Bill of Materials

A Bill of Materials (BOM) is a list of the components that are to be used with the printed circuit board. The BOM is used to select and purchase the correct components as well as to specify where each component should be placed on the printed circuit board.

Frequently, a BOM generated by a CAD system or inventory system may not contain enough information for an Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider to accurately select the correct components. This can lead to delays, as additional communication between the EMS provider and their client becomes necessary to clear up any questions that may arise.

The BOM Manager may be used to check a BOM against a database of known components. Where single matches are found, there should be no doubt as to which component to select. Where multiple matches are found, the user is encouraged to choose a suitable component from among those components which match the given specifications.