OpenBOM 2023 Roadmap Highlights

As we are getting closer to the end of the year, it is a great time to talk about the OpenBOM roadmap for 2023 and speak about what was done and what is coming up next year and beyond. We live in a SaaS world and leverage all the great things about being able to develop things in a fast and agile manner. If you missed my blog yesterday, please check My Favorite New OpenBOM Features in 2022.

In my blog today, I want to talk about two things- (1) the OpenBOM 2023 roadmap, and (2) the opportunity to purchase an OpenBOM subscription for a discounted price. Let me hit on both points, but I will start with Crazy Christmas Sales.

Digital Transformation and Cloud-Native Web Services

Manufacturers across the world have always had an eye out for solutions that make it easier to manage their data and streamline processes. It includes product data and all related information. It includes but is not limited to Parts, documents, Bill of Materials, and Inventory. 

As industry standards push towards digitalization, suppliers are also starting to look for a better way to control their bill of materials (BOM) management processes. This is where OpenBOM comes into play: in the past few years, the software platform has grown from strength to strength, fast becoming the go-to choice for modern manufacturing businesses looking to simplify their product development and management strategy.

Cloud-native software is leading the way for manufacturing companies to transform their operation and streamline processes in an agile and distributed way. According to Gartner Research, cloud-native tools will take from 15-25% of the business of engineering and manufacturing software replacing legacy software and outdated email/spreadsheet-based processes.

Roadmap 2023 Highlights

At OpenBOM we have big plans for 2023. We are getting tons of ideas and feedback from our customers. Thank you all for such great support. You’re encouraging us to think more and innovate to mix our best ideas with your feedback into life. In 2023, we do plan to enhance existing OpenBOM features and functions as well as bring existing new capabilities and services to OpenBOM.

Integrated PDM and PLM features 

The foundation of OpenBOM is a flexible multi-tenant data management platform with capabilities to manage product information and its lifecycle. For the last few years, we developed a set of robust features and functions that combined with great flexibility and collaborative features provide a robust mechanism to manage design data, CAD documents, items, Bill of Materials, Revision control, and Change Management processes.

In 2023 we plan to continue the development of OpenBOM PDM and PLM capabilities with a special focus on the following three areas:

• Release Process 
• Advanced BOM features 
• Product Variants 

Inventory and RFQ/PO process

Part of OpenBOM innovation is to provide integrated functions that are usually presented in ERP/MRP systems. This functionality is focused on helping SMB/SME manufacturing companies to manage their inventory and purchasing process. 

For larger companies, it is an ultimate service to manage NPD processes and organize a close loop between engineering and procurement functions that large PDM/ERP systems cannot do.

In 2023, we are planning to continue improvements of product planning, RFQ and PO processes. It will include the following areas:

• Improved inventory reporting
• Time-based estimations
• Lead time order calculation
• Integrations with financial systems 
• Inventory transaction history

Enterprise and Online Connectivity 

Data is growth fuel in a modern digital world. Getting the right data at the right time is absolutely important for decision support. The vision of OpenBOM was always about how to empower manufacturing companies and engineers with the data. Check our recent news about enhancements to the Octopart catalog connection and enterprise integrations. In 2023, we’re planning to double down on this development by focusing on the following topics:

• Broad integration with Enterprise and ERP systems 
• Live synchronization with online catalogs of the off-the-shelf parts
• Support custom parts RFQ process

OpenBOM Intelligent Web Services 

Delivering data intelligence is part of OpenBOM’s core vision. In 2023, we will be enrolling the first set of OpenBOM web services focusing on how to help engineers and other people in manufacturing companies to solve very painful problems that live in manufacturing companies for a long time. The ability to deliver these services relies on an OpenBOM flexible data model and capabilities to acquire and analyze data coming from multiple data sources.

These services will be focusing how to provide the important information and data to support the decision process. Here is a first outline of the services we are working on now.

• Impact analysis services
• Cost Intelligence services
• BOM compare services 

Stay tuned for more information about these services. Some of the initial capabilities of these services such as cost rollup and BOM comparison will already be available in coming OpenBOM releases.

OpenBOM End-of-Year Sales – Up to 50% off

OpenBOM users and community are the core of everything we do- and behind each new feature, function and enhancement. Your feedback and requests lead the way to us adding new capabilities and enhancements to OpenBOM to deliver a premium OpenBOM experience. We are updating our pricing so that we can continue delivering new innovations and an optimal user experience.

At OpenBOM we are committed to protecting our early customers’ investment and therefore before we introduce new year prices, we want to give all our customers an opportunity to buy OpenBOM subscriptions using old 2022 with a substantial discount. We love all of you and we appreciate your support of our growing OpenBOM business.

Conclusion:

I outlined some key topics we plan to work on at OpenBOM next year. We are very excited about OpenBOM 2022 achievements and new development. We are very much interested in your comments and thoughts. Don’t forget to check the details about OpenBOM Christmas Sales. As always, please give us feedback and let us know what you think. 

REGISTER FOR FREE to learn more about OpenBOM and how it can help you today. 

Best, Oleg