Your engineers finish a design. The bill of materials sits in SOLIDWORKS PDM, accurate and version controlled. Then someone exports it to Excel, cleans it up by hand, and emails it to purchasing. Somewhere between PDM and your ERP, the BOM stops being the truth. 
On November 18, Converge hosts a live session on fixing that handoff. OpenBOM: Real-World Demo & Integration Scenarios shows how structured BOM data moves from engineering into the rest of your business without the spreadsheet in the middle.
The problem: BOM data stuck in PDM
SOLIDWORKS PDM does its job well. It controls files, revisions, and engineering workflows. But PDM was built for engineering. Your ERP, MRP, and purchasing systems need the same BOM data in a different shape, and they rarely get it cleanly.
So teams fill the gap manually. Someone re-keys part numbers. Someone else reconciles quantities. Purchasing orders against a BOM that is two revisions old. Manufacturing builds from a printout. Every manual step adds delay, and every copy adds a chance for error. The cost shows up as scrap, expedited orders, and hours spent chasing the right version. 
The real issue is not the people. It is the gap between systems. Engineering owns the data, but the business runs on it, and nothing connects the two cleanly.
What the live demo will cover
This is a working session, not a slide deck. We will show OpenBOM on real data and walk through the scenarios our customers actually face.
- OpenBOM in action. See how OpenBOM captures structured BOM data from SOLIDWORKS and PDM, keeps it current as designs change, and gives non-CAD users a clean view they can work from.
- Integration scenarios across business platforms. We will walk through how BOM data flows into ERP, MRP, and purchasing systems. You will see where the handoffs happen, what stays in sync, and what your team no longer has to touch by hand.
- Structured BOM data as fuel for AI. AI tools are only as good as the data behind them. A clean, structured BOM is one of the most valuable datasets a manufacturer owns. We will show how it feeds AI workflows for costing, sourcing, and change impact analysis.
Who should attend
This session is for engineering managers, CAD and PDM administrators, operations leaders, and purchasing teams. If your BOM leaves engineering as a spreadsheet, you should be in the room. If you are planning an ERP rollout or evaluating AI tools, this session shows you what clean product data looks like first. 
You do not need to be an OpenBOM user to get value from the hour. You will leave with a clear picture of where your BOM process breaks today and what a connected alternative looks like.
Register now
Join us live on November 18. Save your spot: Register now.
Want to talk through your current BOM process first? Contact the Converge team and we will help you map where your data gets stuck.
