Bill of Materials (BOM) Definition
A bill of materials is a comprehensive list of parts, items, assemblies, sub-assemblies, intermediate assemblies and other materials required to create a product, as well as instructions required for gathering and using the required materials. A bill of materials can be thought of as the recipe and shopping list for the creation of a product, presented in a hierarchical format. The bill of materials explains what, how, and where to buy required materials, and includes instructions for how to assemble the product from the various parts ordered.