What is the Engineering BOM (eBOM)?

Ensure the seamless flow of information between engineering, manufacturing, and service

What is an engineering bill of materials (eBOM)? Why is it important?


The engineering bill of materials (eBOM) is created by engineers at the very beginning of product design and is updated continuously to reflect changes to the design over the course of product development and even production. It is a hierarchical representation of the assemblies, subassemblies, and components that describe the finished product to inform engineering activities, sourcing activities, manufacturing, quality, regulatory, service, even end-of-life activities like recycling or reuse. The eBOM is a crucial resource in the product lifecycle because it ensures all functions that make decisions about the product are aligned to a comprehensive, up-to-date product description.

How does an engineering BOM (eBOM) help?

Engineering bills of material (eBOMs) are necessary to establish digitized downstream activities—such as manufacturing process management—that work in tandem with product design. For example, the detailed and precise list of materials can (and should) be used as the reference for both the manufacturing BOM (mBOM) and service BOM (sBOM). Creating these derivative BOMs with a PLM tool that maintains associativity ensures a smooth transition between the design and production phases.

Best-practice eBOM management also reduces errors and accelerates change management and aids in cost estimation and control.

Three reasons to complete an accurate eBOM

Prevents errors and extra revision cycles

An accurate eBOM ensures that all components and assemblies are correctly listed, reducing the risk of manufacturing errors and rework. With the right level of detail in the eBOM, extra and unnecessary changes in the manufacturing process can be avoided.

Facilitates smooth transition

Engineering BOMs provide a reliable foundation for creating the manufacturing BOM (mBOM) and service BOM (sBOM), ensuring a seamless handoff from design to production. With a comprehensive BOM, manufacturing will have adequate information to design tools for new parts and time to test processes before production fully ramps.

Improves cost management

Accurate eBOMs help in precise cost estimation and budget control by clearly defining all materials and components needed, aiding in effective financial planning. Companies can negotiate with multiple vendors to obtain the most competitive pricing. Providing the eBOM to procurement early in product development or following an engineering change also ensures that part orders are accurate and delivered on time, without need to expedite.

Benefits of an engineering BOM

Benefits of an engineering BOM (eBOM) include ensuring precise design specifications, which reduces errors in production, and facilitates the creation of the manufacturing BOM (mBOM) and service BOM (sBOM) for consistency. It aids in accurate cost estimation and control, tracks and implements design changes efficiently, and enhances communication between engineering, manufacturing, and service teams. Additionally, it supports a fully digitized and streamlined manufacturing process, improving overall efficiency.

Benefits of an engineering BOM (eBOM) include ensuring precise design specifications, which reduces errors in production, and facilitates the creation of the manufacturing BOM (mBOM) and service BOM (sBOM) for consistency. It aids in accurate cost estimation and control, tracks and implements design changes efficiently, and enhances communication between engineering, manufacturing, and service teams. Additionally, it supports a fully digitized and streamlined manufacturing process, improving overall efficiency.

Increased accuracy

The eBOM provides a comprehensive list of all components, materials, and assemblies, ensuring that every detail is accounted for, and product development and manufacturing teams work from the same accurate and up-to-date information. By having precise design specifications, the likelihood of errors during production is significantly reduced, leading to higher product quality and fewer reworks.

The eBOM provides a comprehensive list of all components, materials, and assemblies, ensuring that every detail is accounted for, and product development and manufacturing teams work from the same accurate and up-to-date information. By having precise design specifications, the likelihood of errors during production is significantly reduced, leading to higher product quality and fewer reworks.

Better cost management

The eBOM provides detailed information on the materials and components required, allowing for precise cost calculation and budgeting, while identifying cost drivers early in the design phase. By avoiding design errors and rework, the eBOM contributes to reducing overall manufacturing costs and increasing profitability.

The eBOM provides detailed information on the materials and components required, allowing for precise cost calculation and budgeting, while identifying cost drivers early in the design phase. By avoiding design errors and rework, the eBOM contributes to reducing overall manufacturing costs and increasing profitability.

Sustainable change management

An eBOM facilitates the quick and efficient implementation of design changes across all stages of the product lifecycle, reducing downtime and disruption. Maintaining a history of the eBOM allows for easy reference and rollback if needed, ensuring that all stakeholders are informed of the latest design updates and can compare any changes against old revisions.

An eBOM facilitates the quick and efficient implementation of design changes across all stages of the product lifecycle, reducing downtime and disruption. Maintaining a history of the eBOM allows for easy reference and rollback if needed, ensuring that all stakeholders are informed of the latest design updates and can compare any changes against old revisions.

