Bill of materials (BOM)

A bill of materials or bill of material (abbreviated "BOM") describes a

product in terms of its assemblies, sub-assemblies, and basic parts. Basically
consisting of a list of parts, a BOM is an essential part of the design and
manufacture of any product.
Often, BOMs contain hierarchical information with the master, or top level, BOM
describing a list of components and sub-assemblies. Take a PC, for example: the
top level BOM might list the shipping box, manual, packaging, packaging labels
and the actual PC. The BOM for the PC itself is referenced in the top level BOM
and would contain its own list of sub-assemblies like power supply, motherboard,
case, etc.
This increasing level of detail continues for all sub-assemblies until it
reaches its constituent parts (like resistors or processors), or modules that are
out of the scope of the BOM (like the parts that make up a fan that is brought in
as a module from another manufacturer).
BOMs are important, since without a basic knowledge of how many parts
a product needs, there is no way of knowing how many units of that part you
need to buy.
A bill of material can define products as they are designed, as they are
manufactured, as they are ordered, as they are built, or as they are maintained.
There are different types of bills of materials dependent upon the discipline that
generates them and the purpose for which they are intended. It is important to
ensure the type of bill of material that you have and its intended use prior to
working with a bill of material.
A bill of material can be displayed in following formats:
* the single-level bill of material,
* indented bill of material,
* matrix bill of material,
* transient bill of material,
* modular (planning) bill of material, and

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* costed bill of material.
Other terms by which a bill of material is known include the formula, recipe, or
ingredients list in certain process industries.

Manufacturing bill of material

A manufacturing bill of material (MBOM) is a type of bill of material

reflecting the product as planned by manufacturing engineering, also referred to
as the "as manufactured" bill of material or the "as-planned" bill of material. It is a
list of the parts, materials, and tools required in the manufacture of a product.
This BOM includes material that is contained in drawing notes and typically also
includes an indicator of whether manufacturing intends on buying or making the
indicated material. The MBOM includes any synthetic part numbers and is the
driver for all manufacturing requirements in MRP and ERP Systems.

Engineering bill of material

Engineering bill of material (EBOM) is a type of bill of material reflecting

the product as designed by engineering, also referred to as the “as-designed" bill
of material. This BOM includes all substitute and alternate part numbers, and
includes parts that are contained in drawing notes.

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