Effective Management and Optimization of 'Materials in House' 

Definition: "Materials in House" pertains to the collective components that arrive in the factory's storage room. These are essential prerequisites before initiating the PCB SMT process and the product assembly.

Q&A:

1. What constitutes the "Materials in House" components?

• Electrical parts as listed in the Bill of Materials (BOM).

• Mechanical parts detailed in the Bill of Materials (BOM).

• Modules that require manual assembly into the product, such as screws, antennas, display modules, among others.

• Printed Circuit Boards (PCB).

2. How can one efficiently manage and track these materials? 

The schematic capture tool can produce a Bill of Materials (BOM) for both Electrical and SMT Mechanical parts. Typically, these parts are characterized by attributes like part number, part description, manufacturer part number, and quantity. To maintain an organized tracking system, it's essential to merge the computer-generated Electrical BOM with mechanically ordered parts and modules. A Product Life Management (PLM) system is a robust tool to manage this amalgamation effectively.

3. What strategies can be implemented to maintain an efficient "Materials in House" storage? To ensure a streamlined material inventory:

• Undertake BOM consolidation: This involves rigorous scrutiny by electrical engineers to standardize components. For instance, using the same manufacturer part number for recurring parts or minimizing unnecessary components that don't influence circuit functionality, like specific values or tolerances.

• Prioritize consolidation for passive components: Most of the BOM consolidation focuses on passive components like capacitors, resistors, and inductors, since they are frequently used in various applications.