The discussions showed that the management of the Engineering bill of materials with all related documentation is reasonably well organized. Software is not yet seen in all cases as part of the product structure, while this is becoming an increasingly essential part! For some it is challenging when there is collaboration with external parties in the product development phase. The engineering bill of materials with documentation is then ideally managed centrally. The Engineering bill of materials and documentation is the input for the work preparation process; they shape the production bill of materials and prepare the documentation for production control.  

The translation into a production bill of materials regularly proves problematic. Many companies manage this bill of materials in ERP where the related documentation (work instructions, NC programs, etc) is stored in various other ICT applications. As a result, there is no direct relationship with the Engineering bill of materials, the data consistency must be monitored manually and the implementation of changes is more labour-intensive and error-prone.  

The configuration management of the work preparation process appears to still have sufficient potential for improvement for many participants. The session concluded with a tour of the Philips factory.