# Electronics & Electrical Assembly > ERP for electronics manufacturers and EMS providers - deep BOMs, component shortages, serial traceability and test records. **URL:** https://cubeerp.co.uk/industries/electronics-assembly A hundred-line bill of materials where one missing component stops the whole build. Electronics assembly has a specific failure mode: a build of two hundred components is held up by one, and the shortage is discovered at the line rather than at planning. CubeERP explodes deep, multi-level bills of materials, nets against inbound purchase orders, and flags shortages before a works order is released. Approved alternates, component lifecycle status and long-lead items are treated as first-class data rather than tribal knowledge held by a single buyer. ## Figures - **Multi-level** BOMs with alternates and revisions - **Pre-release** Shortages found at planning - **Per serial** Components, tests and results ## Common problems in this sector - **One component stops two hundred:** Shortages found at kitting rather than at planning. The build is pulled, the line is re-planned, and the disruption costs far more than the part. - **BOMs from engineering by spreadsheet:** Design releases a BOM as a file. Purchasing works from a copy, revisions diverge, and parts are bought to a superseded version. - **Alternates known only to the buyer:** Approved alternate components exist in somebody’s head. When they are away, an available substitute sits on the shelf while the build waits. - **Test data outside the system:** Functional test results live in the test rig or a folder. Linking a field failure back to its build and components is a manual reconstruction. - **Long-lead parts planned like everything else:** A 40-week semiconductor cannot be planned on the same horizon as a resistor, but a single planning rule treats them identically until something goes wrong. ## What CubeERP does about it - **Deep BOMs with revision control:** Multi-level bills with effectivity dates, where-used enquiry, approved alternates and manufacturer part numbers held alongside your internal codes. - **Shortages before release:** Kit availability checked against free stock and confirmed inbound orders, so a build is not released into a shortage it cannot recover from. - **Long-lead planning:** Item-level lead times and safety time, with long-lead components planned on their own horizon rather than a single global assumption. - **Serial and reel traceability:** Component reels and batches traced into each serialised assembly, so a suspect date code maps directly to the units that received it. - **Test and inspection records:** Functional test results, AOI outcomes and inspection data captured against the serial number and retained with the build record. - **API for the line:** Pick-and-place, AOI and test systems can post completions, results and downtime directly, keeping the ERP current without double entry. ## Use cases ### Kitting as the discovery point **Scenario:** An EMS provider found shortages when kits were pulled. Builds were regularly re-sequenced at short notice, and expedited freight was a standing monthly cost. **Outcome:** Kit availability is checked at planning against inbound orders. Shortages surface weeks earlier, and expedited freight dropped to the occasional exception. ### A field failure with no build record **Scenario:** A batch of units failed in the field. Establishing which component lot they shared required opening returned units, because the build record did not hold component batches. **Outcome:** Reel and batch numbers are captured at build against the serial. The affected population was identified from the system, and the recall was contained to the units actually at risk. ## Implementation 1. **Discovery:** A structured session mapping how you work now - the systems, the spreadsheets and the bits held together by one person’s memory. We come back with what the platform covers as standard, what needs configuration, and what needs building. 2. **Configuration:** Your sites, warehouses, price lists, approval limits, document templates, workflows and permissions set up to match the business - not a demo tenant with your logo dropped on it. 3. **Data migration:** Customers, suppliers, parts, bills of materials, price lists, open orders and stock balances brought across and reconciled. We migrate, you check the numbers against the old system, and only then do we cut over. 4. **Training & rollout:** Role-based training so the order desk learns the order desk and the warehouse learns the warehouse, with a pilot group first where it makes sense. Documentation and short screen recordings left behind for new starters. 5. **Ongoing support:** UK support from the people who built the platform, with a named contact, agreed response times, and a product roadmap you can influence. ## Frequently asked questions **Can we import BOMs from our design tools?** Yes, from CSV or via the API, with manufacturer part numbers preserved and mapped to internal codes. Revision changes are diffed so you can see exactly what altered. **How are approved alternates handled?** Alternates are held on the BOM line with approval status. MRP and kitting consider them automatically, so an approved substitute on the shelf is used rather than overlooked. **Do you track component date codes?** Yes, along with reel identifiers and moisture sensitivity level where relevant, traced through to the serialised assembly. **What about consigned customer material?** Customer-owned material is held and valued separately from your own stock, consumed against the build, and reported back to the customer accurately. **Can it handle prototype and production in one system?** Yes. NPI builds, prototypes and volume production run on the same data with different rules, so the transition from prototype to production is not a data migration. ## Relevant solution pages - **MRP Software** - Net demand against stock, work in progress and inbound purchases to produce a buy list and a make list you can actually act on. https://cubeerp.co.uk/software/mrp-software - **Manufacturing Software** - Bills of materials, works orders, routings, shop-floor booking and real job costing - for businesses that make things to order. https://cubeerp.co.uk/software/manufacturing-software - **Barcode & Traceability Software** - Batch and serial traceability from goods-in to despatch, with certificates attached and a recall answered in minutes. https://cubeerp.co.uk/software/barcode-traceability-software - **Purchase Order Software** - Requisitions, approval limits, purchase orders raised from real demand, goods-in booking and three-way matching. https://cubeerp.co.uk/software/purchase-order-software ## Related industries - **Engineering & Fabrication** - ERP for subcontract machinists, fabricators and engineering firms working to drawing, to order and to a promised date. https://cubeerp.co.uk/industries/engineering-fabrication - **Automotive & Vehicle Parts** - ERP for automotive suppliers and parts distributors - schedules and call-offs, EDI, traceability and delivery performance that is measured. https://cubeerp.co.uk/industries/automotive-parts - **Wholesale & Distribution** - ERP for wholesalers, importers and distributors - trade pricing, multi-warehouse stock, fast order entry and integrated despatch. https://cubeerp.co.uk/industries/wholesale-distribution ## Contact - **Product:** CubeERP - **Trading name of:** Cube Systems Limited (company number 17220899, ICO registration number ZC216972) - **Email:** hello@cubeerp.co.uk - **Sales:** sales@cubeerp.co.uk - **Support:** support@cubeerp.co.uk - **Telephone:** 01234 672 617 (+441234672617) - **Address:** Unit 11, Olney Business Park, Osier Way, Olney, Buckinghamshire, MK46 5FP - **Opening hours:** Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm - **Part of:** Crushed Ice Group (https://crushedicegroup.co.uk)