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Why are non-part BOM Items limited to Professional and Enterprise users?
StephenG
Member Posts: 379 ✭✭✭
I do not understand why Free and Standard user do not have access to BOM Item functionality.
I can understand why Professional and Enterprise subscriptions might have additional functionality to manage items within OS, but there should be some limited functionality for the lower classes.
Are Free and Standard users expected to use the external application OpenBOM to manage non-part BOM items?
I can understand why Professional and Enterprise subscriptions might have additional functionality to manage items within OS, but there should be some limited functionality for the lower classes.
Are Free and Standard users expected to use the external application OpenBOM to manage non-part BOM items?
0
Answers
The best place was the company container, which is a professional or greater account.
if every user could have their own library, but then it would be very confusing with so many independent libraries on a company level
I see no reason why another DB format needs to be used that is radically different from an existing OS document, something that is only accessible to Professional and Enterprise users. BOM items should be just another data (element) type that can be created within an OS document. The toolbar for such an element type would support creation/management of BOM items.
I see no reason to restrict users from creating their own BOM items, however, I do see a need to restrict creation of BOM items at the Professional/Enterprise level to enforce usage standards and protocols. From what I know, existing OS document access controls should be adequate in most cases to control management of "official" documents (libraries) containing BOM items.
It appears OpenBOM would be a better solution, but you need to have an OpenBOM Professional/Enterprise paid subscription to get OS BOM integration. That makes it a No-Go for me. I did take a peak at the "14-Day Trial" and it appears that OpenBOM is really intended to completely replace OS BOM functionality where the BOM info no longer is managed within the parent CAD system, or appears in classic 2D engineering drawings documents. Essentially, the product BOM is completely managed/accessed though a different external DB application. OpenBOM integration appears to be one-way in that one can upload/update (contribute) OS BOM info into a more complete/comprehensive BOM that supports a broader range of usage within an enterprise.
There is strong augment that BOMs should be created and managed using an application that is specifically designed for that purpose; doing it and having a BOM appear on the face of a drawing is archaic, and inefficient. My needs are simple and I do not need that level of functionality, however, as a Free user I do want the capability to add non-geometric items to an assembly BOM.