MaXXlink is an integrated, feature rich digital BOM creation, automation, collaboration and data management tool that provides users with automated explosion and three-dimensional hierarchical visualizations of modelled assemblies. Finalizing a BOM for procurement and production is now automated, highly accurate, efficient, and secure.
Engineers and manufacturing operations teams can see relationships, numbers of, and item attributes in their individual and collective forms. This unique feature permits fast understanding of relationships and item meta-data as they relate to creation, changes and approvals of versions of Engineering BOMS. As a collaboration platform, MaXXlink facilitates design and change request approvals, providing instant notification to other viewers and approvers such as operations and procurement teams when an item changes, is submitted for approval, is approved, and a new version of a BOM is released, in near real time.
As MaXXlink is a SaaS solution, BOM creation, collaboration and approvals can be pushed and interacted with by teams across multiple campuses and geographies, on any device in near real time.
MaXXlink interfaces with common enterprise resource planning solutions allowing engineers and operations teams to create final Manufacturing BOMs from the approved and released EBOMs for final configuration, costing, planning, resourcing and procurement. Being able to extract part numbers, meta-data, costs, and to add custom information on sundries, processes and other non-modeled items, extracted straight from your ERP system (in MaXXlink), and being able automate the sharing and updating of all related versions means creation and final approval/issuing of manufacturing BOMS takes minutes not days.
Designed by engineers with decades of manufacturing experience, MaXXlink plugs into your existing CAD and ERP environments — bringing structure, automation, and traceability to your product data.
MaXXlink provides an unparalleled degree of assurance on the accuracy of parts, items, numbers and costs. This means finance and procurement teams can have complete confidence they are procuring the right parts, in the right numbers, at the right price, and finished product margins are protected from erosion by errors.
Scenario: (based on real world experiences)
A manufacturer of large complex heavy mobile machinery caters to multiple markets and customer types, who often order nuanced customizations of these complex machines. Creation of BOMs and the application of business rules in configurations as they relate to customized versioning are all managed via .XLS spreadsheets and .XL macros that have been written by one individual.
Problem:
The creation or updating of master BOMs and the volume of variability meant that BOMs needed to be largely recreated from scratch. This meant BOMs took several days to weeks to be completed, and errors were often experienced due to the reliance on human performance in complex, data intensive processes that are manual in nature. Version control and traceability were weak, and confidence eroded. Version control and traceability is cumbersome at best and relies on human performance and manual systems compliance/practice. The result is slow moving changes, with an unacceptable opportunity for error. In addition, the reliance on one person who wrote and knows the macros is an unacceptable single person risk from an information management and risk management policy point of view. Errors making their way into production can have a significant impact, such as but not limited to: production stoppage and error remediation, loss of time and resources, rework of finished product and restocking of redundant or incorrect parts, resulting in delays on delivery, and therefore, increased time to revenue. The net outcome margin erosion due uncontrolled costs.
MaXXlink mitigates all these risks by fully automating BOM creation, facilitates fast change requests/approvals and exports finalized BOMs to primary business systems such as ERP/MRP and others. The result is greatly reduced time to MBOM finalization, vastly increased accuracy and assurance, removal of opportunity for errors, increased accuracy in planning, scheduling, and procurement, accurate costing and therefore margin protection.