BOM vs WO Process
Two things in Bizconnekt describe a product you build, and it's worth being clear on the difference — because they answer two different questions.
- A Bill of Materials (BOM) answers "what is this made of?" — the list of parts.
- A Work Order Process (WO Process) answers "how is it made?" — the steps, in order.
Get this right and everything downstream — kitting, production, costing — behaves the way you expect.
The one-line difference
| Bill of Materials (BOM) | Work Order Process (route) | |
|---|---|---|
| Answers | What it's made of | How it's made |
| Contains | A parts list — components and quantities | Steps (stages) in order, each with its own inputs |
| Think of it as | A recipe's ingredient list | The recipe's method |
| Used for | Kits, assemblies, and dropping component lines onto a document | Running a production job on the shop floor |
| Required? | Optional | Needed to run a routed production job |
The Bill of Materials — the parts list
A BOM simply lists what goes into a product and how much of each. A table lamp's BOM might be: 1 base, 1 stem, 1 shade, 1 bulb holder, 1 cord.
You use a BOM in two everyday ways:
- Build a kit or assembly. When you assemble the parts into the finished item and want stock to reflect it — consume the components, create the finished product — you use a Stock Conversion, which reads the BOM.
- Drop the parts onto a document. On a quotation, sales order, invoice, purchase order and more, picking a BOM item can expand it into its component lines in one click — handy when you sell or buy something as its parts.
A BOM is optional. Plenty of items never need one. And importantly, a BOM does not describe how something is manufactured — that's the WO Process's job.
The Work Order Process — the production route
A WO Process (also called a route or template) lays out the stages a product goes through to be made — for example: Cutting → Welding → Painting → Packing. Each stage names the materials it consumes, any expected wastage, and the resources (machine, labour) it needs.
When you run a production Work Order, it follows the WO Process stage by stage, and the cost of the finished goods is built up from those stages. This is what your shop floor actually executes.
Production follows the WO Process, not the BOM. Two products with the very same parts list could be made by completely different routes — and it's the route that decides how the job runs and what it costs.
Choosing a route when you produce
- If a product has one WO Process, Bizconnekt uses it automatically — you're not asked.
- If it has several, you pick which one to use when you raise the work order.
Which do I use?
Use a BOM to define a product's parts — and to build kits or sell/buy something as its components.
Use a WO Process to define your production steps — and to run work orders on the shop floor.
Many made-to-order businesses use both: a BOM to say what the product contains, and a WO Process to say how it's built.
Related guides
- Bill of Materials — create and manage BOMs
- Stock Conversion — build a kit from a BOM
- Items — the products a BOM and a route are built from
Need help? Contact support at support@bizconnekt.com