What is one of the risks of not having a bill of materials?

The absence of a bill of materials (BOM) significantly complicates the identification of critical spares. A BOM is a comprehensive list that outlines all the components, parts, and materials required to build a product or perform maintenance on an asset. Without it, teams may struggle to determine which parts are essential for maintaining operational integrity and which spares are necessary to minimize downtime during repairs.

Critical spares are items that are vital to the operation of equipment and whose failure could result in significant downtime or safety issues. Without a BOM, there is no clear reference to understand the interdependencies of parts, leading to potential oversights in stock management. Identifying which components are critical for the smooth operation of machinery or systems would be a guessing game, thereby increasing the risk of unplanned outages and operational inefficiencies.

While other factors, such as increased costs or customer satisfaction, could be affected by the lack of a BOM, the most direct consequence relates to the ability to identify and manage critical spares for asset reliability.