Creating a BOM is tedious and very time-consuming. Nonetheless, it is essential if you want to get a quality PCB that matches your requirements.A simple way of creating a BOM is first to determine the following crucial aspects;

1.The design of your PCB

You can’t start creating a BOM without a design layout. It is the design of your product that will tell you what parts and components you’ll need for the actual PCB.In other words, you need to know what you’re building to be able to identify what you’ll need to build it.

2.Managing the BOM

Unfortunately, you are not the only person that’ll handle the Bill of Materials once it is ready. In this case, you have to decide how to manage it before creating it.Normally, the fewer people handle the list the better.This reduces the chances of iterations and ensures that the latest version of the BOM is what is used.

3.Who will need the BOM?

You need to know who might use this list before creating it.Possibly, it may have to go through procurement, design, engineering and production departments etc.Thus, you need to include all the right information for all the right departments when creating the BOM.

4.Details

While you don’t need the specifics, knowing what categories of information to include in your BOM is critical at this point.Basic information like parts name and quantity are a must know at this stage — specifics like which suppliers to buy parts from and such as things can come later.The ultimate goal is to ensure that the document is as detailed and accurate as possible by the time you’re sending it out.

5.Organization

 Decide on basic organization strategies before you begin creating your BOM.You need to know how you’ll organize the document like how many you’ll group items etc.Creating the document format ahead of time will allow you to plug in data more efficiently once you start writing the BOM.

6.Software to use

It is important to know what program you’ll use to create your file.Typically, excel is used as the list is essentially a spreadsheet. However, if you’re working on a more complex project, you may need to opt for a more advanced and BOM specific program.Once you are set with all these, you can now begin creating the list following these steps.

--Open your program whether it is excel or any BOM program

--Create a new file and name it

--Organize the document by establishing user permissions, setting up track changes and creating levels etc.

--Fill in the columns. Start by populating category names at the top, i.e. item names, quantity, part number etc.

--Fill in the rows. Again, populate the rows with information according to the column category

--Update the file as needed.

When creating a BOM file, remember to save it often and record any changes that you make.The final document should include all the essential Items for PCB assembly.These include;

--part number

--quantity

--description

--package

--SMT method

--Top/bottom

--Points/footprint

--manufacturer name

--reference designator

--BOM level

When you’ve double checked and verifying that the BOM has all the right and necessary details, you can now send it out or use it to source the components that you need.


Click here to know more:Sample Bill of Materials
Click here to know more:Assembly Bill of Materials (BOM)