ActiveBOM - FAQs

Parent article:  ActiveBOM

Use the following links to browse through frequently asked questions relevant to Altium Designer's ActiveBOM. For further, more detailed information on aspects of ActiveBOM, use the links available in the panel to the right.

General

What is ActiveBOM?

ActiveBOM is a tool that facilitates real-time cost estimation and tracking for a board design, by giving the designer a clear picture of cost and availability of all items associated with that design. With real-time supply chain data returned from external (online) Supplier databases and/or an internal company parts database, and the ability to manually define BOM items and supply chain solutions, a richer (and fuller) BOM results. The designer can get a timely flag if any cost blow-outs are on the near horizon, and can quickly assess item availability, complete with notification if there is a risk in the supply of a chosen part.

What are the benefits to using ActiveBOM?

Having a clear picture of the total cost of a design and availability of its components – during the design phase – provides numerous benefits to the designer. These include the ability to:

• Implement a design-to-cost development approach.
• Pinpoint parts of the design that excessively contribute to overall cost.
• Make smart component choices, by seeing component cost and availability from both internal (company database) and external (online vendor databases) sources.
• Set target pricing so that procurement specialists know where to focus their efforts on sourcing the required real-world parts.
• Investigate design changes with an understanding of cost implications.

Why has the command to add a BOM document disappeared?

Only a single BOM document can be added to a board design project. To enforce this, after a BOM document has been added to the project the command is removed from the menus.

What is stored in the BOM document?

The BOM document (*.BomDoc) is an ASCII document. It stores manually-defined (Extra) catalog items and supply chain solutions, along with 'snapshot' data retrieved after refreshing the document – data from placed components on the source design schematics, as well as supply chain data retrieved from Part Choice Lists associated to vault-based components used in the design, and through supplier links added to unmanaged components in the design.

From where are the supply chain solutions sourced?

For items used in a design, supply chain solutions are sourced in a number of ways:

• For vault-based components (managed, or 'Unified' components), this data is retrieved automatically from the Part Choice List Items defined and associated to the respective Component Items.
• For components that are not placed from a vault (unmanaged components) this information can be:
  • Defined in situ within the BOM Catalog, through the addition of manually-configured solutions (or 'manual Part Choices' as it were).
  • Sourced through Supplier Links added to a component.

What if I don't use the Suppliers supported by Altium?

Not a problem. A locally-defined supply chain solution (or 'manual Part Choice') can be defined in fully-manual fashion. This gives you the ability to add and fully define a part from any Supplier, without constraining you to those Suppliers partnered with Altium. Perfect for those items that are just not sold in a Supplier's product catalog, such as shipping costs, testing costs, and perhaps that custom part being made exclusively for you by a specialist!

Why is the list of Suppliers in the Preferences disabled?

This happens when you are connected to an Altium Vault Server. The Altium Vault Server dictates centrally which Suppliers are to be used in an organization, with the list of Approved Suppliers configured through the Altium Vault Server's browser-based interface. This facilitates centralized supply chain management, with designers across the entire organization using the same approved list of Vendors, with which to source supply chain intelligence for parts used in their designs.

So while connected to an Altium Vault Server, the list of Suppliers on the Data Management – Suppliers page of the Preferences dialog will be disabled. It will simply be a read-only reflection of this centrally-defined list. This also means that if you are using an Altium Personal Vault, the centralized list of Suppliers will be used until such time the Altium Vault Server is disconnected, at which point the Personal Vault will follow the list of Suppliers defined at the Preferences level.

Why does the Actual price per board not update when I change the production quantity?

When changing the Production Quantity, the entries for Actual Price in the solutions for catalog items are dynamically updated, as are the resulting Supply Risk states, if they change as a consequence. However the BOM document needs to be refreshed to recalculate the Actual price per board.

Why is there no 'navigate to source' command for Extra-Place Holder and Extra-Process items?

There is no such 'navigation to source' for Extra-Place Holder and Extra-Process catalog/BOM items, since the source for these items is the actual BOM document itself.

I can't get cross-probing to work, what am I doing wrong?

Ensure that the BOM document is open, alongside the source schematic or PCB document from which you are performing the cross-probing action.

I don't see any controls to generate a BOM from the BOM document – how do I get a BOM?

Once you are happy with the content of your BOM document, on its BOM Components tab, you can use that document as the data source when generating a BOM for use by manufacturing. This is performed through an Output Job Configuration File (*.OutJob) – either directly, or as part of the board release process. Simply add a Bill of Materials output generator as part of the Report Outputs section of the OutJob, and ensure the Data Source is set to be the BOM document (*.BomDoc).

Configure the report as required, through the output generator's configuration dialog (double-click to access). The initial settings are transferred from the underlying BOM document (component data and display settings (columns, filters, sorting, grouping, etc)).

Why am I getting discrepancies in the Supplier Unit Pricing between the source BomDoc and the generator in my OutJob?

If there is a noticeable discrepancy between Supplier Unit Price in the BOM output generator's configuration dialog, and that in the underlying BOM document, check the value entered for Production Quantity in both areas. When configuring the output generator, this can be found in the Supplier Options region of the configuration dialog. By default it is 1, and is not filled with the value entered in the BOM document.

Working with the BOM Catalog Tab

Does the BOM Catalog ignore design components I don't want in the BOM?

Components used in the design of type Graphical, Net Tie, and Standard (No BOM) will be ignored by the BOM document, and therefore not brought in to the BOM Catalog.

