Configuration Management has long been the Achilles heel of ERP implementations. The emergence of global enterprise resource management concepts makes it even more imperative to guarantee that designers and manufacturing planning folk are singing off the same song sheet. Competitiveness in the new millennium demands that we no longer tolerate CAD/CAM, Product Data Management (PDM), Component Sourcing Management (CSM), and ERP each having its own version or iteration of the bill of material data. This paper will examine the ongoing enterprise challenge, using the single bill of material concept/process to make a quantum leap forward in the way the engineering design community communicates with its prime customer: manufacturing. Manufacturing, using design information provided by engineering, is charged with the task of taking design information and making product that meets customer expectations, can be manufactured effectively, and can be delivered on time at a fair price. We will suggest that the twin silos of engineering and manufacturing must be thrown down in order to achieve true competitiveness in the 21st century. Our approach will be to map the configuration management process and define the scope of the available software tools and the need for complete integration between all elements of the enterprisewide process and systems. In addition, we will revisit the principles of concurrent engineering and provide a road map for companies to begin their journey of introducing the "single bill of material" process.
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