What is "bill of materials"

alt. 1 (context manufacturing design engineering English) A list of materials and components used in a manufactured item, sometimes appended to an engineering diagram of the item. 2 (context manufacturing computing English) A computerized list of materials and components, structured in a manner to support computer-based materials procurement and production scheduling. n. 1 (context manufacturing design engineering English) A list of materials and components used in a manufactured item, sometimes appended to an engineering diagram of the item. 2 (context manufacturing computing English) A computerized list of materials and components, structured in a manner to support computer-based materials procurement and production scheduling.

A bill of materials or product structure (sometimes bill of material, BOM or associated list) is a list of the raw materials, sub-assemblies, intermediate assemblies, sub-components, parts and the quantities of each needed to manufacture an end product. A BOM may be used for communication between manufacturing partners, or confined to a single manufacturing plant. A bill of materials is often tied to a production order whose issuance may generate reservations for components in the bill of materials that are in stock and requisitions for components that are not in stock.

A BOM can define products as they are designed ( engineering bill of materials), as they are ordered (sales bill of materials), as they are built ( manufacturing bill of materials), or as they are maintained (service bill of materials or pseudo bill of material). The different types of BOMs depend on the business need and use for which they are intended. In process industries, the BOM is also known as the formula, recipe, or ingredients list. The phrase "bill of material" (or BOM) is frequently used by engineers as an adjective to refer not to the literal bill, but to the current production configuration of a product, to distinguish it from modified or improved versions under study or in test.

In electronics, the BOM represents the list of components used on the printed wiring board or printed circuit board. Once the design of the circuit is completed, the BOM list is passed on to the PCB layout engineer as well as component engineer who will procure the components required for the design.