Bills of Materials (BoM)

Head to the Main Menu > Manufacturing > Bills of Material.

Create a new BoM

Hit the New BOM button in the top right.

We’ll start by giving this BOM a name, ensuring it is checked as Active and ensure it is checked as Adjustable. You’ll also have the option to add any notes or setup/cycle durations to provide an added level of detail. Once complete, hit Save and Close.

Copy an existing BoM

You can also create a new BoM by copying an existing one – either from List View on the main screen or from a record toolbar. You can make multiple copies if you want.

Copying a BoM in list view

Copying a BoM from a saved record

Either method will prompt you to choose the number of copies you want to make of the BoM.

You can download an import template to populate with your BoM data and then import this into CRM to add BoMs in bulk.

Downloading the import template

• In Manufacturing > Bills Of Material, click on the Excel icon in the top right corner of the screen and then select Download Import Template.

• The import template file download will start immediately. If it doesn’t, your browser may be blocking the download.

Filling in the import template

You can then populate the template with details of your BoMs. There are a few things to note here:

• The part numbers you enter here must already exist in your system as Products.

• The Name of the BoM cannot be the same as the Name of an existing BoM in CRM.

• The format of the data in the template must exactly match the format that CRM requires, or the import will not be successful.

Following is an example of how to fill in the import template with your data. You can also download a copy of the example file by clicking here.

Shown in red is one complete BoM, followed by another complete BoM shown in green.

Importing your data

• When you are ready to import the data, go back into Manufacturing > Bills Of Material in CRM and click again on the Excel icon in the top right hand corner of the screen and choose Import From CSV.

• Drag and drop your CSV file or click to choose a file to upload.

• Once your file has been added, the system will map the column headings in your CSV with fields on the BoM in CRM.

• Click on Upload to start the import.

• Once the import has been completed, a confirmation message will show to indicate that your BoMs have been imported into CRM.

• You can then return to your list of BoMs and locate the ones you have imported.

From the list of BOMs, select the one you’ve just created. Firstly, you can choose to add production steps. Click the Production Steps tab in the action bar.

In the case of making brownies, production steps might include Measuring the Ingredients, Mixing the Ingredients, Baking the Brownies and Slicing the Brownies.

Hit the Add Production Step button in the top left and start by naming the steps, then providing further detail as required. For example, Measuring the Ingredients would be listed as a setup step, the duration is not per unit, it would require labour and it might take about 15 minutes.

Baking the brownies, on the other hand, is not a setup step, the duration is not per unit, it does not require labour, but it would require Ovens as a Resource, and it might take about 45 minutes.

Once you’ve set up your production steps you can head to the Input Products tab. This is where you’ll define the recipe ingredients.

Click the Add Input Product button and select the ingredients required to make brownies.

For this example, I’ve chosen butter, sugar, eggs, flour and cocoa powder. It’s important to note that product inputs and outputs are calculated by quantity of the inventory item, rather than measurements – i.e. instead of simply using 700g of flour we would use 1 x 700g bag of flour OR 0.7 x 1kg bags of flour.

Note: when you generate a Work Order using your BOM and will be working with Input Products that have batch tracking enabled, you’ll be able to specify which batches to use for your Work Order.

Once you’ve set all your input products you can head to the Output Products tab. Here you’ll be able to define the final product/recipe output.

Just hit the Add Output Product button, select your Product and select the quantity.

Note: you’ll only be able to select from the collection of products you’ve created and checked as ‘I Make This Product’.

In a similar manner to the input products, the quantity of your output product will depend on how you sell it. For example, if you sell the brownie in bulk (i.e. sell the entire 2kg brownie as a singular product) you would set the output product as Brownie (2kg) at a quantity of 1. However, if you sell the brownies individually in 100g bites you might set the output product as Brownie (100g) and a quantity of 20.

You can specify whether or not your BOM can be adjusted when it is used in a work order e.g. in the event that you ran out of an ingredient contained in your BOM when you are generating a Work Order, you can substitute items or adjust quantities before you start production.

If you have not selected Adjustable on your BOM, you will not be able to modify your input or output products, production steps or resources in a Work Order.

Adjustable field on a BOM

CRM will calculate the total cost of creating an Output Product by multiplying the Quantity and Cost Price for each Input Product and totalling this to display the Total Cost.

You can push the Total Cost figure to update the Product record for your Output Product by clicking on the Update Product Cost Price button – the system will then update the Cost Price field for the Product by dividing the Total Cost figure by the Quantity of Output Items the BoM will create.

In the example below, I have a BoM that will create 20 Bakehouse Fudge Brownies at a Total Cost of $5.50. When I press the Update Product Cost Price button, the Cost Price field in the Product for Bakehouse Fudge Brownies is updated to $0.275 i.e. $5.50/20 = $0.275.

Now you’ve successfully set up your BOM, to turn your raw materials into finished product you’ll need to run a Work Order – click to continue.