Bill of Materials
A bill of materials (BOM) specifies the number and type of components used in making an assembly or finished product. The BOM indicates the quantity required to make one unit of the finished good. Any business that manufactures regularly uses a bill of materials to keep track of the components used to create products and update raw materials and finished goods quantities with each one created. This information must be integrated into the inventory system to keep track of inventory quantities at all stages, generate purchase orders when additional materials must be ordered, provide information for fulfillment, and relay costs to the finance department for taxes and reporting.
Bill of Materials Management Software
Your bill of materials plays an important role in inventory management. SOS Inventory works with your bill of materials to update costs for each product as the BOM is used, remove materials from inventory and trigger purchase orders when materials quantities reach minimum levels. Your raw materials and work in progress will match quantities on your ledger because SOS Inventory tracks every change along the way to account for all quantities and expenses.
Most BOMs include:
Product Name (that you are making)- Part Name (or ingredient)
- Part Number
- Part or Ingredient Description
- Quantity for each Part or Ingredient
- Measurement Units, i.e., inches, centimeter, feet, meters, liters, cups, teaspoons, gallons, etc.
- Unit Cost
- Total Cost (for all quantities of specific part or ingredient)
Product Name (that you are making)
Once you set up your bill of materials template in SOS Inventory, every build for that product will contain all the parts with their quantities and costs listed.
If working with multi-level BOMs, you may also wish to include the BOM level for the build.
SOS Inventory will accommodate additional fields to adapt to your business’s needs. Some considerations are dates of approval, material ratios, waste percentages, contact information for supplier or vendors, and whether the product is made or purchased.
Bill of Materials Example
In SOS Inventory, once you select the product, you will see listed below all the items used to create that product along with descriptions, if needed, amount on hand, quantities, amount used per finished product, amount used per build and unit of measurement.
How to Make a Bill of Materials
Although customized by company and industry, there are fields all businesses should populate when generating a BOM. Each business can build a template to use for a product or groups of products. The level of description needed will depend on your industry.
Once you have created a finished goods item and set its type to “Assembly” in SOS Inventory, return to your list of items to find that assembly item. From the “Actions Menu,” select “Edit Bill of Materials.” There you will find a column to enter the components of your BOM. You must enter the component items and the quantities to complete the BOM for use in building assemblies. Assemblies can have component items that are also assemblies (sub-assemblies). SOS Inventory supports multi-level BOMs, and there is no limit to the number of levels. The Expanded BOM Report (Operations Menu > Reports > Miscellaneous > Expanded BOM Report) allows you to view the entire BOM for an assembly, as well as sub-assemblies.
The expanded bill of material report will show you all the above, at all locations and levels, including total costs for each component and total overall costs.
SOS Inventory arms your business with a range of inventory tools from material inventory management, to sales, to shipping, manufacturing and finance to handle every type of transaction your business could possibly need whether you are a manufacturer, wholesaler, or distributor. Get detailed bill of materials functionality for better inventory control, management, and business growth. Sign up today for your free trial for the most comprehensive bill of materials management software features for your money.
