Mouser Electronics has released a management tool that offers more forgiveness to engineers filling out a bill of materials. It evaluates millions of online interactions every day to help purchasing managers locate products using partial or outdated part numbers and descriptions.
The new tool, called Forte, confirms the availability of part numbers and recommends others products to improve designs and reduce lifecycle risks. It also remembers user preferences, spreadsheet layouts, and previous product orders to save engineers time when finding part lists for manufacturers.
"Our original BOM tool was very helpful when customers loaded complete manufacturer's part numbers, said Hayne Shumate, Mouser’s senior vice president of internet business, in a statement. "The new tool can match a higher percentage of parts and help customers understand the confidence and risk of each part.”
The intelligence of the new tool builds on Mouser’s previous BOM management tool, which showed prices for over four million part numbers in Mouser's inventory. Forte, which is free with a Mouser account, also still lets engineers make purchases directly inside the tool.
"We also wanted to simplify the workflow to get the customer through the BOM task faster," Shumate said.
