a corresponding BOM. Each sub-assembly should be assigned its own independent part number and revision—and contain only the content that reports to that specific sub-assembly (the intent being that all sub-assembly P/Ns and respective revisions be captured on the top-level BOM, and each sub-assembly be identified on the top-level assembly drawing).

In addition, MRP generally requires sub-assembly items to be coded as either “buy” or “make” (or some such similar designations) so that MRP drives the correct actions.

Structuring your product documentation in this manner will also provide an easy path for your company (or your top-level product EMS partner) to source sub-assembly content from different suppliers as circumstances may prove beneficial to do so, which provides you with options, additional cost and lead-time incentive—and can ultimately avert risk.    

All of this requires internal resources. Often, companies make the decision to not commit the required engineering resources to properly document their mature products, which can again deter OEMs from the beneficial transitioning or outsourcing of such mature products due to concerns of lost legacy knowledge.

New Product Introduction (NPI)

In cases involving the OEM’s anticipated outsourcing of, for example, new electro-mechanical or box-build products (whether in development or at the NPI stage), it is wise to have your engineering department generate the documentation package so that it is of a multi-level structure, identifying all content for both the top-level product as well as the subordinate sub-assemblies contained within the top-level product.

Committing the necessary engineering resources to properly documenting your product at the onset will pay dividends in the long run, and you will avoid the all-too-common legacy knowledge and reverse engineering trap down the line.

The Nuts and Bolts

Once the product is fully conceived, drawings and BOMs for both the top-level product and the sub-assembly content need to be created. There are several challenges you will need to confront during this stage:

• Design-for-manufacturability (DFM):
  • Design the product for ease of assembly, automation, and efficient manufacture and test, using reasonable (industry standard) dimensional tolerances where possible.
  • Define all required test and workmanship criteria. 

• • If applicable, specify the need for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protocol during manufacturing/handling. 

• • Determine the needed regulatory requirements and design the product from the onset to meet these requirements. 

• • Design the product and specify compatible components to meet the performance, quality, reliability, usage, and environmental intent, keeping a keen eye on production automation. 

• • Allow flexibility where possible regarding manufacturing methods, which will   encourage your chosen EMS partner to consider and propose manufacturing efficiency and total-cost optimization measures, while streamlining your internal approval process for such proposals. 

• • Try to utilize common components where feasible. Doing so will improve procurement, MRP, kitting, set-up, and manufacturing efficiencies, while achieving enhanced economy of scale, and potentially reduce required tooling, jigs & fixtures, etc. 

• • Consider required tooling & equipment (injection molds, gigs & fixtures, firmware, test/functional validation requirements & equipment, etc.) early-on in the development stages. 
    

• Design-for-supply-chain (DFSC):
  • Stay clear of end-of-life (EOL) components.

• • Stay clear of sole-source components and choose components that have available alternates where possible. 

• • Specify components from well-established and reliable manufacturers that have prominent distribution networks. 

• • Allow use of alternate components on your documentation where feasible—with OEM approval. 

• • Consider component lead-time, availability, and logistics optimization from the onset. 

• • Understand the shelf-life and specific storage requirements of the components you are choosing (temperature, humidity, etc.) at the onset. 

• • Where applicable and feasible, choose components that have minimum order quantities (MOQs) that do not substantially exceed the forecasted volume of your product. This will reduce excess material and storage liability, minimize shelf-life concerns, and mitigate risk of rendering excess material inventory obsolete due to ECO activity and changes to the product design.

• Design-for-serviceability (DFS):

  • Ensure that your product is designed to be serviceable as required.

• Design-for-upgrades (DFU):

  • Consider design and features for possible future upgrades, configurations, iterations, and emerging product families, in a concerted effort to enhance product synergy and economy of scale, while leveraging your existing design efforts, IP, tooling, pipeline, and marketing/branding—maximizing your return on investment (ROI).

While there is definitely good and necessary reason to closely control certain aspects of a given design, for example ICs and other active components, or perhaps certain aspects or processes that are essential to the quality, reliability, or functionality of the product, many companies end up needlessly or unintentionally imposing restrictions on rudimentary BOM content and manufacturing techniques. This can effectively limit their opportunities available through a qualified collaborative EMS solutions partner:

• Potential efficiency gains
• Cost and lead-time enhancements
• Economy of scale
• Production automation and equipment
• Standard-stock components
• On-hand tooling

The Good News

Companies that are considering transitioning or outsourcing manufacturing do not need to navigate these issues alone. If you engage with a qualified EMS solutions partner that specializes in DFM and DFx early enough in the design process, you can benefit from the guidance, experience, perspective, ingenuity, and know-how that a collaborative EMS solutions partner and trusted advisor has amassed and cultivated over the years, and likely reconcile your engineering and manufacturing challenges as an integral function of the relationship. Even if you are wrestling with these issues in terms of legacy products, a qualified solutions-focused EMS partner can support you with these initiatives.

Experience Makes All the Difference

As a high-value EMS solutions provider with decades of experience and numerous loyal relationships with industry-leading OEMs who entrust us with their outsourcing objectives and success, we know a thing or two about:

• Navigating and leveraging design
• DFM & DFx
• Documentation
• Supply chain
• Sourcing
• Global manufacturing & scalability

Agility Tech and its highly capable global manufacturing partners will help make your manufacturing transition or outsourcing project a total success.  

We continue to be confronted with a wide variety of complex challenges spanning many industries, and have developed a sharp instinct, a comprehensive and ever-expanding knowledge base, and comprehensive methodology to meet these challenges.

A Closer Look

We intently focus on up-front design-for-manufacturing (DFM). For complex assemblies, these DFM efforts typically start with our identification, development, and documenting of the logical, optimized rev-controlled sub-assembly hierarchy contained within the top-level product. 

During this process, we focus on such considerations as:

• Manufacturing efficiency
• Ease and order of assembly
• Tooling and automation
• Required in-process inspection and testing
• Workmanship consistency
• Maximizing operator comprehension    

We then develop a corresponding rev-controlled process/manufacturing documentation package for the top-level assembly, into which the separate sub-assembly content reports and is ultimately integrated.

We create internal multi-level BOMs, and manufacturing documentation that captures:

• All required processes
• Tooling
• Visual aids
• Cautionary notes
• Inspection points and criteria
• Test/programming requirements and steps
• Burn-in requirements
• Serialization
• CoC and other validation requirements, etc.

This approach facilitates improved operator and inspector comprehension as it transforms what can otherwise be a very complex assembly at its top-level, into manageable, easier to understand, individually manufactured or sourced, tested and inspected sub-assemblies that are ultimately integrated at a subsequent manufacturing stage to form the final top-level product.

The end results are:

• More efficient procurement, kitting, and processing

• Improved overall quality, workmanship, repeatability, and ongoing conformance to customer requirements

• Substantially reduced in-process non-conformities

• Ultimately, a more competitive solution that you can place your trust in

Putting Your Plan Together

No matter what state your BOMs and supporting documentation are in, rest assured that Agility Tech and its distinguished manufacturing partners can put a plan together for you and execute a successful manufacturing transition or outsourcing solution, NPI or mature product launch (North America [domestic or Mexico], off-shore, or any beneficial combination thereof), that will meet your cost, quality, and time-to-market objectives—and alleviate your concerns of lost legacy knowledge.

Give us a call today at (774) 847-5533 or send an email—let’s discuss your needs and objectives.