Quote and Project Structure
The Boardera platform uses several objects to create a quote or an order, it’s helpful to understand how these objects interact with each other.
Projects
The project is the fundamental object in Boardera’s structure. In traditional ERP or CRM systems the project (or Product) is typically a simple line item with a cost, vendors, and price breaks. In the Boardera system however the project is a complex entity with many datapoints. For example the project has gerber layers, PCB fabrication options, stackup, a BOM, assembly options, and even a DFM report. All of these datapoints are important to understand and calculate the total manufacturing cost.
Project Revisions
The Boardera platform maintains accurate versions of all of the projects. Each time a change is made to a project (for example: silkscreen colour) a new ‘version’ is saved. These ‘versions' are actually ‘differences’ for the original and not complete copies. This is a similar methodology to software development changes. Boardera uses these versions to create ‘snapshots’ of the project at important steps in the quoting and ordering process. If an order is created it gets a ‘snapshot’ of the project at the time of order. It’s important to understand that most of the time the Boardera platform is using and displaying the latest version of the project.
Project Clones
While creating a quote it’s possible to ‘clone’ a Project and add it to the quote as a new Quote Line Item. This will create a new Project identical to the original project snapshot in that moment, with no link to the original project.
Project Pricing
Each project maintains ‘live’ pricing which is regularly recalculated using the pricing configurations and vendor APIs. Each time a change is made to a project the price is recalculated to ensure it’s accounting for all cost factors. For example copper weight or finishing options would impact the price calculations.
Quotes
A Quote is an object in the Boardera platform that accepts customers and projects to generate a formal document with fixed pricing for a fixed time.
Quote Line Items
Generally a Quote will have multiple items on the quote and these are typically the same project with different quantities. Each line item can have their own pricing calculation overrides and their own markups. These calculations and overrides are displayed on the Quote Line Item Details page. These cost and price calculations are independent of the Project design. It’s important to note that from the Quote Line Item Details page it is possible to open and edit the project but editing the project itself will impact all Pending quotes that use that same project.
Clone Quote Line Items
It is possible to ‘clone’ a Quote Line Item. This will copy the state of that Line Item at the time it is cloned including any sourcing or costing overrides. Once it’s cloned it will be an independent line on the quote and any overrides to it or the original will not impact other line items. Keep in mind that Project level overrides will still impact all Quote Line Items that use that Project.
Note: This is not the same as cloning a Project.
Quote Revision
Each time a Quote is saved it is possible to assign a new Quote Revision. Each Quote Revision is structurally it’s own quote and treated independently from the other Quote Revisions.
Quote States
If a Quote is ‘Pending’ it will be considered ‘live' and all changes will impact the pricing calculations. Any updates to the Pricing Configurations or BOM Sourcing or PCB Fabrication options will be immediately applied to the Quote Line Items on the Quote. Once a quote is ‘Ready’ it will be considered ‘locked’ and it will maintain it’s Pricing independent of any changes to the Pricing Configurations, sourcing, or the Project.
Project-Level Attributes
Layer Count and Layer Assignment
Board Size
PCB Fabrication Options
BOM Parts and Substitutions
Part Placements
Assembly Options
Quote-Level Attributes
Quantity
Lead Time
Shipping
Taxes
BOM Sourcing Options
PCB Sourcing
Labor Calculation Overrides
Markups and Discounts