Product structure (BOM): components, cost and automatic stock deduction

Tell the CRM what each assembled product is made of (its bill of materials, or BOM) and it works out how much it costs to build, how many units you can build with current stock, and where each input is used. When you sell or build, the components deduct from stock on their own, across any number of levels.

The product structure (BOM, for Bill of Materials) describes the components that make up an assembled product: a kit, a bundle or a manufactured item. Each component is another product in your catalog, with a quantity and, if you want, a scrap percentage. Because a component can itself have a structure, the tree is multi-level: a bicycle is made of one frame and two wheels, and each wheel is made of one rim and thirty spokes.

Build the structure

1. Open the assembled product and go to its structure (BOM).
2. Add each component by picking the product and the quantity per unit of the assembled item.
3. If the process has waste, enter the scrap percentage: the real consumption is already adjusted for it.
4. Adding the same component again just updates the quantity, it never duplicates the line.

What the CRM computes

• Explosion: how much of each raw material goes in to produce the quantity you ask for, summed across every level.
• Production cost: the sum of the input costs. If any input has no cost on file, the CRM tells you which ones instead of inventing a number.
• How many you can build: how many units you can produce with current stock, and which input limits production the most.
• Where used: for a given input, every assembled product that depends on it. Handy to see the impact if an item runs out.

Automatic stock deduction

When you sell or consume an assembled product, use automatic deduction (backflush): the CRM explodes the structure down to raw materials and records the outbound movement of each input in one go. That way selling a kit reduces the components' stock with no manual entry. Before deducting, the CRM checks there is enough of every input.

Build order

1. Use build to produce an item from its components: the CRM books the assembled product in and books the components out.
2. Choose to consume the direct components (when you stock sub-assemblies) or the raw materials (when you do not).

Advanced panel: Product Configuration & BOM

For operations that need more control, the Products menu includes the Product Configuration & BOM panel. It is optional and off by default: an administrator turns it on in one click, and while it is off nothing in the system changes. Once on, it adds two capabilities without replacing the simple product structure.

• Revision-based structure: every version of the bill of materials is recorded and, once released, is frozen (it no longer changes). Explosion and cost honor the version in effect on a given date, so you can reconstruct exactly what was produced in the past.
• Guided configurator: for products with variants (size, color, voltage), describe the characteristics and their values; as you build a configuration the CRM validates the combinations and rules in real time and derives the resulting code (SKU).
• Price and exceptions: define pricing rules (parent price, sum of components, by attribute) and compute the price with margin; when a discount or an exception falls outside policy, it goes to approval and is recorded.
• Variant matrix and comparison: pin a code (SKU) to each combination of characteristics, and compare two revisions of the structure to see what was added, removed or had its quantity changed.
• Configurator rules: create simple no-code rules (one option requires another, options that cannot be combined, prerequisite, minimum/maximum choices, single choice), each with its own message and a blocking or warning severity.

Guided configuration (by need, segment or use)

The Guided tab turns the configurator into a script of questions. Instead of the rep picking each characteristic by hand, they answer simple questions (what the customer needs, the segment, the use, a technical or commercial criterion) and the CRM assembles the configuration on its own and even recommends the right product.

1. Create a mode: choose the type (by need, segment, use, technical or commercial) and give it a name (e.g., "Help me choose").
2. Add questions; on each answer option, state which characteristic=value it selects and, optionally, which product to recommend.
3. Click Try it to answer the questions and see the suggested configuration, the recommended product, and the validation (valid combination and SKU) in real time.

Import the structure from a spreadsheet (CSV)

In the advanced panel, the Import (CSV) tab builds a product structure from a spreadsheet instead of typing component by component. Paste the lines or choose a file: each line carries the component code (SKU), the quantity and, if you want, the scrap percentage. The CRM reads the lines, checks each one (resolves the SKU to a product in your catalog and rejects loops) and shows what is ready and what has errors.

1. On the Import (CSV) tab, paste the CSV or choose a file and click Read lines.
2. Click Send for validation, then Validate: the CRM marks each line as ready or with an error.
3. With no errors, enter the revision code and click Apply to new revision: a draft revision is created for you to review before releasing.

Link the product to your ERP

The ERP tab links each product to the matching item in your ERP (SAP, NetSuite, Bling, Dynamics, Odoo, QuickBooks, Xero or a generic ERP). Enter the ERP and the item identifier there, and the CRM keeps that link and the read history. Reading is pull only: the CRM records stock and lead time coming from the ERP and never writes back to it.

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