BOM: Bill of Materials for Driving Product Lifecycle Excellence
A detailed breakdown of components and resources for manufacturing processes.
What is a Bill of Materials?
A Bill of Materials (BOM) is a structured list of components, raw materials and sub-assemblies required to manufacture a product. It provides a detailed breakdown of the parts, quantities and relationships between components. A BOM is crucial to ensure consistency, reduce errors and optimize production efficiency across industries.
Key Benefits of Bill of Materials
Enhanced Product Lifecycle Management
A Bill of Materials ensures traceability and version control throughout a product’s lifecycle as it helps teams manage changes in the product structure efficiently, reducing costly reworks and improving collaboration.
Streamlined Manufacturing Processes
Bill of Materials enables engineers to calculate the quantity of components needed for manufacturing, sourcing etc., which optimizes resource allocation and minimizes material waste. This improves efficiency and cost savings during the sourcing and production planning process.
Improved Supply Chain Management
CAD tools support real-time collaboration through cloud-based platforms, enabling seamless sharing and reducing miscommunication among team members and stakeholders.
Improved Quality Control
A Bill of Materials ensures consistent product quality by providing detailed specifications and component requirements. This standardization helps reduce manufacturing defects and supports effective quality assurance processes throughout production.
Accelerated Decision Making
Thanks to accurate Bill of Materials data, teams can quickly make informed decisions about product changes, cost optimizations and material substitutions. This agility helps businesses respond effectively to market demands and supply chain issues.
Regulatory Compliance Management
A well-maintained level Bill of Materials helps ensure compliance with industry regulations by providing a complete record of materials and components. This transparency helps organizations meet certification requirements and simplify their audit processes.
Sustainability and Bill of Materials
A Bill of Materials plays a critical role in supporting sustainability by encouraging efficient material usage and waste reduction. By tracking component lifecycles, businesses can design eco-friendly products, optimize recycling processes and comply with environmental regulations. Digital BOMs reduce paperwork and streamline sustainable manufacturing practices.
Bill of Materials Management across Industries
Various industries can benefit from the BOM management, to optimize production efficiency and ensure product quality. Here are examples of how various industries can benefit from the BOM management:
Aerospace & Defense
Aerospace companies use Bill of Materials to manage complex assemblies, ensuring precision, compliance and traceability in highly regulated environments. It allows manufacturers to maintain strict safety standards, reduce production delays and improve supply chain visibility.
Transportation & Mobility
A Bill of Materials helps manage intricate supply chains and supports just-in-time manufacturing, reducing production delays and improving cost control. It supports regulatory compliance and facilitates the development of advanced vehicle tech such as electric and auto-pilot systems.
Industrial Equipment
Manufacturers use Bill of Materials to standardize components across product lines for efficient production and a reduction in lead times. It helps manage complex machinery, optimizes spare parts inventory and ensures continuous production.
Consumer Packaged Goods - Retail
A Bill of Materials management helps streamline the product design process, production and packaging materials in the fast-moving consumer goods sector. It ensures consistent product quality, improves global supply chain management and provides customization geared to diverse markets.
Life Sciences & Healthcare
A Bill of Materials plays a critical role in ensuring regulatory compliance and quality control, so organizations can maintain detailed documentation relating to components and materials while supporting stringent manufacturing standards that are essential for patient safety and product efficacy.
Driving Innovation with Dassault Systèmes’ BOM Solutions
Leverage the power of Dassault Systèmes’ advanced Bill of Materials' solutions to boost efficiency and improve collaboration.
ENOVIA for BOM Management
Centralize and manage Bill of Materials data efficiently to ensure collaboration and compliance across global teams. ENOVIA provides a single source of truth for BOM management, improving cross-functional perspective coordination and accelerating product development cycles.
DELMIAWorks Bill of Materials Software
Streamline manufacturing processes with an integrated BOM solution that improves material management such as tracking, cost control and efficiency. It helps businesses automate BOM updates, reduce errors and integrate real-time data for improved decision-making.
DELMIAWorks Quality Management
Ensure BOM accuracy and compliance with automated quality control measures to reduce errors and optimize product consistency. It integrates quality checks within the manufacturing process, ensuring defect-free production and regulatory compliance.
Experience the Real-World Value of BOM Management
Discover how global companies are using BOM solutions to achieve operational excellence.
Use Cases: Key Business Functions of a Bill of Materials Software
Learn how a Bill of Materials optimizes key business operations, from product design to production efficiency.
EBOM for Product Development
An Engineering BOM (EBOM) plays a vital role in the early stages of the product lifecycle by capturing the design intent and technical specifications of a product. It serves as the foundation for engineering teams to define component relationships, manage design iterations and validate configurations before manufacturing begins.
MBOM for Production Execution
An Manufacturing BOM (MBOM) translates the engineering vision into actionable manufacturing steps. It includes not only the parts and materials required but also the tools, assemblies and instructions needed on the shop floor. MBOMs are essential for production planners and operations managers to coordinate manufacturing activities and minimize resource waste.
Cost Control and Budgeting
An accurate BOM helps businesses estimate material costs, track expenses and prevent budget overruns by optimizing resource planning. It ensures real-time visibility into costs for better financial forecasting and profitability analysis.
Supplier Coordination
A structured BOM provides suppliers with clear specifications, reducing lead times and improving procurement efficiency. It improves material management collaboration, mitigates supply chain risks and ensures the availability of high-quality components.
Compliance and Regulatory Assurance
A BOM ensures manufacturers adhere to industry-specific regulations by maintaining accurate records of materials and components. It improves traceability, reporting and maintains records required for audits and certifications.
