{"id":24295,"date":"2024-12-02T16:19:43","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T14:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fractory.com\/?p=24295"},"modified":"2024-12-02T16:21:19","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T14:21:19","slug":"bill-of-materials-bom-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fractory.com\/bill-of-materials-bom-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill of Materials – What It Is, How It Works & Its Benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"
A Bill of Materials (BOM) is a tool that helps to simplify complex products and industrial processes. Think of a product, such as a car, that is composed of 10,000 individual components, each varying in shape, size, material, orientation, and function.<\/span><\/p>\n Most of these parts are sourced from various manufacturers before being assembled onto the body-in-white. In order to make a car, all of these parts must be sourced from within and outside a country in varying quantities. Thus, producing thousands of cars every month requires meticulous deliberation, planning and execution.<\/span><\/p>\n The complex process needs to be simplified to enhance accuracy and repeatability. A bill of materials is a tool that helps us achieve just that. This article will explore the concept of a bill of materials, its contents, types, and its role in simplifying complex processes within various departments in different industries.<\/span><\/p>\n A Bill of Materials (BOM) is a product-specific document that provides a detailed breakdown of a product into assemblies and sub-assemblies.<\/span><\/strong> It serves as a comprehensive blueprint, outlining the various components involved in the manufacturing process. Think of it as a grocery list for making your assembly.<\/span><\/p>\n A bill of materials is an important and useful document, it serves as the foundation for production planning systems. As the number of parts in a product increases, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage the availability of all the components in sufficient quantities for the assembly process<\/a>. The unavailability of just one part can halt the entire assembly line, costing the company thousands of dollars in lost productivity.<\/span><\/p>\n To prevent this, companies use a bill of materials to plan and track component purchases, optimise inventory levels and reduce waste. When used correctly, it enables a more systematic and deliberate process, minimising unplanned downtime and errors while ensuring operations run at the lowest possible cost.<\/span><\/p>\n A bill of materials can take on different forms. It has different components depending on the department to which it belongs<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n For instance, a manufacturing bill of materials includes details, such as the product code, part name and number, quantity, description, colour, size, and the process in which it will be used to make the final product.<\/span><\/p>\n A sales bill of materials includes sales-relevant information, such as product prices, shipping details, part weight and dimensions, payment terms<\/a>, tax rates, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n Thus, the BOM may include all the information that a department needs for smooth operations.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
What Is a Bill of Materials?<\/span><\/h2>\n
What Is Included in a Bill of Materials?<\/span><\/h2>\n