Linking Your CAD BOMs to Your ERP Is a BAD Idea

Who needs a CAD ERP integration?

Not all manufacturing companies need an integration.  Many manufacturers release a few new product-designs a month/year.  Entering BOMs into the system is not time-consuming and doesn’t require a lot of resources.
 
Engineer-to-order.  These manufacturers create hundreds of new designs and items each month. Each time they create a new model, they must enter that bill of material into the ERP.  These organizations must consider connecting the ERP and CAD together because they:

• Create hundreds or more new assemblies and components a month.
• Waste valuable human resources on repetitive tasks.
• Experience expensive errors and slow down the manufacturing process

Disadvantages of linking CAD & ERP

On the surface, direct linking the design and manufacturing bill of material appears to be a simple decision.  However, this concept causes limitations. The CAD BOM consists of a list of assemblies, components, and geometry.  The ERP BOM has additional data related to routing steps, run times, product codes and a host of other manufacturing related data. Linking demands that CAD contain all the information that the ERP requires even if it is unnecessary and irrelevant to the CAD design.   If these data don’t exist in the models, then the engineers must change their process to prepare the models before the company can benefit.
 

The better way…get CAD & ERP TALKING

CAD-ERP integration is CRITICAL for engineering to order companies.  To get immediate improvement without a process change, CADTalk harnesses the CAD data and smoothly integrates your data into your ERP to unleash the full functionality of its suite of tools. This technology directly translates into business success for both manufacturing and distribution companies. Manufacturers can better plan, manage and control production while distributors can manage supply chain financials, optimize inventory and improve profitability.
 

TALKING vs. linking

When CAD and ERP are talking, the depth of integration is limitless.  Data resides in the software where it belongs, and design engineers and operations management own their parts and unnecessary duplication is avoided.  Allowing the CAD and ERP to communicate with one another supports a flexible and dynamic integration.  Why limit oneself to ridged, inflexible binding that a link creates when TALKING IS THE BEST method for solving challenging problems.
 

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