Plain notes on parts lists for small makers
Bill of Materials Notes explains how parts lists work in the software small manufacturers use. It covers assemblies, revisions, part numbers, costing and stock, in plain words. Every page points to the maker's own documentation or another public source.
All the notes
- What a bill of materials is and what it holds
A bill of materials is the parts list for something you make. See what a BOM contains and which fields a typical software record has.
- Single-level and multi-level BOMs
How assemblies and sub-assemblies fit in one parts list, and how a single-level list differs from an indented, multi-level one.
- Spreadsheet or BOM software: where a spreadsheet stops working
A spreadsheet can hold a short parts list. Here's where it starts to strain, and what BOM software adds that a plain grid doesn't.
- Kinds of software that hold a BOM
PLM, ERP, MRP and inventory tools can all store a parts list. Here's what each kind is for and how it relates to the BOM.
- Part numbers and item records
How to name and number parts in a BOM system, from meaningful codes to plain sequence numbers, and why your own number beats a supplier's.
- BOM revisions and change records
How software records a change to a parts list, what a change order should say, and why some tools lock a BOM once it's submitted.
- How software rolls up cost from a BOM
How BOM software adds up component costs, sub-assemblies and operations into a product cost, and why the answer is only as fresh as your prices.
- Linking a BOM to stock and purchasing
How a BOM drives what to reserve and what to reorder, how reorder points work, and what a work order does to stock in BOM software.