Bill Of Manufacture process

What is a Bill of Manufacture (BOM)? That is a really good question! A proper BOM is a list of all the processes and procedures that go into the creation of an item and there expected time frame. As the Manufacturing Processes engineering Intern for Indium Corporation, I have been tasked with updating the BOM. This can seem like a daunting task due to the sheer size of the BOM. So where do we begin?

Currently, most of my time working on the BOM has been in relations to the packaging stage of the process. Since the BOM is so large and is comprised of many different standards, it is necessary to break it down. Why am I looking at packaging you may ask? Our packaging here at Indium Corporation has changed (improved) a lot over the years. Our company also spends a lot of money to package our products.

How does one person even being to update such standards? A lot of data! I personally walk around with four kitchen timers, every day, which are for collecting data. Do I feel like the time master? Yes I do! Now that that’s out of the way, I’m going to explain why I need these four timers. Each procedure takes time. We all know the saying, “time is money”; well this couldn’t be more true. With a better knowledge of our procedures and their timing, we can offer more competitive pricing to our customers.

I started at Indium Corporation about five weeks ago. So far I have been able to complete time studies on more than 70 different parts. Collecting the data is only half of the process. After it is collected, it then has to be analyzed. This is where Excel is my best friend. I use Excel daily to organize all the data I have collected and also to find trends. Doing this will allow for a more accurate BOM and what company doesn’t want that.