Bill of Materials

Janean F. Lulloff
Business Management 361 Section 1
Dr. Foster
Marriott School
Brigham Young University

Contents of Tutorial

Definition of a bill of materials

How a bill of materials is used
Types of bill of materials
Bill of materials information
Benefits of a bill of materials
Examples of bill of materials

Definition
Bill of Materials (BOM)
A listing of all the subassemblies,
intermediates, parts, and raw materials that
go into a parent assembly showing the
quantity of each required to make an
assembly.
Bozarth, Cecil C. and Handfield, Robert B. Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management
. Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2006. p.461.

Definition Explained
Basically, a bill of material (BOM) is a
complete list of the components making up
an object or assembly.
It is also part of material requirements
planning (MRP)

Processes that utilize a BOM

Production
Materials planning
Product costing
Plant maintenance

How can a BOM be used in your

organization?
Several software programs are available
that store item information and prepare bill
of materials automatically

Types of BOMs
Static (fixed) bill
A bill of material for a part that is normally made from
the same components, labor and raw materials.
Used for standard assemblies, components, and
engineer-to-order customer orders.

Example:
A bill of materials for a standard chair

Types of BOMs
Dynamic (parametric) bill
A bill of material for a product or part for which
size, color, laminate, and other options can be
selected.

Example:
A bill of materials for a Dell computer

Types of BOMs
Single level bill of material
A bill of material that lists the materials, parts
and labor required to make another part.

Example:
A bill of materials to make a Dell computer

Types of BOMs
Multilevel bill of material
A bill of material that lists the components, assemblies,
and materials required to make a part, the components,
assemblies, and materials required to make each
component and assembly of the part, and so forth.

Example:
A BOM for the battery inside the Dell computer.

Structure of a BOM

What information is on a BOM?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Quantity
Item ID#
Description of Item
Cost of Item
Total Project Cost

Quantity
Tells user how many of each part is needed
for each project
Example:
A chair needs 1 seat, 4 legs, 1 back, and 5 nails.

Item ID #
Tells us which part to order
Can be any of the following:
Catalog number, UPC, or any other identification
number.

Example:
The chair needs a 2PC seat, 5DR legs, 6TU8 back, and
1 inch nails.

Description of Item
Provides a check that the correct item is
being ordered.

Cost of Item
Cost is included to show how much each part is
per item and the total cost of all like parts.
Example:
The cost of a leg is $5 per leg. Then the total price of
the legs ordered would be $20 because there are 4 legs.

Total Project Cost

Shows the total cost of all items and is also the
total cost of the direct materials used in the
project.
Example:
Seat-$10, Back-$5, Leg-$5 per leg, Nail-$.5 per nail
Total Cost of a chair = 10 + 5 + 5*4 + .5*5 = $37.50

Benefits of a BOM
Optimize engineering, planning and purchasing efforts by
providing centralized and up-to-date information in MakeTo-Stock, Repetitive, JIT or Job Shop environments.
Improve material management by responding to changes in
production.
Reduce inventory levels and obsolete parts.
Reduce manufacturing costs.

Benefits of a BOM
Minimize clerical and engineering efforts by optimizing
the tasks of maintaining and changing multi-level bills.
What-If capabilities for estimating or quoting.
Supports variable length part numbers and unlimited
descriptive text.
Easy methods for accessing part information

BOM Example
Quantity

ID#

Description

Unit Price

Total Cost

1
4
1
5

6TU8
5DR
2PC
1

Back
Legs
Seat
Nails

$5/Unit
$5/Unit
$10/Unit
$0.50/Unit

$ 5.00
20.00
10.00
2.50

Total Project Cost

$37.50

BOM Example
161kV H-Frame Tangent
Quantity
2
1
2

Catalog No.

5860-3545

W4104-4S

12
1

W5050-3S
41058BS

41058BB

DP1-457-156-156
DP1-457-156-156W

Description
70-foot Wood Pole
Crossarm Shop Assembly
Crossarm, 3-5/8" x 9-1/2" x
32'-0", Laminated
Adjustable Spacer Filling
Assembly, 8-3/4" to 12-3/4
Bolt, Washerhead, 1/2" x 101/2", SN
Bolt, Washerhead, 5/8" x 5", SN
Bolt, Bent Double End 7/8" x
8", 2SN, 2MF
Bolt, Bent Machine 7/8" x 6", SN,
MF

BOM Example
Project Bill of Materials
Pine Lake HomeSites
Cost Item
Site Development
Clearing & Grading
Paving
Curb & Gutter
Sanitary Sewer
Storm Sewer
Water
Entrance
Power & Street Lighting
Amenity
Contingency
35,000.00

Quantity

Cost/Item

Total $

1.00 Each
1.00 Each
1.00 Each
1.00 Each
1.00 Each
1.00 Each
1.00 Each
1.00 Each
1.00 Each

59,429.00
114,549.00
64,232.00
158,810.00
61,277.00
63,602.00
36,000.00
9,300.00
270,000.00

59,429.00
114,549.00
64,232.00
158,810.00
61,277.00
63,602.00
36,000.00
9,300.00
270,000.00

1.00 Each

35,000.00
Total Site Development

$872,199.00

Screenshots of BOM Software

Screenshots of BOM Software

References

Bozarth, Cecil C. and Handfield, Robert B. Introduction to Operations and

Supply Chain Management. Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River,
New Jersey, 2006. p.461.
help.sap.com/saphelp_40b/helpdata/en/cd/daf2cd4ab011d18a0f0000e816ae6e/
content.htm
www.grms.com/BillsofMaterial.htm
www.feldmanengineering.com/BoM_Glossary.htm
www.brooksmfg.com/bom.html
www.planease.com/samples/unitsales/projectbill.htm