Bundles and Bills of Materials (BOMs)

This article explains how Bundles and Bills of Materials (BOMs) work in Qoblex, the key differences between them, and how to create and manage each one.

Both Bundles and BOMs are used to group multiple items under one product, but they serve different business needs.

Bundles

A Bundle is a group of finished products sold together as a single package. Bundles are commonly used in retail and wholesale when items are frequently sold together.

Example:
A “Back to School Kit” that includes:

• 1 Shirt
• 1 Pair of Socks

When a bundle is sold, inventory is automatically deducted from each bundle component.

Bundles are best used when:

• You are selling finished goods together
• No manufacturing or assembly step is required
• Inventory should be deducted directly from existing stock

Bills of Materials (BOMs)

A Bill of Materials (BOM) is a structured list of raw materials or components required to manufacture or assemble a finished product.

Each BOM line specifies:

• The component
• The quantity used to produce one unit of the finished product

Example:
A “Wooden Table” BOM may include:

• 4 × Table Legs
• 1 × Tabletop
• 16 × Screws

BOMs are best used when:

• You manufacture or assemble products
• You need to track raw materials
• Production or manufacturing workflows are involved

Key behavior and rules

• Both Bundles and BOMs automatically calculate cost based on their components
• A product or variant can only be converted once
• Once converted:
  • A Bundle cannot be changed into a BOM
  • A BOM cannot be changed into a Bundle

Creating Bundles and BOMs

For simple products

1. Open the Product Details page.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page.
3. Choose one of the following options:
   • Convert to Bundle
   • Convert to BOM
4. Add line items (components) to the Bundle or BOM.
5. Save.

Converting an existing variant into a Bundle or BOM

1. Select the variant.
2. Click Actions.
3. Choose Convert to Bundle or Convert to BOM.
4. Add line items.
5. Save.

Bundle-specific details

Bundle inventory behavior

A bundle automatically inherits and calculates:

• Available quantity
• Weight
• Moving average cost

Bundle inventory is determined by the lowest available quantity of its components.

Overselling rules for bundles

• A bundle cannot oversell if any of its components are set to Not oversell
• To allow bundle overselling:
  • All bundle components must first allow overselling
  • Then enable Allow overselling when sold out on the bundle

Bundles as product variants

Bundles can also be created as variants of a single product.

Example:
Product: Cup

Variants:

• Single Cup
• 3-Pack Bundle
• 6-Pack Bundle

If 100 cups are in stock:

• Single Cup: 100 units
• 3-Pack Bundle: 33 units
• 6-Pack Bundle: 16 units

This allows you to manage multiple selling quantities while maintaining one source of inventory.

Variable bundles

A variable bundle is a product with variants, where each variant represents a different bundle recipe.

How to create a variable bundle

1. Go to Inventory > Products.
2. Open an existing product.
3. Add variants (e.g. Color, Size).
4. Save the variants.
5. Convert each relevant variant into a Bundle.
6. Add line items for each variant.

Each variant can have its own bundle composition.

Editing Bills of Materials (BOMs)

To edit an existing BOM:

1. Go to Inventory > Products.
2. Open the BOM product.
3. Under Inventory, click Edit BOM.
4. Update component details.
5. Click Save & Close.

 BOMs can only be edited if they are not used in:

• Open sales orders
• Open purchase orders
• Open production orders

Deleting Bundles and BOMs

• Deleting a bundle or BOM follows the same rules as deleting:
  • A product (if created as a standalone product)
  • A variant (if created as a variant)
• Deleting a bundle or BOM does not delete its components