Memios: A Parts & BOM Workbench for Automated Waste Systems
How we gave a manufacturer of automated trash systems for buildings one approved parts library, nested assemblies with rolled-up costs, and a three-role QC sign-off, all in 8 weeks.
Overview
Memios is an engineering and manufacturing company in Greensboro, North Carolina, that builds fully automated pneumatic waste conveying systems for buildings. Occupants drop trash and recyclables into an inlet, and high-velocity air carries it through underground or in-building pipe to a central collection area. That removes manual hauling, carts and dumpsters from the building. The systems serve high-rises, residential and commercial buildings, campuses and mixed-use developments, in both new construction and retrofits. They move between 1 and 10 tons of waste per hour, can carry several separated waste streams in one network, and earn LEED points from the day they are installed.
Each installation is a custom engineered system with a deep bill of materials. Memios asked Kwanso to replace spreadsheet-based part tracking with a Project Workbench: one controlled parts catalog that every building project draws from, with approvals, revisions and costing built in. We designed and shipped the MVP in 8 weeks.
Industry
Tech Stack
The Challenge
Engineering a building-wide waste conveying system means managing a large, shared parts base under tight change control. Memios needed to fix several problems:
- Every building installation is a custom engineered system, with inlets, chutes, transport pipe, valves, blowers and controls made from hundreds of motors, fabricated parts, hardware, consumables and labor, often reusing the same sub-assemblies from one project to the next.
- Part data lived in spreadsheets copied per project, so one change to a shared component had to be found and repeated by hand everywhere it was used.
- There was no single approval path. Engineering, accounting and the people who maintain the parts database each needed to check a change before it was used.
- Costing a project meant adding up nested assemblies manually, and vendor prices weren't tied to the parts they supplied.
- Part numbers were issued informally, with no registry to show which numbers were taken or what had changed since a part was first released.
Our Approach
We modeled the workbench on how Memios already engineers its systems. Parts are defined once, assemblies nest them, and projects place instances of them. On top of that model we added the controls a custom engineered build needs: classification, numbering, sign-off and revisions.
Key Features We Delivered:
Master Parts Catalog & Nested Assemblies
- Each part is defined once in a shared catalog. Assemblies nest other assemblies and parts, and projects place instances of released parts with their own quantities.
- Every building project is a top-level DP0 assembly, so an installation is simply a bill of materials built from the library.
- Drawings and reference images are attached to each part, stored in Vercel Blob.
DP Code Taxonomy & Chapter Numbering
- An industry-standard DP0–DP9 classification covers assemblies, documents, processes, modified raw goods, fabricated items, off-the-shelf items, inseparable assemblies, consumables, tools and labor. It also controls which types are allowed to contain other parts.
- A chapter registry issues part numbers in a chapter00-#### format, so new numbers are assigned in one place and nobody can reuse one.
Three-Role QC Sign-Off
- Every new part and every edit needs sign-off from Engineering, Accounting and the Database Manager before it is approved. The submitter's own role is approved automatically.
- Sensitive changes, such as switching a part's vendor, automatically send the part back to QC. A pending change can be discarded to restore the last approved version.
- A dedicated QC Sign-offs queue shows each approver what is waiting on them, with a before-and-after view of every field.
Revision Control & Change History
- A newly released part is Rev A. Reopening it, editing, re-approving and re-releasing moves it to Rev B, Rev C and so on.
- Revising a released part from inside a project creates the new revision, points that project at it, and leaves the released original untouched for every other project.
- A change log records who did what: quantity changes, parts added or removed from an assembly, submissions, approvals and releases.
Vendors & Cost Roll-Ups
- Vendors are grouped by category (motors, fabrication, hardware and so on), and parts link to vendor offers with the vendor part number, price and a preferred supplier.
- Assembly costs roll up from nested parts automatically. A vendor price overrides a manually entered cost, so project totals follow real sourcing.
Reports & Roles
- A master catalog report filters by chapter and QC status, and exports to CSV for Excel or to a printable PDF.
- Role-based access for Admin, Engineering, Accounting, Database Manager and standard users, plus a one-click demo dataset for live walkthroughs with stakeholders.
Key Achievements
MVP in 8 Weeks
From discovery to a working, deployed workbench the Memios team could demo and use.
One Source of Truth
Every building project draws from the same released parts library instead of copied spreadsheets.
Controlled Change
Nothing gets released without Engineering, Accounting and Database Manager sign-off.
Live Project Costing
Assembly and project totals roll up automatically from parts and preferred vendor prices.
8 Weeks, Start to Finish
Weeks 1–2
Discovery with the Memios engineering team, the DP code taxonomy and chapter numbering, and the data model for parts, assemblies and project instances.
Weeks 3–5
Master catalog, nested assemblies, project workbench, vendors and cost roll-ups.
Weeks 6–7
QC sign-off workflow, revisions and re-release, change history and role-based access.
Week 8
Reports and exports, demo data for stakeholder walkthroughs, polish and deployment on Vercel.
Have a workflow like this?
Let's talk about a workbench that puts your parts, approvals and costs in one place, shipped in weeks, not quarters.