What is a Bill of Materials?
A Bill of Materials (BOM) is a structured list of all components and materials required to manufacture a product.
For example, a jacket BOM might include:
Outer fabric
Lining fabric
Zipper
Buttons
Thread
Each component can include quantities and optional supplier information.
In short: A BOM defines what a product is made of and how it is assembled.
BOMs in the Retraced Product Hierarchy
In Retraced, BOMs can be created and attached at different levels of your product structure:
Style → Variant → SKU
This allows you to:
Define one shared BOM at Style level
Create different BOMs for specific colors (Variants)
Define size- or configuration-specific BOMs (SKUs)
Creating and Managing BOMs
Where to Find BOMs
Open a product (Style, Variant, or SKU) and navigate to the BOM tab.
From there, you can:
Create a new BOM
Add components
Manage multiple BOMs per product level
Set one BOM as the Main BOM
Multiple BOMs per Product Level
Each Style, Variant, or SKU can have:
Multiple BOMs
One designated as the Main BOM
The Main BOM represents the primary production configuration for that product level.
BOM Inheritance and Unlinking
BOMs follow inheritance rules across the hierarchy.
Default Behavior
A BOM created at Style level is inherited by Variants and SKUs
A BOM created at Variant level is inherited by its SKUs
Child levels reference the same BOM object by default.
Editing a BOM at a Child Level
If you modify a BOM at a lower level (Variant or SKU):
The BOM becomes unlinked from its parent
A new independent BOM is created at that level
The parent BOM remains unchanged
This allows you to share BOMs by default while still supporting variant- or SKU-specific changes.
Adding Components to a BOM
Each line in a BOM represents a Component.
Components are managed separately under My Components.
If a component does not yet exist, it must be created first before it can be added to a BOM.
Component Line Fields
Each BOM line includes:
Component (required)
Placement (e.g., “lining”, “zipper”, “body”)
Quantity and unit
Weight (optional)
Supplier(s) (optional)
Only the component reference is mandatory.
Supplier Information per Component
Each component line can include one or more suppliers.
Each supplier entry includes:
Supplier (linked to your Network)
Supplier Component Code
Main Supplier flag (only one allowed)
This supports multi-sourcing while keeping one supplier clearly identified as primary.