[FR] Option to bulk replace obsolete part in BOM

[ram-bt]

Please verify that this feature request has NOT been suggested before.

• I checked and didn't find a similar feature request

Problem statement

Add functionality to easily manage obsolete parts across multiple BOMs. Specifically, provide an option to replace an obsolete part with a new one, or mark it as inactive and add a substitute part in all BOMs where it appears.

In our setup, a single part (e.g., a resistor or IC) may appear in multiple BOMs across different assemblies or product variants.
When a part becomes obsolete or superseded, we currently have to manually locate and update every BOM that includes that part making it a time-consuming and error-prone process.

Suggested solution

Introduce a bulk BOM update or "part replacement" feature that allows the user to:

• Search for a specific part across all BOMs.
• Choose to either:
  1. Swap the obsolete part for a new replacement part (preserving quantities and other attributes).
  2. Mark the obsolete part as inactive, and optionally add a new replacement part to all affected BOMs.

Optional enhancements:

• A preview list showing all BOMs that will be affected before confirming changes.
• Option to log these replacements(why the change was made).
• Option to update BOM revisions automatically.

Describe alternatives you've considered

Manually locate and update every BOM that includes that part.

Examples of other systems

No response

Do you want to develop this?

• I want to develop this.

[SchrodingersGat]

@ram-bt can you imagine what the user interface / procedure might look like for that? Perhaps you can suggest something.

[ram-bt]

Sure let me get back to you> @ram-bt can you imagine what the user interface / procedure might look like for that? Perhaps you can suggest something.

[tounho]

We have a similar issue and my solution might work for @ram-bt:

We have BOMs with parts like

MLCC, 100nF, 6.3V, 20%, X5R, 0402
MLCC, 100nF, 10V, 20%, X5R, 0402
MLCC, 100nF, 35V, 20%, X5R, 0402
MLCC, 100nF, 50V, 20%, X5R, 0402

but for prototyping they might all be substituted by

MLCC, 100nF, 50V, 10%, X7R, 0402

or whatever we have in stock in-house.

Currently we manually add the substitutes when importing the BOM into InvenTree, which is labor intensive and error prone.

Our idea of a solution would be the following:

• (1) General substitutes on a Part-Level
  • e.g. the part MLCC, 100nF, 10V, 20%, X5R, 0402 can ALLWAYS be substituted by MLCC, 100nF, 50V, 10%, X7R, 0402. Under /web/part/1234/substitutes we we can add MLCC, 100nF, 50V, 10%, X7R, 0402 and others. If a BOM is created containing MLCC, 100nF, 10V, 20%, X5R, 0402 all substitutes can be added automatically.
• (2) The ability import substitutes from the bom.csv
  • Allow for BOMs to be imported to conatin a field like ComponentSubstitutes with a list of ids of Parts that can substitute the actual part.

Component;ComponentSubstitutes;
1234;1500,1650,2120,;
1240;1500,1650,2120,;
1300;1500,1650,2120,;
1500;1650,;

or

Component; ... ;ComponentSubstitutes;
MLCC, 100nF, 6.3V, 20%, X5R, 0402; ... ;MLCC, 100nF, 50V, 20%, X5R, 0402,MLCC, 100nF, 50V, 20%, X5R, 0402,MLCC, 100nF, 35V, 10%, X5R, 0402
MLCC, 100nF, 10V, 20%, X5R, 0402; ... ;MLCC, 100nF, 50V, 20%, X5R, 0402,MLCC, 100nF, 50V, 10%, X7R, 0402,MLCC, 100nF, 35V, 10%, X5R, 0402
MLCC, 100nF, 35V, 20%, X5R, 0402; ... ;MLCC, 100nF, 50V, 20%, X5R, 0402,MLCC, 100nF, 50V, 10%, X7R, 0402,MLCC, 100nF, 35V, 10%, X5R, 0402
MLCC, 100nF, 50V, 20%, X5R, 0402; ... ;MLCC, 100nF, 50V, 10%, X7R, 0402

Thank you!

[SchrodingersGat]

@tounho in general I like the idea of an "always substitute" - but careful considering would be needed for how to implement this in the user interface, as well as the additional business logic required to get it working

[matmair]

@SchrodingersGat this could be a one-off command that just replaces the part in all effected BOMs? Would make things much easier to implement and create a clean cut / BOM change

[ram-bt]

@SchrodingersGat Sorry for not replying sooner!

I have been busy with work and not able to give time to thinking about a visual interface for this.

The main issue that i face as a small company: - I have a BoM that uses a MOV in the power section of the device. Due to market conditions/internal tests -> the MOV is not available so i need to search for a new MOV/the MOV selected prior is not cutting it and a higher voltage rated MOV is required (i have more than 50 BoMs that use the same MOV). This causes me to search every BoM manually and replace that component and verify all again.

As Matthias suggested a one-off command that replaces the part affected in BoMs would be a great feature to have!! (I would love to test it) - I will make time this week and try to draft a UI sketch/procedure for this.

I really appreciate the work you guys have put into creating this awesome system 🍻 ❤️

[matmair]

@tounho that sounds like a new, separate feature request.

@ram-bt it does not need to be pretty. A textual description or a quick wireframe is enough in most cases to get a solution design going.

We already have UI primitives available.