I'm seeing the status 'Out of Date' – what does that mean?

This is related to Core-Managed and Core-UnManaged catalog items. For an item present in the actual design, placed from a vault or non-vault-based library, the Status field indicates the state of synchronization between the item in the BOM Catalog and the item in the source design. Information is sourced from the design. When synchronized, the status will display as . If a source schematic document is modified in some way, the items resident on that sheet will become unsynchronized, as reflected by the status . The items themselves may not have changed in any way. The system is simply flagging a change to design source and therefore advising a refresh of the BOM Catalog data, to resynchronize the BOM with the source documents. Do this by clicking the Refresh button at the top-right of the BOM document.

If I add an Extra item to the catalog, does it automatically get added to the BOM?

In a word, no. Only Core items (Managed and UnManaged) will automatically appear in the BOM. These are the parts actually used in the design. Any additional items that you add manually to the catalog – Extra items – will not automatically appear in the BOM. This is reflected by their status . To use any of these items, you need to specifically add instances of them to the BOM. Once this is done, the status will change to , to reflect that they are now being used.

What's the difference between the Place Holder and Process item types?

The Extra-Place Holder item type is typically used for those items that will be needed, but are as yet not fully known (to have pricing included in the overall board costing estimation). The Extra-Process item type is typically for things not relating to physical items on the board itself, but required as part of getting the board manufactured, and so incurring cost. These might include shipping costs, testing costs, and so on.

Is there a limit to the number of 'Extra' items I can add to the catalog?

Not at all. Add as many as you require to fully cost your board.

Can I link my new Reserved item to an existing vault Item?

No. A new Item must be created and the Extra-Reserved catalog item linked to the initial planned revision of that Item. The catalog item cannot be linked to an existing Item in a vault.

How are solutions ordered by default?

With no grouping or sorting applied, solutions are ordered according to ranking (where applicable and 3 star solution first), then lowest to highest pricing. For two solutions with the same pricing (and which are not ranked), order is determined by stock level (the solution with greater availability listed first).

What do the different solution icons mean?

The  icon is used to distinguish a manually-added solution.

The  icon is used to distinguish a solution that has been retrieved for a vault-based Component Item through its Part Choice List.

The  icon is used to distinguish a solution that has been retrieved for an unmanaged part in a design, through a defined Supplier Link.

How should manual price break information be added?

When entering pricing information in the Price Break region, simply enter a single number representing the start of each new break. Do not enter a range (e.g. 1-9) or use the plus character (e.g. 50+). The latter is added automatically to the number entered, when the pricing information is displayed for the solution. If there are no pricing breaks – so a single flat price irrespective of units purchased – simply enter 1 for the Quantity (the resulting pricing displayed will be 1+).

Why do solutions for my Extra catalog items all show zero for the Actual Price?

When adding a solution to an Extra catalog item (Extra-Managed, Extra-Place Holder, Extra-Process, Extra-Reserved), the Actual Price field will display 0 if that item has not been added to the BOM (i.e. is not present on the BOM Components tab of the BOM document). Actual Price is calculated based on number of parts required for a specified Production Quantity, and in accordance with price breaks offered by the Supplier. When a catalog item is not yet present in the BOM, it is not being used for the design.

I use Supplier Links added to my components. Are these supported?

Yes. Supplier Links added to unmanaged components in a design – through use of the Live Links to Supplier Data feature – are also used as a source of supply chain information, and brought in automatically as solutions into the BOM Catalog. Such solutions are distinguished by the  icon.

How many solutions can be ranked?

The catalog gives you freedom of choice by allowing you to select up to three preferred solutions using the ranking feature. Assigned ranks are unique. No two solutions can be assigned the same rank.

Working with the BOM Components Tab

Why can't I see supply chain information in my BOM?

Ranking must be applied to at least one solution for each catalog item, for the supply chain data to appear on the BOM Components tab. This is so that the software knows under which solution (Solution 1, Solution 2, or Solution 3) to present the data.

How does ranking used in the catalog map to solutions in the actual BOM?

On the BOM Components tab (and ultimately the generated BOM for manufacturing), ranked solutions appear as Solution 1 (High rank solution, or 3 stars), Solution 2 (Medium rank solution, or 2 stars) and Solution 3 (Low rank solution, or 1 star).

What is the Total Price column in the BOM?

This can help in costing by sheet. For all components grouped in a line of the BOM, this displays the sum of the prices of those components, multiplied by the specified production quantity, and taking into account any price breaks from the Supplier. So in terms of data presented in the BOM, this can be mathematically summarized as:

Total Price = Quantity x Supplier Unit Price x Production Quantity

How do I add 'Extra' catalog items to the BOM?

This can be done in two ways:

• From the BOM Catalog tab – by selecting one or more 'Extra' type items in the catalog and clicking the Add to BOM control.
• From the BOM Components tab – by clicking the Add from Catalog control, and choosing which item to add, from the Add to BOM Components dialog.

I've added instances of catalog items to my BOM, but the designators aren't quite right – can I change them?

Yes. After manual components have been added to the BOM, you can modify their designators. To do so, simply select the entries for one or more components in the main data region, then right-click over the Designator field of a component in that selection and use the Edit Selected Component(s) Designator(s) command. The Change/Remove dialog will appear. This lists the current designator(s) and proposed new designator(s) (initially set to be the same). Simply edit the entries in the New Designator column for the components you wish to change and click OK to effect the changes.