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28 SMT Magazine • April 2016 with each part number linked to the location on the board by a reference designator. How- ever, there are often discrepancies in the nam- ing conventions and content of the BOM. This can happen because the BOM is managed in the ERP system. ERP systems are driven by ma- terials represented by part numbers and quan- tities. The individual component references are often represented only as comments, all references sometimes listed squeezed together into a single field, which leads to significant corruption potential of the reference designa- tors. This is a critical issue because the refer- ence designator is the key piece of information to identify which component positions need to be placed and which precise component part number is location on each and every ref- erence designator. Merging of the ERP-based BOM with the original design data can be quite a challenge. It requires a tool such as Valor Process Prep- aration that is able to make decisions about matching and exposing any discrepancies, which often happen. For example, reference designators in the ERP BOM that do not ap- pear in the design or quantities of compo- nents used of a specific part number in the ERP BOM may not match the count of refer- ences listed in the design data. These are all things that must be resolved with 100% cer- tainty before moving forward. This process is still done manually in many cases, perhaps with the aid of a spreadsheet, and consumes significant time and resources, as well as car- rying a high risk of errors. Simulating the pCB assembly The next step is simulation of the as-built product model as defined in the BOM. Us- ing the manufacturer-specific part numbers defined in the BOM, corresponding physical package definitions for all parts can be merged with the PCB data and overlaid on to the PCB. Incorrect part assignment issues can now be highlighted as well as ensuring that alternative components are also viable with respect to the PCB pads. These manufacturer-specific pack - ages are then used to automatically create data for SMT programming, test programming, DFA analysis, stencil design, documentation, and bEsT-PracTicE ProcEss PrEParaTion for Pcb assEmblY Figure 3: BOM Merge is a powerful feature of Valor Process Preparation.