Welcome back!
Before starting my internship, I had no idea what the term "BOM" meant but within the first few hours working on the gray floor - I knew it was extremely important. While at my internship on Tuesday, I was able to travel around the gray floor - we'll talk about this later - and talk to people about their role in the production process. Every single person that I talked to referenced the BOM at least once. Now, you might be asking "Liz, what in the world is a 'BOM'" and that's simple to answer. A "BOM" is a "Bil Of Materials" which is basically a document in which all of the needed parts for a specific project are listed. While the specific details of how this spreadsheet is organized can be a bit dry, the importance could not be more interesting.
After the customer requests a quote for a product, MJS must then determine whether or not the customer wishes to provide their own parts for the project or if MJS will source them. This is where the BOM first comes into play these materials get filled into a document that serves as the roadmap for building and is key to a quality product.
A quick note about the gray floor: This is the area where all of the products are made. Within this area, everyone must be wearing proper ESD gear to prevent damage to any parts. ESD, or electrostatic discharge occurs when your body acts as a conductor. If you have ever walked across carpet and then shocked yourself when opening the doorknob then you have experienced ESD. In our everyday lives, there is charge all around us that we can sometimes build up without noticing. When this occurs, that flow of charge could break smaller parts on the board if not properly grounded.This is where the heel straps and smocks come into play. Every person on this floor must be wearing these items to avoid damage to the various electrical parts.
The biggest lesson I have learned so far was the importance of the BOM - it ties everything together and keeps the production organized to ensure the highest level of quality upon completion. (Not to mention it just sounds cool 😋)
Stay tuned for more!
-Elizabeth
Hey Liz, great project! Having the production and design under one roof is a great learning opportunity. Are you solely focused on the design/engineering work at MJS or are you going to learn about the manufacturing process as well?
ReplyDeleteHey Alek! Great question :) For my internship, I am currently working in the manufacturing process, learning about the steps that are being taken at each phase of the building process and how that contributes to the overall quality of the product. However, in a few weeks I will just be working on the design aspect.
ReplyDeleteSo to stay on the topic of BOMs, what happens if there is more than one vendor for a generic part number? What if the part is obsolete? How can you be sure that the heal straps are actually working?
ReplyDeleteHi Mr. Weber,
DeleteDuring initial inventory, there is a way in which the different vendor's brands are labeled, usually as a prefix of suffix on the actual description of the part. This name then translates onto the BOM.
Heels straps are to be tested once a day on a device that looks similar to a scale you would use to measure your weight. One at a time the heel straps are tested on by stepping onto a metal plate in order to measure if your heel strap is actually moving the flow of charge into the ground.