A bill of materials (BoM) is a list of the parts or components that are required to build a

product. The BoM provides the manufacturer's part number (MPN) and the quantity needed
for each component.

At its most complex, a BoM is a multi-level document that provides build data for multiple
sub-assemblies (products within products) and includes for each item: part number, approved
manufacturers list (AML), mechanical characteristics and a whole range of component
descriptors. It may also include attached reference files, such as part specifications, CAD
files and schematics.

Originally used internally within a company, the BoM served as a way to track product
changes and maintain an accurate list of required components. As manufacturing has become
increasingly distributed, however, the BoM has taken on even greater importance. It serves as
the primary reference file for product data when transferring product information from the
original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to the electronic manufacturing services

(EMS) provider and from the EMS to its vendors and suppliers.

As outsourcing expands the number of companies involved in the manufacturing process for
a particular product, the need for accuracy in the BoM is critical. According to the
International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative, BoM errors typically fall within three
categories: completeness, consistency and correctness.

• Completeness - Incomplete data is the most common BoM defect. Critical pieces of
information that are often omitted include quantity, part description, reference
designation and approved manufacturers list (AML). Missing AMLs reportedly cause
the majority of problems.

• Consistency - Information in the BoM sometimes conflicts with information provided

in engineering drawings and design files. For example, quantities may not match --
there may be 10 locations for a particular component indicated on a board, but the
BoM only specifies nine. Another consistency problem is format. The format of the
BoM, even though it is from the same customer, can change from one transmission to
the next, making it difficult to match and confirm data. Language is another
stumbling block because it, too, can vary from BoM to BoM.

• Correctness - Incorrect data is a serious problem. Common errors include invalid

manufacturer or supplier information, obsolete data and incorrect part numbers (i.e.,
the manufacturer's parts number (MPN) given does not match the description of the
part, or the MPN is not recognized by the manufacturer/supplier). Again, approved
manufacturer's lists (AML) seem to be the predominant problem. Additional errors
 can result from receipt of information in hard copy format, which requires manual re-
entry of data, an error-prone and time-consuming task

A bill of materials (sometimes bill of material or BOM) is a list of the raw materials, sub-
assemblies, intermediate assemblies, sub-components, components, parts and the quantities
of each needed to manufacture an end product. No physical dimension is described in BOM[1]
[2]

It may be used for communication between manufacturing partners,[3] or confined to a single

manufacturing plant.

A BOM can define products as they are designed (engineering bill of materials), as they are
ordered (sales bill of materials), as they are built (manufacturing bill of materials), or as they
are maintained (service bill of materials). The different types of BOMs depend on the
business need and use for which they are intended. In process industries, the BOM is also
known as the formula, recipe, or ingredients list. In electronics, the BOM represents the list
of components used on the printed wiring board or printed circuit board. Once the design of
the circuit is completed, the BOM list is passed on to the PCB layout engineer as well as
component engineer who will procure the components required for the design.

BOMs are hierarchical in nature with the top level representing the finished product which
may be a sub-assembly or a completed item. BOMs that describe the sub-assemblies are
referred to as modular BOMs. An example of this is the NAAMS BOM that is used in the
automotive industry to list all the components in an assembly line. The structure of the
NAAMS BOM is System, Line, Tool, Unit and Detail.

The first hierarchical databases were developed for automating bills of materials for
manufacturing organizations in the early 1960s. At present this BOM is used as a data base to
identify the many parts and their codes in automobile manufacturing companies.[4]

A bill of materials "implosion" links component pieces to a major assembly, while a bill of
materials "explosion" breaks apart each assembly or sub-assembly into its component parts.

A BOM can be displayed in the following formats:

• A single-level BOM that displays the assembly or sub-assembly with only one level
of children. Thus it displays the components directly needed to make the assembly or
sub-assembly.[5]
• An indented BOM that displays the highest-level item closest to the left margin and
the components used in that item indented more to the right.[1]
• Modular (planning) BOM

A BOM can also be visually represented by a product structure tree, although they are rarely
used in the workplace.
n my job, I do a lot of UC pilots. Before heading to a potential customer, I usually write a
small technical document with the hardware and software requirements.

Over time, I noticed that these pilots are very similar, that's why I decided to write this post.
My objective is to list a small Bill of Materials for a UC pilot capable of delivering the
following features:

• Enhanced Presence
• Instant Messaging (IM)
• Audio and Video
• Enterprise Voice
• Web Conferencing
• Federation and external access

The image below depicts the reference architecture for a pilot like this:

Finally, here's a table with the recommended Bill of Materials:

The architecture figure shows a single Edge server, because, for simplicity, we use the
consolidated edge topology: the Access Edge Server, Web Conferencing Edge Server, and
A/V Edge Server are collocated on a single computer.

Since the Edge server is placed on a perimeter network (or DMZ), the firewalls must be
configured in order to allow the OCS network traffic. All the required ports are depicted on
the next picture (the different Edge roles are shown as separate machines for better
understanding, but only one server will be used).
Although Exchange Server 2007 is part of the Microsoft Unified Communications portfolio,
it isn't listed here. I intentionally left it out, because usually the Exchange infrastructure is
already in place. And after all don't forget, this is just for reference, there isn't such a thing as
2 equal customers with equal business needs.

What are the next steps? The immediate one is to gather the necessary technical information.
I strongly recommend the following documents:
Source: respective websites