# Bill of materials

The bill of materials management form provides a way of defining the component items that are used when building a kit item.

Features

- Unlimited number of sub-components per kit, each with its own manufacturing information
- Kit Items can include an unlimited number of component Items of any type, and as a consequence can contain an unlimited number of levels of kits within kits
- Each item in a kit can be assigned a part label, Machine data and Assembly information
- Copy and paste including multiple items
- Multi-update capable with multi-select
- One-off item creation
- Column ordering and then Order assignment
- Drag and drop capable
- Importing of kit items (Item code, Qty, Machine data, Assembly info)

Bill of materials form

Module: Inventory

Category: Bill of materials

Activation: Main > Inventory > Inventory > (Kit information tab) > (Bill of materials management button)

Form style: Single instance, SODA

Special actions available for users with Administrator permissions:

- Edit values in the Bill of Materials (when the Inventory record is in EDIT mode)

Database rules:

- An item cannot be included in a kit if it contains the kit it is being included in, either directly or at a lower level

Field definitions
Main
Bill of materials list

Reference: List

Item code

Reference: Text(30), AutoComplete, QuickList

These are the item codes that make up the bill of materials. Each item code can be entered as many times as required, enabling you to structure the bill of materials in any logical sequence you desire.

Order

Reference: Number, Read-only

The order column determines the way in which the specified item codes appear in the bill of materials list. This field cannot be entered manually, but instead is set by clicking the Reassign order button.

Description

Reference: Text, Read-only

By default, this is the Description corresponding to the line's Item code.

This field can be modified from the Bill of materials form if the Allow item descriptions in detailed Bill of Materials to be edited system preference is ticked.

Qty Per Kit

Reference: Number

This is the quantity of the item that is required to build a single kit. If you have specified the same item multiple times in the Bill of materials, you should enter the exact quantity required for each section of the Bill of materials in which the item is included i.e. you may require a quantity of 4 in one section and a quantity of 2 in another. In this situation, the quantities should be set to 4 and 2 respectively.

Extra Fixed Qty

Reference: Number

This field allows you specify a fixed quantity of the item to be included independently of the quantity of kits being built on a work order. This fixed quantity allows you to represent quantities such as wastage as well as catering for situations where you may use a constant quantity of an item regardless of the quantity of kits being built eg: You may use (and dispose of) a single paintbrush each time you paint a batch of items, regardless of whether you are painting a quantity of 2 or 20 of the items.

Unit

Reference: Text, Read-only

The unit column displays the base unit of the item for informational purposes only.

Route

Reference: Text(10)

This is the Route code of the route during which the item is used. Any route codes that you specify must exist in the Routes List for the kit.

Last edit: 10/02/2026

User field

Reference: Text(50)

The titles of User fields 1 to 6 can be defined in the System preferences and each represents free text that you wish to enter about this item. Common uses for these fields include placement details and mounting instructions.

Tot Cost

Reference: Currency

If the Bill of materials field setup contains a Field name called Cost price, and the corresponding User field is not empty, the Tot cost will be calculated as the value in the Cost price user field multiplied by the Qty Per Kit.

Otherwise, the cost will be the Item's Universal cost multiplied by the Qty Per Kit.

Tot Sell

Reference: Currency

The total sell column displays the sell price for the total quantity of the item represented on the line. The Total sell is calculated by adding together the Qty per kit and the Extra fixed quantity and then multiplying by the list price for the item.

Insert Line

Reference: Button

This button adds a new blank line to the Bill of materials list, above the currently selected line. Please note that after you have inserted a line, the position of the line can be modified by clicking on the fixed column on the left of the list and dragging to the required position. This same action can be completed for any line in the list.

Remove Line

Reference: Button

This button removes the current selected lines from the list. If you have more than one line selected when you click the Remove line button, each of the selected lines will be removed.

Add Items

Reference: Button, QuickList

This button launches the item QuickList, allowing you to select one or more items that you want added to the Bill of materials. When using the Add items button, the selected items will be inserted into the Bill of materials list above the currently selected item.

Create One-off item

Reference: Button

This button launches the Item one-off entry form ready for you to create a new one-off item. When you have finished creating the one-off item, it will be automatically added to the Bill of materials list above the currently selected item.

Reassign Order

Reference: Button

This button reassigns the order of the Bill of materials list by filling the Order column in the list from top to bottom with a numerical sequence starting at 1. Each time you open the Bill of materials for a kit, the order of displayed items is based on the numerical sequence shown in the Order column.

Special menu
Import Kit Items

Reference: Menu

The import kit items menu displays a file selection box that allows you to select a .CSV file containing a Bill of materials list in a pre-defined format. When you select a Bill of materials to import, the contents of the .CSV file will be imported into the Bill of materials above the currently selected item. This menu item is only available in idle mode.

Export Kit Items

Reference: Menu

The Export kit items menu displays a file save box that allows you to save the current Bill of materials list to a .CSV file. This menu item is only available in add or edit mode.

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