Our customers use 3E Exchange to track a variety of data about their products and materials. You can customize what you see in your standard view using the BOM Template. Within the BOM Template, you can also change certain fields to only accept pre-defined values. Additionally, you can add custom columns to the tool to hold any data unique to your system.
BOM Column Template
The BOM Column Template works hand-in-hand with the BOM editor to define defaults for which columns you will see, their order, and their predefined values. You can also add custom columns for data you wish to capture but which isn't a column already available in 3E Exchange.
There are two ways to navigate to the BOM Column Template:
Click on Templates > BOM Columns > Manage BOM Columns
Within a data record, click on Columns > Edit Column Views
Once in the template, you can configure different BOM column views that can be used across your team to meet a variety of needs. You can add new views, delete views, and enable specific columns to match a report template (such as HPD) if desired. Each view can be customize by following these steps:
Check and uncheck the checkboxes to make columns visible or hidden
Click and drag to rearrange the order of columns
To add help text or a predefined value, click over to the "Edit Column Properties" view.
Click the edit button to adjust these settings.
When adding in help text or a predefined value, you will have these options:
In the BOM view, a set of predefined values will offer you a drop down list of choices. If you enter a value that does not match the available predefined values, 3E Exchange will report the issue when you validate the spreadsheet.
Another setting that will make your BOM the easiest to use will be enabling the Summary Row data. We recommend this for anyone using linked materials, calculating recycled content, or using the summary data of a product for regulatory determinations.
Setting Up BOM Column Templates Across Teams
When you create a new BOM Column View, you can switch to it in a couple ways.
In the BOM Column Template, you can select "Done Editing" and it will apply for any new products created but not for any existing products. In that same view, you can select "Reset all Products/Materials to Match Template" which will have different impacts depending on if you are working on a team account or a Pro or below account. If you are working on a team account, the "Reset all" will update all the products to that view for only you. If you are working on a Pro or below account, the "Reset all" will update the product for everyone on that account.
When you leave the "BOM Column Template" area, make sure you leave the template you want to switch to selected. In an individual product, if you have that view select in BOM Column Template, when you click "Match to BOM Column Template" in the column selector, it will switch to that view. That works even if you didn't click either "Done Editing" or "Match all...". Similar to the above feature, that will update only in your view if you are working on a team account. However, if you are working on a Pro or below account that will update everyone's view.
There is no way to prevent a product's column view from being changed when you click "Match all...".
Custom Columns
You can also add custom columns for any data you wish to enter into 3E Exchange but which does not have a standard column.
Custom columns come in three flavors:
Normal columns allow you to enter data and define predefined values, as you would with other columns in 3E Exchange.
List Flag columns allow you to select one or more RSLs for screening in your BOM. If a substance appears on one of the specified RSLs, it will be flagged in the BOM Editor. You can also send the List Flag custom column to suppliers during the survey process to screen specific hazard lists.
Summary Data columns link back to summary data questions that you have built out in the 'Supplier Summary Data Template' and the 'BOM Summary Data Template. This will allow you to link to the template questions and in turn, allow survey response data to be viewed in your BOM.
To create a new custom column, simply enter a name and click "Add Custom Column" on the Edit Column Properties tab. Custom columns will appear at the bottom of your column list by default, but you can click-and-drag them to wherever they need to be.
To toggle the type of custom column and define predefined values or list filters, click the edit button for a row.
If your products and materials are using a custom column that you later choose to remove, that column's data will still be preserved and available whenever you edit or export your inventory.
Importing with the BOM Column Template
Your template defines the expected columns in new products and materials that you create through an import.
If you attempt to import a custom column not already added to your template, you will need to address the error during the import process and consider adding the new column to your template. Using the mapping you can choose to skip the column or add it as a new custom column in your template.
Need Help?
Do you have a question about the workflow or issues you've found?
Use the Intercom chat service in the bottom-right of your screen to connect to a 3E Exchange Customer Success Engineer, and we'll get back to you with the information or help you need.