One of the first things many organizations do to get rolling on Cofactr is to upload a product's or part's Bill of Materials. Cofactr provides a BOM uploader to make it as easy and automated as possible to find sourcing options on all the parts they need.

To upload a Bill of Materials log into Cofactr and use the BOMs button on the Dashboard or the BOMs tab in the navigation bar on the right side of the platform to get to your BOMs. If it's your first uploaded BOM the list will be empty. Click on the button in the upper right corner labeled "New Bill Of Materials".

You'll see a window appear that asks for the BOMs name, part number, and Version. The name and version are necessary fields. Name it anything that makes sense to you and your organization and version it as appropriate.

You will have now created a BOM. It will appear in your list of BOMs. Click on the BOM's name or anywhere in the row to enter into the BOM's modal. There, you can either add parts to the BOM or add BOMs to populate the BOM.

You can add parts one at a time to build a BOM in Cofactr, but many organizations prefer to upload a full Bill Of Materials. To add a full BOM click on "Upload BOM". A file upload wizard will appear that looks like this:

You can upload your BOM as a .xlsx, .xls, or a .csv file. This can be done by clicking "Select File" and using your finder or you can drag a BOM directly into the dashed frame around the upload prompt. Most BOMs that would be prepared for a contract manufacturing partner will upload without issue into Cofactr. The only necessary data is the MPNs and either the quantity of parts per product or the reference designators. Any other data will be included for your reference, but isn't necessary for Cofactr's supply chain data or Sourcing Optimizer Options.

Once you upload a file you'll be asked to Select a header row.

Once you've selected your header row click the "Next" button. Cofactr will now attempt to match headers to Cofactr's nomenclature. As long as you have a header that is called part number, MPN, or something similar and header called something similar to quantity or reference designators the upload should be easy. Make sure you are matching columns for the MPN and wither Quantity or Reference Designators.

Once you've matched columns click the "Next" button. The upload wizard will now validate the data and show you any rows that have errors. You can edit directly in the presented data grid, discard any selected rows that aren't relevant for you electronics BOM, and filter to only show the rows which have errors at this step.

Once you are finished editing click the "Confirm" button. You'll be taken back to the BOM view that is now populated with your BOM data!