BOM Full Form, Importance, Types, Advantages, Different levels

BOM refers to the Bill of Materials. Put simply Bill of Materials is a comprehensive list of components, raw materials and instructions, required to either,

• build
• manufacture
• or repair a product/service.

The Bill of Materials follows a hierarchical structure. The finished products are at the top of the hierarchy and individual raw materials are at the very bottom or grassroots level. 

Regardless of its structure, every BOM must contain 4 key components, namely,

• The name of the component
• The description of the item
• The quantity needed
• Unit of measure  

Importance of BOM

Today, the bill of materials is an indispensable component for almost every industry. An accurate bill of materials allows the production process to be economical and efficient. 

The BOM not only mentions finished products and raw materials but also the number of materials required to produce the finished goods. Thus, right from the assembly, to manufacturing and even repairing! The  BOM proves to be advantageous every step of the way.

Types of BOM

BOM is an extensive list that gives the manufacturer a complete idea about the total materials available, total products to be manufactured and more. There are a variety of BOMs used by different manufacturing industries. For example,

• Single Level BOM
• Multiple Level BOM
• Assembly BOM
• Configurable BOM 
• Engineering BOM
• Manufacturing BOM etc.

Out of the myriad BOMs in the market, the two most important ones are,

• Engineering BOM (EBOM)
• Manufacturing BOM (MBOM)

Now. we will know a bit more about these two bills of materials,

Engineering BOM (EBOM)

The Engineering Bill of Materials is created during the design phase of the product. It is based on Computer-Aided Design (CAD)  or Electronic Design Automation (EDA). It contains a list of raw materials and components required by the engineering team. 

Manufacturing BOM (MBOM)

The Manufacturing Bill of Materials (MBOM) consists of a list of all materials (as well as subassemblies) required to manufacture a finished, ready-to-ship product. This list also includes materials that need to undergo processing prior to assembly. 

The MBOM is circulated among all units responsible for manufacturing the product including the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning).

Types of BOM Displays

There are two types of displays for the Bill of Materials. They are explosion display and implosion display. 

Let us know about them in detail:

Explosion Display

In the explosion display, the BOM displays the assembly at the highest level which breaks down into individual units and materials at the lowest level. 

Implosion Display

In the implosion display, we find a linkage between the highest and lowest levels. Thus, in this display, we can see exactly how the finished product is associated with the raw materials used to manufacture it. 

Different levels of BOM

The BOM can be created at different levels. Depending on the complexity of the finished product, BOMs can either be single-level or multiple-level. To explain elaborately,

Single-Level BOMs

It is a simple bill of material, where the raw materials and subassemblies required are shown once. They are very easy to construct and don’t require a lot of time. 

However, they are not effective in the case of complex products. They neither show the link between parent and child materials nor between assemblies and subassemblies. 

Thus, if a product manufactured using this type of BOM fails, we cannot pinpoint what went wrong. We will be unable to make the necessary improvements or changes. So, even though it is less complicated, single-level BOMs have their own setbacks. 

Multiple-Level BOMs

Multiple-level BOMs are complex and detailed. It shows the comprehensive relationship between the parent and child parts, as well as assemblies and subassemblies. 

Its specificity and attention to detail make manufacturing very efficient. Thus giving the Multiple BOM an upper hand over the Single Level ones. 

Advantages of Using BOM

Enhanced Inventory Management

The information provided in the bill of materials is very useful for effective inventory management. With a detailed BOM, at any given time the manufacturer has full knowledge of the number of materials being used up. 

Thus, the inventory is up to date and accurate, as we know the exact number of materials required to manufacture the finished product.  

Cost & Time Effective

An effective BOM allows the manufacturer to use only those products that are required to manufacture the finished, shippable item. This saves a lot of money by avoiding unnecessary wastage. 

There is no scope for a halt in manufacturing, as the entire process is laid out systematically, thanks to the BOM. Thus, the time taken to produce a finished product is quite less.

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