BOMs, But Make It Visual: Level Up Your Product Game

#teamcenter #digitaltransformation #plm #react

The Spreadsheet Struggle

Imagine managing a product with hundreds of components - a smartphone, a car engine, or even a simple pair of earbuds. Most teams start with Excel: endless rows of part numbers, suppliers, and costs. At first, it works. But as the product grows into multi-level assemblies (parts inside subassemblies, inside bigger assemblies), the spreadsheet becomes a nightmare to maintain. One missed update, one wrong formula, and suddenly… chaos mode activated.

Frontend to the Rescue: Why Traditional BOM Management Falls Short

Traditional methods often rely on spreadsheets or siloed PLM/ERP systems, which create:

Errors & Duplicates - Manual updates are prone to mistakes
Data Silos - Engineers, procurement, and quality teams work in isolation
Limited Insights - Hard to spot cost drivers or compliance risks quickly
Complexity Blind Spots - Multi-level hierarchies flattened into rows

Here’s the key: frontend is not just about landing pages - it’s the whole interactive experience. Modern frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue turn static BOM data into a dynamic environment where teams can explore, analyze, and act in real time.

How Frontend Tech Transforms BOMs

Modern web technologies allow you to visualize BOMs like never before:

Tree Structures & Expandable Views – Click to drill down assemblies into subassemblies and parts
Dynamic Filtering & Search – Quickly locate suppliers, costs, or lifecycle risks
Charts & Dashboards – Visualize cost distribution, supply risk, or inventory status in real time
Collaboration & Interactivity – Frontend frameworks make it easy to sync updates, comments, and approvals across teams

In short: your BOM goes from static spreadsheet to interactive decision-making platform.

Industrial Use Case: Wireless Earbuds

Traditional table:

Assembly	Part Number	Description	Supplier	Qty	Cost ($)	Lifecycle
Earbuds	EB-001	Left Earbud	In-house	1	20	Active
Earbuds	EB-002	Right Earbud	In-house	1	20	Active
Left Earbud	EB-101	Speaker Driver	ABC Audio	1	5	Active
Left Earbud	EB-102	Microphone	SoundTech	1	3	Active
Charging Case	EB-301	Battery	PowerCell	1	7	EOL soon
Charging Case	EB-302	USB-C Port	FastConnect	1	2	Active

Looks okay… but spotting risks? Big yikes.

With visualization:

Engineers see tree expansion (Earbuds → Left Earbud → Speaker)
Procurement sees a Pareto chart of cost contribution (battery = main $$$ culprit)
Compliance team spots “Battery supplier = EOL soon” #RedFlag

BOM, locked and loaded from boring list to collab beast.

Data Sources

BOM data typically comes from multiple systems across the product lifecycle:

CAD – Generates initial part lists from 3D models
PLM – Manages engineering BOMs, revisions, compliance
ERP – Captures supplier data, costs, inventory
Spreadsheets – Still hanging around in small orgs, but kinda sus for big ops

Data Structure

Core attributes – Part number, description, supplier, cost, quantity, lifecycle
Parent–child hierarchy – Products → Subassemblies → Components
Multi-level BOMs – Reflect real-world product complexity
Consistency is king – Unique IDs, parent–child links, standardized attributes

Architecture for BOM Visualization

Benefits of BOM Visualization

Faster Decision-Making – Spot risks at a glance
Cross-functional Collab – Engineers, buyers, managers on the same page
Error Reduction – Visual hierarchy = fewer oopsies
Version Tracking – Compare BOM revisions visually

Closing Thoughts

BOM visualization transforms the way teams understand, manage, and optimize products. Instead of drowning in spreadsheets, companies get living, interactive dashboards that scale with product complexity.

Whether you’re building earbuds or a jet engine, the principle is the same:

See the product not just as a list of parts, but as a connected digital model.

Source Code: Github
Try out on your own: Web App

That’s the real power of BOM visualization in modern industry.