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What Are BOM and CPL Files
What Are BOM and CPL Files
What Are BOM and CPL Files
printed circuit board (PCB) design and manufacturing. Both BOM and CPL
A BOM lists all the components used on a PCB and may include additional
BOM Levels
Customer BOM - High level components breakup for the end customer’s reference
Engineering BOM - Detailed view of all components down to the piece part level
Manufacturing BOM - Similar to engineering BOM but contains additional info for
manufacturers like preferred suppliers/manufacturers
Service BOM - Field components view for service technicians including mounting
hardware
For example, a customer BOM may just list "Power supply module - 5V" while
the engineering BOM would list every resistor, capacitor, regulator IC and
for small scale operations. But as products get complex, purpose built BOM
BOM systems help avoid manual errors in BOM creation and provide the
Leading BOM management tools include Arena BOM Control, Arena BOM
Purpose
manufacturing.
programmed machines.
The coordination data in the CPL file guides the pick-and-place machine to
identify components, orient them correctly and accurately place them onto
Reference designator
Package footprint name
Unique component identifier
Location coordinates - X, Y & rotation angles
Pick-up coordinates from feeders
Special assembly/processing instructions
"RefDes","Name","ID","X","Y","A"
"C1","0402","","-19.3","-11.2","0"
"C2","0402","","-13.8","-12.7","0"
"U$1","SOIC127P600X175-8N","","","0","0"
"R1","0402","","-17.158","-6.35","270"
CPL files are typically generated from CAD software tools and contain a wealth
IPC-2581
ODB++
GenCAD
Engineering teams leverage CAD software plugins to streamline the CPL file
parts for optimized flow and managing coordinate values across potentially
thousands of components.
While BOM and CPL files seem to be closely related, they serve very different
requirements list for the product. It answers what components are needed
The CPL facilitates seamless transition of design data to the production floor
While BOM and CPL serve distinct purposes, they have an indirect
The BOM informs CPL generation since component selection & quantities drive
placement requirements
Design changes affect component selection thereby impacting CPL files
Component procurement is driven by the BOM while CPL determines assembly order
Inventory reconciliation of used components depends on accuracy of BOM and
assembled PCBs based on CPL
Component lifecycle changes in the BOM system must sync with latest CPL data
Optimized sequencing in CPL can minimize changeovers based on intelligent BOM
grouping
Such issues can cascade into downstream manufacturing and repair delays
This underscores the need for validating BOM and CPL data concordance as
discrepancies.
Maintain central product master database as the single source of truth driving both BOM
and CPL data
CAD-ERP Integrations
Validation Checks
Execute periodic batch validation scripts between BOM and CPL databases checking for
consistency
Coordinated Workflows
Unified Platform
Converge BOM management and CPL generation onto a single connected platform
minimizing errors.
Maintaining accurate BOM and CPL data is critical for streamlined procurement,
BOM Creation
CPL Generation
Change Management
Unified Platform
Getting BOM and CPL management right is key to digital thread execution
Q1. Can BOM and CPL for the same product be in different
formats?
Yes, BOM and CPL files can be generated in different formats since they cater
like XML. CPL formats are optimized for automated assembly like IPC-2581,
alignment?
organization?
Manual processes can cause frequent data misalignments and are not scalable.
automation.
possible?
file. Collaborative data foundation is key for rapid coordination between the
two datasets.
BOM and CPL data models simplifying change propagation in either direction.