What this page is for
Raw materials and components are not planned against sales — they are planned against the production that will consume them. Spherecast does this by BOM explosion from your finished goods. A BOM (Bill of Materials) is the recipe of components that make a finished good. If you build 100 finished units and each needs 2 of a component, you need 200 of that component. This page shows how the supply grid works that math for you.What you see
A finished-good row that has a BOM shows a chevron on the left. Expand it and a Components sub-section appears beneath the parent. Each component becomes its own supply-plan row, with the full set of metrics — DOS, Available, Demand, Supply, Shortage — just like a finished good.Key terms
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| BOM | Bill of Materials — the recipe of components in a finished good. |
| Component | A raw material or part consumed to build a finished good. |
| Production demand | Component demand driven by the parent’s production plan, not by sales. |
| BOM explosion | Turning finished-good production into component-level demand. |
How it works
A component’s Demand row is its Production demand — the quantity pulled by the parent finished good’s production plan. When the parent’s production goes up, the component’s demand goes up with it. That is why you plan components here rather than guessing from sales. BOMs explode recursively. If a component itself has a BOM (a sub-assembly built from smaller parts), it shows its own chevron and expands further, so you can plan several levels deep from one finished good. Supply for manufactured items — both finished goods you build and components you make in-house — is created as Work Orders, which support the same recommend, expedite, and defer actions you use elsewhere in the grid.Step by step: plan a component from its finished good
- Find the finished good in the grid and click its chevron to expand.
- In the Components sub-section, locate the component you want to plan.
- Read the component’s Demand row — this is the Production demand from the parent.
- Check the component’s DOS and Shortage rows for the periods where production runs.
- Work the component’s Supply row: create a purchase order for a bought part, or a Work Order for one you make in-house.
- If the component has its own chevron, expand it and repeat one level down.
Example
Finished good Trail Mix 12oz is scheduled for 10,000 units of production in month 2. Its BOM uses 0.75 lb of roasted almonds per unit. Expand the row and the Almonds component shows a Production demand of 7,500 lb in month 2. Its DOS turns red, so you create a purchase order on the component’s Supply row to cover the run.Where to go next
- Batching orders per supplier — set a supplier order cycle to group components into one recommended order (and earn bulk pricing).
- Work orders — how manufactured supply is planned and built.
- Products, SKUs & BOMs — how BOMs are set up.
Note: A component’s numbers only make sense next to the production that consumes it. If a parent finished good’s production plan changes, expand it again — the component demand will have moved with it.