The bill of materials is the foundation of manufacturing. P4 Books lets you define multi-level product structures that drive work orders, cost calculations, and inventory planning.
When your product structures live in spreadsheets, you can't trust your costs, you can't automate inventory planning, and engineering changes create version control nightmares.
Every manufacturing capability - work orders, cost tracking, inventory planning, production scheduling - depends on accurate BOMs. Get the BOM wrong, and everything downstream fails.
Define, manage, and leverage product structures
Define BOMs with unlimited levels. Finished goods contain subassemblies that contain components. Full hierarchy support.
Automatic cost calculation from components to finished goods. Material costs roll up through all BOM levels.
Track BOM revisions with effective dates. Know which version was used for each production run. Full audit history.
Define alternate components when primaries are unavailable. Approved substitutes at the BOM level.
Find every product that uses a specific component. Critical for engineering changes and component shortages.
Quantities in any unit of measure. Components by piece, weight, length, volume - whatever makes sense for your process.
Your bill of materials isn't just documentation - it's the engine that powers manufacturing operations.
Create work orders from BOMs. Component requirements calculated automatically.
Know what components you need based on production demand. MRP-style explosion.
Standard costs built from BOM components. Variance analysis at item level.
Generate purchase requirements from production needs. Buy what you need when you need it.
Work order generation
Component requirements
Standard cost buildup
Demand explosion
Define BOMs that drive production, costing, and planning with accuracy.