Increased collaboration

An eBOM provides a unified reference for engineering, manufacturing, and service teams, improving collaboration and coordination. It also bridges the gap between different departments, ensuring that design intent is clearly communicated and understood by all parties involved.

An eBOM provides a unified reference for engineering, manufacturing, and service teams, improving collaboration and coordination. It also bridges the gap between different departments, ensuring that design intent is clearly communicated and understood by all parties involved.

Optimized efficiency

The eBOM supports the creation of a fully digitized and synchronized manufacturing process, reducing manual interventions and errors. By providing a clear and detailed design blueprint, the eBOM reduces the time required for production planning, resource optimization, and execution.

The eBOM supports the creation of a fully digitized and synchronized manufacturing process, reducing manual interventions and errors. By providing a clear and detailed design blueprint, the eBOM reduces the time required for production planning, resource optimization, and execution.

How eBOM, mBOM, and sBOMs work together

The eBOM, mBOM, and sBOM work together to streamline the product lifecycle. The eBOM, created during design, lists all components and materials. The mBOM, derived from the eBOM, adds manufacturing details and processes. The sBOM, based on the eBOM and mBOM, includes parts and instructions for maintenance. This linkage ensures design changes are reflected in production and service, improving accuracy, collaboration, and efficiency, and aiding in cost control throughout the product lifecycle.

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Customer stories

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Vestas

Vestas, the global leader in sustainable energy solutions, is on a multiyear journey to establish a product-centric way of working.

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ZF

ZF is building the next generation of mobility by integrating its systems and platforms across the entire value chain. ZF is enabling greater collaboration while revolutionizing its business models, processes, products, and services.

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Groupe Beneteau

To offer personalization at scale, Groupe Beneteau is using PTC’s PLM solution to create and orchestrate a digital thread that enables operational efficiencies, employee retention, and a foundation for innovation

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HP

HP’s large format printing division minimizes complexity and development costs with PLM.

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Transforming the BOM one step at a time

Enable product design to associatively create the engineering BOM from up-to-date CAD and PLM data

Encourage collaboration

Share eBOMs earlier to gain feedback from others based on validating and optimizing preliminary versions of BOMs

Manage engineering change

Automate updates to the eBOM, and created associative BOMs for manufacturing, service, and others

Create a digital thread

Associate product data across the value chain, leveraging multi-system data orchestration, and release to ERP/MES

Enable scale and performance

Easily manage large data sets, configurations, and variants with our flexible PLM data model

PTCs BOM management solution

With the breakthrough PLM capabilities of PTC’s Windchill enterprise solution, you’ll be enabled to adopt a part-centric approach to managing your BOMs with access to a single source of truth for all product data. From early concept through all iterations, design cycles, and stages, experience true closed-loop lifecycle management until your product is fully realized.

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Engineering bill of materials frequently asked questions (FAQs)

What is not included in an eBOM?

An engineering bill of materials (eBOM) primarily focuses on the design and engineering aspects of a product, excluding certain elements found in other BOM types. It does not typically include:

  1. Manufacturing processes: detailed assembly or manufacturing instructions
  2. Production tools and equipment: machinery and tools needed for production
  3. Operational instructions: step-by-step guidelines for assembly line workers or machines
  4. Packaging materials: items used for packaging the final product
  5. Service and maintenance instructions: guidelines for post-manufacturing servicing and repair
  6. Logistics and supply chain information: details about shipping, handling, and storage
  7. Cost and financial data: pricing, budgeting, or detailed cost analysis
  8. Inventory levels: real-time stock levels of components or materials
  9. Supplier information: detailed procurement and lead time data
  10. Regulatory compliance information: specific compliance requirements for manufacturing and distribution

What are the setbacks of an incomplete or incorrect engineering BOM?

An incomplete or incorrect engineering BOM (eBOM) can cause several significant setbacks:

  1. Production errors: miscommunication and incorrect assembly due to missing components lead to defects and rework
  2. Increased costs: errors result in rework, scrap, and unplanned expenses for corrective actions
  3. Delays: missing or incorrect information halts production lines, delaying schedules, and consuming time for corrections
  4. Inventory management issues: causes overstocking or shortages, disrupting production flow and inefficient procurement
  5. Quality control problems: leads to product defects, impacting quality, customer satisfaction, and potential regulatory noncompliance
  6. Collaboration challenges: misalignment between teams and communication breakdowns due to inaccurate information
  7. Change management complications: difficult to track and implement design changes, causing inconsistencies and version control issues
  8. Customer dissatisfaction: delays and defects result in missed deadlines and inferior products, affecting customer satisfaction and after-sales support

Accurate and complete eBOMs are essential for efficiency, quality, and cost control throughout the product lifecycle.