Hardware specs

Most PM tools are software-only. Roadmap OS treats hardware as a first-class citizen. Here's how to use the hardware-specific fields in product profiles.

Set product type to Hardware or Hybrid

When creating a product, set type to:

• Hardware — pure physical product (e.g., a sensor, a device with no firmware)
• Hybrid — hardware + firmware + cloud (most modern IoT / consumer electronics)

The Specs tab will then show hardware fields.

Bill of Materials (BOM)

Specs → BOM

Two ways to track BOM:

1. Linked URL — paste a URL to your engineering ERP / PLM system (Arena, Aras, Windchill, etc.). Roadmap OS doesn't replace your PLM; it links to it.
2. Direct list — for simple BOMs, list components inline (component name, supplier, part number, cost).

The BOM is read-only by default — engineering owns it; PMs reference it.

Hardware revisions

Specs → Hardware Revision

Track:

• Current revision — Rev A / Rev B / Rev C
• Manufactured count per revision
• Date in service
• Date EOL (if revision is being phased out)

When you ship a new revision:

• Bump the current revision
• Mark the previous revision's EOL date
• Note any compatibility changes in the release notes

Firmware version

Specs → Firmware

Track:

• Current shipping firmware version (e.g., 2.4.1)
• Latest released firmware version (might be different — released but not shipping yet)
• Auto-update enabled — yes / no
• Rollback procedure — link to docs

Firmware versions are tied to release notes — when you release a new firmware, log it in the Releases tab.

Certifications

Specs → Certifications

This is the field that saves teams the most pain.

For each certification (FCC, CE, ICASA, etc.):

• Name — certification body + region
• Certificate number
• Issue date
• Expiry date
• Status — Valid / Expiring Soon / Expired / Renewal in Progress
• Linked document — the actual certificate PDF

Reminders fire automatically:

• 90 days before expiry → email + in-app notification
• 30 days before → email + Slack (if connected) + flagged in dashboard
• 7 days before → critical alert

A team at Netstar (using Roadmap OS daily) had 3 certifications lapse in 2023 due to spreadsheet tracking. After moving to product profiles with auto-reminders, zero have lapsed in 12 months.

Field reliability

Specs → Field Reliability

Track:

• Units shipped — total since launch
• Units returned — RMAs
• Failure rate — calculated (returned / shipped)
• MTBF — mean time between failures (in hours)
• Top failure modes — list with counts (e.g., "battery failure: 47, GPS fix: 23, …")

Update monthly with data from your customer support / RMA system.

Reports across hardware products

The Reports module includes hardware-specific dashboards (Pro tier):

• Certification expiry calendar — every certification across every product, sorted by expiry date
• Field reliability heat map — failure rates per product, color-coded
• Hardware revision lifecycle — which revisions are shipping, which are EOL, which are coming next

Best practices

• Update certification status quarterly. Set a recurring task in your To-Do list.
• Log every firmware release in the Releases tab, including hotfixes.
• Review failure rate monthly — sustained increases indicate a quality issue worth investigating.
• Link the certification PDF — don't just record the cert number. The PDF is what auditors want.

Next steps

• Lifecycle Tracking
• Bug Tracker
• Release Notes