OpenBOM Reviews & Product Details

I love the ease of generating PDFs and STEP files, which are stored in the OpenBOM cloud, allowing other team members to access the information without the option to modify it. I use the OpenBOM plugin in SolidWorks to make drawings and automatically generate 2D PDFs and 3D STEP files along with descriptions and part numbers, which streamlines the process. I also greatly appreciate that I don't need to use space on my hard drive or a local server since everything is in the OpenBOM cloud, avoiding cumbersome folder systems in Drive and providing greater security. The transition from Excel to OpenBOM helped us a lot and it has been a great advancement to eliminate manual editing errors. Whenever I've had issues, customer support has responded in a helpful and quick manner. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Perhaps having an app on my phone that allows me to see information on my phone could help, that would be great. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The fast, automated background cloud upload of my SolidWorks parts saves me hours of manual file tracking each week. However, I feel like the OpenBOM monitor interface looks a bit basic and can occasionally lag during large, simultaneous file uploads. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The workflow status column only shows text updates like “uploaded to storage.” It doesn’t include a dynamic loading animation or a percentage/progress bar, so I can’t tell in real time how quickly an active file is uploading. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like it has integrations to most CAD platforms and ERP systems meaning I am not tied to one specific provider of CAD and I can use contractors on different platforms and we can keep the BoM up to date. It means I can give different parts of the system to different contractors to design and keep up to date. The UI is fairly easy to use and pick up. I had some issues at the start with knowing what catalogues were. Performance is good and doesn't really seem to lag or anything. Price is expensive for a start up so I'd recommend doing a start up scheme. Support and onboarding was very good Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The price is expensive if you're not a big company and early on it's nice to adopt as it's obvious the benefits are good long term. But we are paying more for open bom per year that 4 seats on solidworks with their start up program. They should consider a start up program. It was difficult to find and understand the flows through the product initially. Integrations worked okay but were not amazing so could use some work. It wasn't has good as native to the CAD packages like PDM or vault is. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Open BOM has been a great tool allowing me to accurately calculate costing and then saves me hours of work for every subsequent update. I would say that OBs biggest competitor is excel or google sheets. I went through the excercise of creating boms in both to see if OB provided enough value to justify the cost. The main thing for me is the fact that it maintains links between cad and costing data. For excel or sheets that link is broken so any changes require manual management of all data. Thats so time consuming and leads to more errors.

Being able to calculate part costs and have them roll up to the top of the bom means that I can create orders using whatever combination of products and know that my costs are accurate for each item. I created material catalogs in open bom for all raw materials (tube, angle, sheet metal etc) so I can adjust my material prices and have that change propegate to all parts and assemblies that use that material.

Ordering parts becomes a lot more straight forward. Instead of manually building order sheets in a spread sheet I can simply select the products or parts I want to add to an order at the desired quantity and create my PO. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There is a learning curve to OB that was a bit steeper than I expected. Because this is not a typical spread sheet it doesent necessarily work the way you would expect. Formulas can be somewhat limited as they cant only handle one set of parenthases but that is something I believe they are working to develop so this might not be a relevant complaint in the future.

I would say that their documentation is pretty good to get started but not all scenarios will be covered and so I needed technical support at times to figure things out.

This might be an issue with solidworks but when I update parts the thumbnails are often not updated correctly even though I have "recalculate thumbnail" selected in the settings. This is especially problematic when a part has changed size but is showing the old part. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I like most is the ability to link 3D files to the BOM, with their versions, and the ability to easily generate different versions of the BOM. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I like least is that to make changes within a BOM that has many assemblies, when you want to change a reference you have to keep changing and generating many Change Requests and Change Orders; it would be good if it were more automatic and you made a single Change order/Change request. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

OpenBOM has proven to be an invaluable tool in our product development and manufacturing processes. This cloud-based platform offers a comprehensive suite of features that simplifies bill of materials (BOM) management and enhances collaboration among team members and suppliers.

