Understanding the Basics of Bill of Materials and Bill of Process

A direct result of technological advancements came in the form of sustainable global supply chains. As more and more businesses opt for overseas procurement, the number of companies involved in manufacturing has also gone up.

When you take a closer look, even the simplest products may have multiple components working in tandem to keep them running. Therefore, maintaining a proper list of materials and components used to manufacture these products becomes essential. After all, without a documented list of components and processes, the engineers won’t be able to design the product properly, leading to unnecessary reworks and delays.

Manufacturers maintain a meticulously drawn Bill of Materials (BOM) and Bill of Process (BOP) to keep things organised. This list informs the manufacturers regarding the steps to produce and assemble your products and improves efficiency in the wake of increased production. Moreover, carefully documenting everything also allows organisations to explore BOM cost reduction opportunities.

What is a Bill of Materials?

As stated earlier, the Bill of Materials is a hierarchical list of raw materials, components, and instructions required to manufacture or repair a product. Usually, this list is presented with the finished product at the top of the chain with individual components listed underneath. In addition, a complete BOM includes the part name and number, quantity, measurement unit, methods for construction, and other additional notes if required.

The engineering BOM is organised in a CAD drawing, and there can be multiple BOMs for a finished product out for delivery.

The primary function of a BOM is to function as a centralised source of information. It allows engineers to design a product based on the listed components and raw materials according to the instructions listed on it.

An accurate BOM is crucial to avoid service delays.

For instance, it helps inventory management by ensuring that the parts required to manufacture or repair a product or service are available before the production starts for the day. BOM cost reduction depends on improving the efficiency of the process by eliminating the need to locate missing parts and information, which otherwise would’ve increased the operating costs.

Types of BOM

BOMs are most commonly used in engineering designs and operations, manufacturing, etc. So, the types of BOM utilised depends on the type of projects and the business model adopted by the company. The most important types of BOMs are:

• Concept BOM
• Design BOM
• Manufacturing BOM
• Service BOM
• Plant structure BOM

What is a Bill of Process?

A product idea is visualised in a CAD drawing followed by creating a BOM, which describes “what to make”, while BOP handles the “how to make” part.

Essentially, the Bill of Process (BOP) consists of detailed plans explaining the sequential steps required to manufacture a product. In addition, these plans comprise in-depth information about the equipment involved in manufacturing and the instructions to handle the tools and machinery.

Process planning is usually documented on a routing sheet that helps organise the steps in production and assembly, including the methods, tools, equipment, and processing times.

The evolution of BOP

In global complex supply chains, traditional BOPs with limited collaborative capabilities can lead to bottlenecks.

Typically, companies with multiple manufacturing facilities will create informal BOPs for each unit. When updates to the BOP need to be communicated to the rest of the team, manually updating the process will take a stupendous amount of time, leading to delays in production and assembly.

Therefore, manufacturing companies are increasingly looking forward to incorporating IT capabilities into the BOP, allowing a collaborative environment on a global scale. Any authorised personnel can intervene upon detecting a failure model and convey the repairs to every other plant using the same model in real-time and prevent further issues.

BOM and BOP as parts of a whole

One of the best benefits of maintaining BOMs and BOPs is their flexibility, as they essentially are dynamic living documents. When scaling the business up or down, you will come across the need to update the order and make necessary adjustments for increased efficiency and reduced cost.

For instance, BOM cost reduction can come in the form of upgrading the materials used in production, which will increase the per-piece price of the product and, therefore, the overall profit.

As part of any business, you cannot afford to lose track of the components and processes involved in manufacturing a product. Design your BOMs and BOPs from concepts or create them from scratch to improve the organisational capabilities of your firm and stay on top of production and assembly.

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