Using OpenBOM in your business?

[Anonymous]

If your using OpenBOM in your day to day to keep track of fusion designs, Id like to hear your thoughts, and perhaps methods of implementation.

I have investigated it in the past but ran into quite a few bugs. As someone looking to manage roughly 2000 parts spread out across many design files, I wonder if its a reliable tool at scale.......

[oleg]

Hello bravo1delta9, This is Oleg Shilovitsky, CEO and co-founder of OpenBOM. As any real software, OpenBOM has bugs. Sometimes, these are our own bugs and sometimes it is related to software we integrate with. However, we are working hard and listening to our users and customers to improve OpenBOM. We have a great partnership with Autodesk team and we are working very close on issues when they come. Please feel free to contact me directly via email oleg at openbom dot com. I will be happy to address issues you're facing. Best, Oleg

[TrippyLighting]

The big question is how do you get BOM data out of Fusion 360 and have it update when changes are made to a design.

Currently I am not aware of any builtin or plugin functionality that allows users to do this. There are only 2 plugins in existence that I know of that allow to export data from Fusion 360 CSV-BOM and BOMMER. Both work only on single designs and not across multiple designs or projects.

CSV-BOM is a simple but functional but simple export utility. Bommer is more ambitious.

However, the best way to manage BOM data is in the cloud because that's where all the design data lives. But again, there is no functionality that currently supports this. 

[I_Forge_KC]

If only Fusion Lifecycle weren't mired up in political nonsense and could be sold to small companies without outrageous consulting fees...

[oleg]

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Hi Peter, 

OpenBOM can do everything you mentioned. I'd be happy to talk to you and demo you OpenBOM. You can extract BOM, store it in cloud, use OpenBOM real-time collaboration (a-la Google Spreadsheet) and merge changes after you updated Fusion360 design. 

Meantime, check our latest blog - coincidentally it is about OpenBOM and Fusion360.  

https://medium.com/@openbom/openbom-for-autodesk-fusion-360-470662ca9f8c

Please reach me out - oleg at openbom dot com. I'd be happy to talk. 

Best, Oleg

@TrippyLightingwrote:

The big question is how do you get BOM data out of Fusion 360 and have it update when changes are made to a design.

Currently I am not aware of any builtin or plugin functionality that allows users to do this. There are only 2 plugins in existence that I know of that allow to export data from Fusion 360 CSV-BOM and BOMMER. Both work only on single designs and not across multiple designs or projects.

CSV-BOM is a simple but functional but simple export utility. Bommer is more ambitious.

However, the best way to manage BOM data is in the cloud because that's where all the design data lives. But again, there is no functionality that currently supports this. 

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[oleg]

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Kenny,

Very interesting comment.  I thought FL can be sold to small companies. 

I'd be very much interested to learn more and discuss how OpenBOM can help. 

Best, Oleg Shilovitsky

@I_Forge_KCwrote:

If only Fusion Lifecycle weren't mired up in political nonsense and could be sold to small companies without outrageous consulting fees...

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[I_Forge_KC]

It absolutely can be implemented in any size company. The problem is that only approved service providers (resellers) can implement it (which requires heavy consulting $$$). There is an internal stipulation that excludes smaller service providers (like my company) from providing those same consulting services on a smaller and more affordable scale. 

This topic gets me exceptionally hot under the collar. 

[oleg]

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Do you mind to have call to discuss how OpenBOM can help? 

@I_Forge_KCwrote:

It absolutely can be implemented in any size company. The problem is that only approved service providers (resellers) can implement it (which requires heavy consulting $$$). There is an internal stipulation that excludes smaller service providers (like my company) from providing those same consulting services on a smaller and more affordable scale. 

This topic gets me exceptionally hot under the collar. 

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[TrippyLighting]

Hi Oleg, that would be very interesting.

I had looked at OpenBOM a few months ago but was totally unaware that it integrates with Fusion 360 through Forge.

It might be difficult to find a time slot, but we can try.

Question, I can see a reference to Altium on the openBOM website. Altium in completely out of reach and would also be completely unnecessary for my needs. As the integration between Eagle and Fusion 360 is growing, are you considering including Eagle in OpenBOM as well ?

Something that I am also particularly interested int is Inventory management.

[oleg]

Hello Peter, 

Absolutely. We are very much interested to integrated OpenBOM with Eagle. Actually, we've been looking very closely on Eagle integration just before it was acquired by Autodesk. 

We've been told by Autodesk that Eagle data will become soon available via Forge API. However, we are ready to accelerate development and use different interfaces already available for integration in OpenBOM. 

Send me an email to oleg at openbom dot com - we can discuss details. 

Best, Oleg

@TrippyLightingwrote:

Hi Oleg, that would be very interesting.

I had looked at OpenBOM a few months ago but was totally unaware that it integrates with Fusion 360 through Forge.

It might be difficult to find a time slot, but we can try.

Question, I can see a reference to Altium on the openBOM website. Altium in completely out of reach and would also be completely unnecessary for my needs. As the integration between Eagle and Fusion 360 is growing, are you considering including Eagle in OpenBOM as well ?

Something that I am also particularly interested int is Inventory management.

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