One of the standout features of OpenBOM is its user-friendly interface, which makes it easy to create, edit, and organize BOMs. The intuitive drag-and-drop functionality allows for seamless manipulation of BOM structures, and the ability to specify quantities, add descriptions, and manage revisions ensures accuracy and clarity throughout the development cycle. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One of the main drawbacks of OpenBOM is its limited scalability. The platform struggles to handle large and complex BOMs, causing significant lag and performance issues. This becomes particularly problematic when dealing with extensive product structures or projects with numerous revisions. The slow response times can be frustrating and hinder productivity, especially when working in fast-paced manufacturing environments. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like its integration with CAD tools such as SolidWorks, especially how it creates and updates part numbers so easily, without me even needing to open the OpenBOM platform in Explorer. It depends on how much I am paying, I am not aware of the cost of this service. This information is out of my reach within my role. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The main menu feels counterintuitive, and it’s hard to figure out what everything does without someone explaining it. These days, there are plenty of tools and approaches to make software more user-friendly and intuitive, so this was disappointing. I also dislike that you can only create part numbers for different parts in an assembly, but it can’t generate part numbers for different bodies within a single part file. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I like most is how OpenBOM keeps our design data organized. The SolidWorks add-in pulls the BOM straight from our assemblies, and when a part is updated, the new revision is tracked automatically, so the team always works from the latest files instead of chasing outdated versions. The catalogs let us keep part information in one place and reuse it across projects, which has cut down on duplicate entries and data-entry mistakes.

The interface is clean and intuitive. Switching between single-level, multi-level, and flattened BOM views makes it easy to review a full product or drill into a specific subassembly. Performance has been solid; even larger assemblies load and update quickly, and changes sync across the team without delays.

Onboarding was straightforward. New team members picked it up with little training, and the support team has been responsive when we had questions. The smart features, like automatic data mapping from SolidWorks properties and quick search across catalogs, save a lot of manual work.

For the price, it's been well worth it. We've replaced the spreadsheets we used to rebuild for every revision, which saves us hours on each design change and reduces costly ordering errors. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There isn't much I dislike, but there are a few areas that could improve. Some of the more advanced features, like custom properties, formulas, and catalog configuration, take time to learn, and the documentation for them could be more detailed. The SolidWorks integration works well overall, but occasionally property mapping needs manual cleanup when our file properties aren't set up consistently. I'd also like more flexible reporting and export options so we could create custom BOM reports without extra formatting in Excel. Finally, pricing can add up as you add more users, which may be a consideration for smaller teams. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like that OpenBOM allows me to forget about the complex folder structures in Fusion 360 to control versions and perform quick saves directly from Fusion. It is very useful that it eliminates the use of Excel for controlling parts and versions, and it helps ensure that everyone has access to the information. When companies grow, communication can become complicated, but OpenBOM makes it easier for everyone to be informed about changes, avoiding errors due to lack of information. I also deduce that the integration of the software across the entire team was good, as it was quick compared to other software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Version and revision control of CAD or 3D files falls short. I would like it to be structured differently so that I can choose versions of the piece without them appearing as different components in OpenBOM. In the catalog section, I have as many rows of components as there are revisions of the pieces. I find it inconvenient for it to be this way. I would prefer it to be a grouping or dropdown. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like OpenBOM for making my BOM process smoother by directly taking all the components in an assembly into a list. I appreciate the formatting of the BOM, which includes a detailed icon of the part, cost, material, and even links if available. The instant totals are also a great feature. The ability to export to Google Sheets is incredibly useful as it allows me to edit and finalize the BOM, transforming it from a rough draft to a submittable format. The initial setup of OpenBOM was super easy, just a couple of buttons to log in and I was good. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One major issue with OpenBOM is that it doesn't let me add parts to my BOM if they come from a library that I don't own. In fact, it doesn't even allow me to create a BOM for an assembly if any parts are from libraries I don't own. This is a significant problem for me, especially because many of my projects rely on libraries to source components from major electronic services and motors, and it just gives me an error stating that it's not allowed. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.