May 17, 2021

Component Management with Jan Rychter

1 hour 32 minutes

Welcome Jan Rychter of PartsBox!

Jan started PartsBox (PB) because it's critical to know where parts are when doing assembly on a small scale. It also helps users save money on parts over time.

PB is free for hobbyists, and users are split between hobbyist and business. The businesses are mostly small to medium sized businesses

Medical device startups are also common users because they need to track their documentation (traceability) closely from the beginning, including what parts are used on each design.

PB can replace MRP / ERP systems used at larger companies. PB ties in the purchasing element, though on a smaller scale.

Ordering parts affects the finished goods margin, mostly due to the the concept of "cost" of an individual component on an assembly. How do you account for things like attrition parameters?

There is BOM pricing functionality, including handling things like:

Multiple currencies

Minimum order quantities (MOQs)

Managing multiple BOMs

Substitutes

Customer Part Numbers (CPN) are called Meta-Parts on PB.

Part Identity

Jan is a proponent of GS1, which is a standardized unique identifier system used for foods.

Since the electronics industry doesn't standardize on this, manufacturers end up playing tricks

You can follow along with an example workflow (we'll use this for all examples in the show)

The idea of "part location" includes pick and place machines.

PB users have PnP machines taht fit in a garage, not a room

Default part source selection

The traceability is important for companies that need to do medical tracking for

When getting started with PB, don't inventory everything.

Storage doesn't need to be by category

Former guest Dan Hienzsch has been tweeting about consolidating parts

USB barcode scanner

Ordering from PB to a distributor website

A label printer will help you label various boxes and bags, but you'll need to export to CSV and print in a batch because printers don't work with the web platform.

The "multistage build" feature, allows tracking project status as different steps are applied

Custom labels only when needed

Schroedinger-esque parts

Why is it online?

Cross platform

Always available

Works better as a business

Jan's background is in software, but he builds electronics for fun.

He loves interacting with engineers, who give him "very real feedback"

Low stock report

Meta parts in times of shortages

Multiple shipments

Medical tracking

Lot control

Not all parts are "fungible"

Physical diff would allow you to know when one board had one lot of components vs another.

There may be future integrations with InspectAR

Part attrition

Advanced build system

Subassembly parts

Project versioning is TBD. That would require change orders and a much larger set of features like a PLM has, Arena as an example.

Working with CMs

First need to create the part / Meta-part

Linked Part is anything with an MPN that is searchable in Octopart. An example using TPS61161DRV

Find out more and chack out the demo on PartsBox.com

Follow on Twitter @PartsBoxIO

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By The Amp Hour (Chris Gammell and David L Jones)

4.9

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