Enhancing a Bill of Materials with Virtual Twins
Virtual twins take Bill of Materials (BOM) management to the next level by synchronizing design, manufacturing and service data in a unified digital model. They ensure the full traceability of components, validate configurations and facilitate real-time updates across teams. By integrating virtual twins with a BOM, companies will improve collaboration, reduce errors and speed up time-to-market while ensuring seamless version control.
Dassault Systèmes Bill of Materials Key Values
Innovation
Driving next-gen solutions for continuous improvement.
Compliance
Streamlining workflows for enhanced productivity.
Efficiency
Delivering tailored solutions for real-world manufacturing challenges.
Customer-centric Approach
Supporting eco-friendly, resource-efficient production processes.
Sutainability
Supporting eco-friendly, resource-efficient production processes.
Digital Transformation
Leveraging technology to optimize product lifecycle management.
Get in Touch with Our Experts
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FAQ about BOM Software
A Bill of Materials (BOM) is a structured list of all the components, raw materials, subassemblies and parts required to manufacture a product. It includes details such as part names, descriptions, quantities and hierarchical relationships between components. A well-structured BOM ensures accurate production, reduces errors and streamlines procurement and assembly processes.
In manufacturing, a BOM serves as the foundation for product assembly, detailing the exact materials, components and processes required at each stage of production. It helps ensure consistency, quality control and efficient supply chain management. Manufacturers rely on BOMs to coordinate production workflows, manage inventories and maintain regulatory compliance by tracking changes and approvals throughout the product lifecycle.
| Aspect | Manufacturing Bill of Materials (BOM) | Engineering Bill of Materials (EBOM) | Service Bill of Materials (SBOM) |
| Definition | A production-focused list of materials and components required for manufacturing a product. | A detailed list of components, assemblies and raw materials needed to design and engineer a finished product, as defined by engineering. | A service-oriented list of parts and materials needed for product maintenance/repair. |
| Purpose | To guide the manufacturing process and ensure production efficiency. | To define the product's design and structure. | To support maintenance, repairs and servicing of the product post-sale. |
| Scope | Covers all materials, tools, and processes needed for production. | Covers engineering and design phase, focusing on technical specifications and design intent. Excludes manufacturing processes and logistics details. | Includes parts and tools required for servicing and maintaining the product. |
| Components Listed | Parts, raw materials, packaging, and assembly instructions. | Includes part numbers, component descriptions, specifications and quantities, hierarchical relationships between assemblies, subassemblies and components, plus reference designators for intermediate assemblies. | Includes software libraries, open-source modules, versions and licensing details. |
| Primary Users | Manufacturing teams, production planners and supply chain managers. | Design and product engineers, R&D teams, product development teams, engineering managers and CAD/CAE specialists. | Software developers, cybersecurity teams, IT administrators and regulatory bodies. |
| Regulatory Focus | Adherence to manufacturing standards and production regulations. | Focused on engineering standards, design guidelines and technical requirements. It may also align with industry-specific regulatory standards relevant during the product development stage. | Compliance with service and warranty requirements. |
| Use Cases | Used for production planning, assembly and quality control. | Used during product design, prototyping, and development phases. | Used for post-sale support, repairs, and maintenance operations. |
Here are the key differences between Engineering BOM (EBOM), Manufacturing BOM (MBOM) and Procurement BOM (PBOM):
| Aspect | Engineering BOM (EBOM) | Manufacturing BOM (MBOM) | Procurement BOM (PBOM) |
| Purpose | Defines product structure as designed by engineering | Defines how the product will be manufactured | Defines components to be sourced or purchased |
| Focus | Functional and design intent | Assembly and production intent | Supplier and purchasing specifications |
| Owner | Engineering or R&D team | Manufacturing or production team | Procurement or supply chain team |
| Includes | All components and subassemblies defined in CAD or design tools | Tools, fixtures, packaging, process-specific parts | Market-available components, part numbers, vendor info |
| Structure | Follows logical or functional hierarchy | Organized by manufacturing steps or operations | Grouped by supplier, lead time, purchase lot |
| Used for | Design validation, simulation, prototyping | Work orders, assembly instructions, production planning | Supplier communication, sourcing strategy, inventory control |
| Level of detail | High design granularity | Detailed for production needs | Focused on purchase-ready items |
| Update frequency | Changes with design revisions | Updated with production process changes | Varies with supply conditions and sourcing changes |
A common example of a BOM is in the automotive industry, where a manufacturer creates a detailed list of all parts required to build a vehicle. This includes major components such as the engine, transmission and electrical systems, down to smaller parts like screws, wiring and fasteners. The BOM is structured in a hierarchical format, starting from raw materials and subassemblies up to the finished product, ensuring every component is accounted for during production.
To implement an effective BOM strategy, organizations should standardize BOM structures, ensure version control and integrate BOM management with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Centralizing BOM data improves collaboration between engineering, manufacturing and procurement teams, ensuring seamless updates and reducing production errors. Leveraging the power of Dassault Systèmes’ solutions like ENOVIA and DELMIAWorks allows companies to digitally manage BOMs, improving traceability, workflow automation and compliance across the entire product lifecycle.
Dassault Systèmes’ BOM solutions stand out due to their seamless integration with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, offering real-time collaboration, advanced traceability and synchronization between design, engineering, manufacturing and supply chain operations. These solutions improve efficiency by eliminating data silos, reducing errors and ensuring full product traceability from conception to production. Dassault Systèmes provides industry-specific BOM management capabilities, ensuring compliance, improving production agility and optimizing costs across automotive, aerospace, industrial equipment and high-tech industries.