Do you know the number one reason that manufacturing systems fail?

The overhead to maintain the systems is too great!

How many part numbers do you maintain?

Let's say that you are a cable manufacturer. Your product consists of a male connector, a female connector, and a length of cable that could vary from 6" to 1,000 ft, in 1/4" increments.

How many part numbers do you need to cover every length of cable you are selling?

1,000 x 12 x 4 - (6 x 4) = 47,976!

How does ALERE Manufacturing help?

ALERE Manufacturing has a unique type of bill structure called a Variable BOM.

This type of bill is designed to allow the parent part to have a variable quantity based on its unit of measure. A typical single level bill containing the item as a component might look like this:

• Fiber Optic Cable Assembly

  • Fiber Optic Cable ... Qty 1

  • Male Connector ...... Qty 1

  • Female Connector ... Qty 1

The part Fiber Optic Cable, is itself a parent part on a single level BOM and is marked as a Variable BOM. Each time an order is taken for a Fiber Optic Cable Assembly you are asked for the length of the Fiber Optic Cable. The answer then becomes the quantity used to make the assembly!

Thus, the number of part numbers required to cover the cable that is 6" to 1,000 ft, in 1/4" increments, is ONE.

Does a Variable BOM type only work on lengths?

No. Any part that has a variable quantity can use a Variable BOM. Such as, numbers of rivets, pounds of resin, inches of steel ribbon, gallons of ink, ounces of gold, milliliters of liquid chemicals, etc.

The Variable BOM type is one key design feature that makes up ALERE Manufacturing's product configuration backbone.