The MacroFab Platform has robust Bill of Materials Management options
The Bill of Materials tab if the PCB interface allows you to manage the list of components that will be placed on your PCB during assembly, while also detailing the part costs and labor prices.
The Bill of Materials tab will not be populated until you’ve uploaded your bill of materials, either by uploading a supported EDA source file, or uploading a XYRS File, or a compatible Bill of Materials file. For more information on file formats and what files we support, see Required Design Files.
Once you have uploaded the required design files you will be able to edit your bill of materials in the platform.
The Bill of Materials Tab Overview
Part Filters
At the top of the Bill of Materials tab is a set of pie chart filters. These filters show the parts breakdown of your PCB, populated and unpopulated parts, form factors of selected parts, where the parts are sourced, and which parts are available to be purchased. Clicking on the slices of the pie chart filters will automatically filter your bill materials to component groups that match the description.
Multiple filters can be selected at any given time. Selecting the "X" under the filter will reset it. On the right side under the filters there is a Hide Filters button which hides the filters giving you more room to work on the Bill of Materials.
Group Actions
Under the left side of the pie chart filters there are four group action buttons. These buttons from left to right are ungroup selected items, group selected items, do not place selected items, and delete selected items.
The ungroup function will take grouped together designators and separate them into new line items. The group function groups selected line items and designators into a single line item. If the line items and designators have different attributes the platform will notify you which attributes conflict and then clear them upon grouping.
Clicking the do not place group icon will toggle the do not place (DNP) flag on selected designators. The delete button will remove selected line items and designators from the bill of materials. Make sure you really want to do this as there is no undo functionality!
Line Items
All of the components in your bill of materials are grouped into line items based on the designator's Package and Value field that was supplied in your bill of materials. Each line item will look similar to this:
Each line item row displays the Designators associated with the line item group, the Manufacture Part Number (MPN), component Value, the Package of the part, the Quantity of parts needed, the Total Cost including assembly for the line item, the Stock available from our distributors, and the Lead Time of the part.
Clicking the line item will expand the line item to show more details. When the line item is expanded, the MPN field, Package, and Value at the top side of the expanded line item are editable. Editing these fields will change that attribute for all the Designators in the group. Clicking the X to the right of the expanded line item will collapse the line item.
On the left side of the expanded line item there are 4 icons. These change what is displayed in the expanded line item.
1. Part Pricing information
This will show the breakdown of the part cost, part placement labor, and the price break graph of the part. The part price and labor cost is tied to the Quantity number at the top right of the PCB interface and will reflect the price breaks you receive on this line item. Changing the quantity of boards at the top will in real time change the pricing displayed here.
2. Part Attributes
Everything MacroFab knows about the selected part will be displayed in the Part Details view.
3. Group Management of Designators
Here you will be able to move individual designators to other line item groups, create a new line item groups, or indicate whether individual components in this group should be populated or not (DNP).
To move a component from one group to another, for example when changing the value of a resistor to that of another set of resistors, simply click on the designator of the group to open up the group assignment list. The display will include a drop-down for assignment. Select the new component group to assign this component to.
If you want to create a new line item group for the designator (i.e. give it a value and footprint combination not shared by other designators), use the Assignment drop-down to select “New Group”.
4. Part Searching
Clicking the search icon will bring up the interface to search for parts that are available from the vendors MacroFab can order from. The search field will be populated with the MPN field. If the MPN field is blank it will be populated with the Value and Package field.
Clicking on a blue down carrot icon in the search results will display details about that part. Clicking on the select button on the right side will select that part for the line item group. This will update all the attributes and information for that line item with the new selected part information.
Sourcing your Parts
When a line item is expanded you can choose where your parts come from by changing the Source field in the top of the expanded section. This is to the right of the MPN, Value, and Package fields. You have the options of Turnkey, Inventory, and Consignment. More information about these options can be found here.
TurnKey
TurnKey is the default option. When this is selected, MacroFab will source and purchase your component for you. MacroFab takes care of the logistics and makes sure the components arrive on time and there are enough overage to manufacture your product. All parts are purchased from authorized sellers. These parts are also warrantied.
Inventory
If you have parts and components already being stored at MacroFab you can use this option to pull from that inventory. Only parts that have been checked into inventory can be used in this manner. For more information about how to use the inventory system at MacroFab check this knowledge base article.
Consignment
When consignment is selected, you will ship MacroFab the selected part after placing an order. Consignment requires a MPN to be specified. To consign a part you must have a selected part via the search function, or have provided a MPN. You will also need to supply the part type (SMT or Through Hole) and the number of pins the part has. You can find more information about how the consignment parts work at MacroFab in this article.
Adding a New Component to the Bill of Materials
At the bottom of the Bill of Materials tab there is a section to add new parts to the list. Fill out the part's Designator, MPN, Package, and Value then click the "Add Part" button to save it.
After you add a new component to the Bill of Materials you will need to add the placement information for the part. Find the part you added to the list and expand the line item. Then click the red triangle in the bottom left of the expanded window.
The window will change displaying all the placement data needed: X Origin, Y Origin, X Size, Y Size, Rotation, Side, Type. All measurements are in mils and degrees. Click the blue "Add Placement" button when completed.
X and Y Origin is the location of the center or centroid of the part/component on the PCB. Units is mils.
X and Y Size is the bounding box of the square around the part. An Example would be an 0603 resistor would be 60 mils by 30 mils in size. Units is mils.
Rotation is the angle the part is at on the PCB. Units is degrees.
Side is which side the part/component is on. Top or Bottom.
Type is what kind of part it is. Surface Mount (SMT) or Through hole (PTH).
Notes
- The bill of materials interface only supports unique designators. Uploading a bill of materials file with multiple identical designators will cause an error.
- All your line items need to have selected parts. When you upload a bill of materials file the interface can auto select parts to speed up part management. Information about that can be found in this article.
- The interface automatically calculates the overage for parts and how many will be ordered. Information about overage can be found here.
Support
If you have questions regarding the bill of materials interface or ran into a problem please contact our support team.