Bill of materials

A Bill of Materials 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.

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Often, BOMs contain heirarchical 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 reference the box, manual, packaging, packaging labels and the PC itself. The BOM for the PC is referenced in the top level BOM and would contain its list of sub-assemblies like power supply, motherboard, case, etc.

Related Topics:
PC - Manual - Packaging - Power supply - Motherboard

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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 bought in as a module).

Related Topics:
Resistors - Processors - Fan - Module

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BOMs are important, as without a basic knowledge of how many widgets a product needs, there is no way of knowing how many widgets you need to buy in.

Related Topics:
Widget

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