Become an Expert in BOM (Bills of Material) within Manufacturing Software
Learn:
What Is BOM Management?
What is a BOM or Bill Of Material?
What are the Benefits of a BOM or Bill of Material?
What Content Is Included in a BOM or Bill Of Material?
What are the Types of BOM or Bill Of Material Structure?
Choosing SimpleManufacturing™ as your next BOM or Bill of Material Solution
Continue Reading More…..
What Is Bill of Material (BOM) Management?
Bill of Material (BOM) management is the capturing, configuring, and managing of all product data throughout the lifecycle of a product. This includes the complete history of BOM revisions, changes and approvals. Therefore, effective BOM management is critical to a manufacturer’s success no matter the size or the number of parts in the product.
What Is A BOM or Bill of Material?
A bill of materials (BOM) is a centralized source of raw materials, components, and instructions required to assemble, construct, manufacture, or repair a product or service. This information contains the quantities in which the materials are needed, descriptions, and costs.
Additionally, a bill of material appears in a hierarchical format, The highest level displaying the finished product and the bottom level showing individual components and materials.
As a result, a BOM is fundamental to the effectiveness of multiple manufacturing and supply chain processes, including production, materials requirement planning, inventory planning, scheduling and product costing.
What are the Benefits of a BOM or Bill of Material?
Transparency
A bill of materials is the framework for everyone in the process to follow. It defines what is required of every team in the process from procurement to assembly or repair of the product.
Availability
Perhaps the most important benefit is that the Bill of Materials (BOMs) provides a clear list of the materials and quantities required to complete a single unit. Purchasing can quickly identify what they need to purchase, and how much to buy.
Efficiency
Accurate BOMs provide ease of purchasing and inventory management. First, they provide a list of components that are in need of purchasing. Identifying the product needed, and the quantity required simplifies the collaboration with suppliers. Secondly, they provide a list of components that can be used from existing inventory. The immediate knowledge of what is required to purchase and what can be consumed from existing inventory, results in an efficient outcome.
Optimized Inventory management
A bill of material helps you manage inventory levels more effectively by showing the quantities of the components and the specific time of need. This involves consuming existing inventory and ordering the right amount of stock Just-In-Time (JIT). This reduces capital tied up in work-in-process and raw material inventory.
Repeatability
Having an accurate Bill of Material helps facilitate that products are assembled, repaired or serviced the exact same way, every time. This includes using the same material, processes, and methods consistently.
Inaccurate BOMs, or the absence of them, can halt production, increase operating costs, or cause delays to revenue recognition – all of which are detrimental to the overall business position.
What Content is Included in a BOM or Bill of Material?
Depending upon the industry, and products manufactured, repaired or serviced, and discussion with all parties, such as designers or engineers as well as purchasing, scheduling, and planning workers decide what content the Bill of Material (BOMs) should include.
The options are endless, and it is not uncommon to include the following information within a Bill of Material:
- Line Item No,
- Part Number,
- Part Name,
- Part Revision
- Quantity Required per unit,
- Unit of Measurement,
- Assembly References and,
- Additional Notes.
Depending on the industry type, some business adds additional attributes about material that is utilized by different manufacturing processes such as:
- Material,
- Size,
- Length,
- Weight,
- and Specifications
Some businesses decide to incorporate other types of material such as packaging, and preservation requirements of the product. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to include process related drawings, manufacturing routers and even Alternate or Substitute material options.
In summary, organizations should identify what content they want to include in a Bill of Material that maximizes the information about the product, and minimizes the need to go elsewhere for information.
What are the Types of Bill of Material or BOM Structures?
Single-level Bill of Materials
A single-level bill of materials structure (BOM) is a simple list to produce a product, consisting of only one level of children in components, assemblies, and material. This is best suited for simple products. This type of product does not have any relationships to any other product.
In a single-level BOM, each part that will make up the product or asset is shown once, along with the quantity needed.
Multi-level Bill of Materials
In contrast to the single-level bill of materials, a multi-level BOM shows the relationship (sometimes called parent-child) between components, sub-assemblies and assemblies.
A multi-level BOM is also referred to as an indented BOM by indenting the materials and/or subassemblies that make up the higher-level part or assembly.
It’s similar to a single-level BOM but provides a greater level of detail and specificity on all parts involved in the production of the product. It displays further details such as the quantity of required materials and is indented to illustrate the relationship between various materials, assemblies, and sub-assemblies. Therefore, multi-level BOMs are typically used in complex products.
Phantom Bill of Materials
A Phantom BOM (Bill of Materials) is a type of BOM used in manufacturing and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems that represents a logical grouping of components, but it’s not built or stocked as a separate assembly.
Key Characteristics of a Phantom BOM:
No inventory tracking: The phantom item itself is not stocked or manufactured; it exists only for planning and structuring purposes.
Explodes immediately: During a production order or MRP (Material Requirements Planning) run, the phantom BOM is “exploded”, meaning its components are pulled directly into the parent assembly’s BOM.
Simplifies complex assemblies: Useful when you have reusable subassemblies or kits that are common across multiple products but aren’t built or tracked independently.
Choosing SimpleManufacturing™ as your next Bill of Material (BOM) Solution
The SimpleManufacturing™ Bill of Material Module is a simple, yet flexible and robust approach to managing BOMs. Its efficient means of creating, reviewing and revising BOMs leaves more time to verify accuracy.
An accurate, thorough and updated bill of materials improves decision-making and facilitates efficient production processes.
Additionally, the use of Bill of Materials helps organizations move quickly from design into production, which may help them realize revenue quicker.
Furthermore, BOMs help organizations save money by cutting waste. Due to the depth and breadth of information they provide, BOMs can boost supply chain resiliency.