Integrated TotalBOM management from Class Technology relies on a single database that extends to all aspects of product definition, from conceptual design to the details of manufacturing steps and material routing. In general, Japanese OEMs start targeting costs in conceptual design; they are then tracked jointly with suppliers.

Toyota, for example, begins with function specifications that define the marketing and product concepts in the Specification Management System, or SMS. Indeed, in Japan, the integrated BOM in general targets different functions across the lifecycle, with particular emphasis on the full reconciliation of design/engineering with manufacturing as essential. By comparison, most firms in the U.S. concentrated far more narrowly on design functions, and relatively recently extended their efforts to address the full integration with manufacturing. Number of pages in report, 3.

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