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A Bill of Materials, or BOM, is the recipe Arcus uses for manufacturing. It decides which product is produced, which source item is converted or disassembled, which components are consumed, returned, scrapped, or retained, and which active recipe MRP and work orders should use.

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Start From The BOM List

Open Manufacturing, then Bills of Materials. Use the list to search recipes, filter by BOM type or status, review how many lines the BOM has, see active work order counts, set the default recipe, and open a BOM detail page.
Bills of Materials list with search, type filter, status filter, and New BOM action
Use the active work order count before archiving or revising. A BOM with open work still affects shop-floor activity, component demand, and manufacturing reporting.

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Choose The BOM Type

  • Assembly: consumes component inventory and produces a finished product.
  • Disassembly: consumes a source product and returns or scraps the recovered parts.
  • Conversion: starts from a source product, removes or retains parts, adds other parts, and creates a different output product.
Do not treat the BOM type as a label. It changes how the work order behaves at completion, including whether Arcus receives finished goods, consumes a source product, recovers components, or changes source serial status.

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Create A Draft BOM

  1. Open Manufacturing.
  2. Open Bills of Materials.
  3. Click New BOM.
  4. Choose Assembly, Disassembly, or Conversion.
  5. Enter a name and revision that operators can recognize.
  6. Select the output product.
  7. For a conversion, select the source product.
  8. Enter the output quantity per run.
  9. Create the draft BOM.
New Bill of Materials modal with BOM type, name, output product, source product, and output quantity fields
Draft status is the safe place to build and review the recipe. Active status should mean the recipe is approved for work orders and planning.

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Build The BOM Detail Page

Open the BOM to finish setup. The detail page combines the header actions, summary cards, component table, cost breakdown, tree view, and material explosion preview.
  1. Review the output product, source product, output quantity, revision, and status.
  2. Add component lines from the product catalog.
  3. Choose the correct disposition for each line.
  4. Add instructions on lines when the floor team needs repeatable build guidance.
  5. Review Total Cost / Run, Unit Cost, and Can Build Now.
  6. Switch between Flat and Tree when the recipe includes subassemblies.
  7. Use Full Material Explosion to simulate a larger build quantity and find leaf-level shortages.
  8. Activate the BOM only after the output, components, dispositions, cost, availability, and instructions are correct.

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Component Dispositions

  • Consume: removes component stock during material issue or completion backflush.
  • Add: treats the part as a new item installed during conversion.
  • Return to stock: returns a removed component to inventory during disassembly or conversion.
  • Scrap: records the removed component as scrap instead of available stock.
  • Retain: leaves the part with the source item and does not create a new stock quantity.

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Conversion Layout

Conversion BOMs split the detail page into Parts to Remove from Source and Parts to Add. Use that split as an operating checklist. Removed parts should have return, scrap, or retain dispositions. Added parts should have consume or add dispositions.
Put build instructions on the BOM, not only in team memory. Line instructions and BOM notes are visible when the work order is created from the recipe.

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Review Cost And Availability

Arcus calculates cost from the component lines, returned value, labor assumptions, overhead, output quantity, and scrap factor. Availability shows how many runs can be built from current component stock and which part limits the build.
  • Total Cost / Run: estimated cost for one BOM run.
  • Unit Cost: estimated cost per output unit after output quantity is applied.
  • Can Build Now: the maximum number of runs supported by current component availability.
  • Constrained by: the component that limits the build quantity.
  • Full Material Explosion: a simulated requirement list for the number of units you enter.
Cost rollups are planning values. Actual work order cost can change when materials are issued at FIFO cost, labor is recorded, overhead is applied, substitutions are used, or components are short.

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Manage Defaults, Revisions, Compare, And Clones

A product can have multiple BOMs. The default active BOM is the one planning tools and quick-build flows should use first.
  1. Use Set default on the approved active BOM for a product.
  2. Use Revise when an active or superseded recipe needs a new draft revision.
  3. Decide whether the old revision should become superseded when the new draft is created.
  4. Use Compare to when another revision exists and you need to review header, component, and cost differences.
  5. Use Clone when a similar product needs its own draft BOM.
  6. Use Build This only after the BOM is active and the work order should use this exact recipe.
Compare is most useful before activating a new revision. It highlights added, removed, changed, and unchanged component lines, plus header and cost differences. If the compare menu is not visible, the product does not have another BOM revision available to compare.

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Use Phantom BOMs Carefully

Turn on Phantom BOM only when the parent should not be stocked separately and planning should pass demand through to the child components. Phantom BOMs can be useful for reusable subassemblies that should not create separate stock, but they also change how MRP explodes material requirements.
Do not activate an incomplete or experimental phantom BOM. Active phantom BOMs can change MRP suggestions by planning components instead of the parent item.

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Archive Or Replace A BOM

Archive old recipes instead of deleting operating history. Arcus blocks archiving when active work orders still reference the BOM. Complete or cancel those work orders first, then archive the BOM. Archiving also clears the default flag so the product does not keep pointing at an archived recipe. Use a new revision when the same product is still being built with a changed recipe. Use a clone when a different product needs a similar starting point. Use a new BOM from scratch when the physical process is meaningfully different.

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Common Blocks

  • Product search finds nothing: confirm the product exists in the current entity and the search term has at least two characters.
  • Activate is disabled: add at least one component line before activating the draft.
  • Build This is disabled: activate the BOM before creating a work order from it.
  • Compare is missing: create or revise another BOM for the same product first.
  • Archive is blocked: complete or cancel active work orders that still reference the BOM.
  • Can Build Now is zero: review component availability, tracked inventory, and the constraining component.
  • MRP ignores the product: confirm there is an active default BOM, the product supply method allows manufacturing, and the BOM is not archived.
  • Wrong cost rollup: review component cost, returned value, labor rate, overhead rate, output quantity, and scrap factor.
  • Phantom planning looks unexpected: confirm whether the parent should be stocked separately or whether MRP should plan through to child components.

Work Orders

Create, release, start, complete, close, or cancel manufacturing work from active BOMs.

MRP Planning

Run MRP, review build and purchase suggestions, include safety stock, and create draft WOs or POs.

Product Setup

Create products and finish the tabs that drive inventory, purchasing, shipping, listings, and manufacturing.

Product Types and Costing

Understand product type conversion rules, FIFO layers, product value, and Recost repair behavior.

Kits and Assemblies

Create kits, add components, understand kit cost, and sell bundles safely.

Manufacturing Reports

Review WIP aging, cost variance, build history, and component usage from work order activity.