BOM

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The BOM tab lets you import, edit, and enrich Bill of Materials data. It supports BOM groups, AI-powered enrichment, multiple manufacturers per line, customer-provided component tracking, and live pricing integration via the Elexess API.

BOM line list

The left panel shows all BOM lines with:

• References – component designators (C1, C2, R1, etc.)
• Description – component description
• Type badge – SMD, THT, or MNT
• Quantity – reference count with board multiplier (click to edit inline)
• Unit price and total – from pricing data when available

Click any line to open its detail pane on the right.

BOM groups

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Organize BOM lines into named groups (e.g., Passives, ICs, Connectors) for easier navigation and review.

• Create a group – click the + button in the toolbar
• Rename a group – double-click the group header
• Delete a group – click the trash icon on the group header (lines move to the ungrouped section)
• Assign lines – drag and drop BOM lines onto a group header, or use the group dropdown in the detail pane
• Collapse/expand – click the chevron on a group header to toggle visibility
• Reorder – drag and drop lines within and across groups

Spark AI enrichment

When Spark AI is enabled in Team Settings, Gerbtrace can suggest improvements for BOM data using AI. Click the sparkles button in the toolbar to enrich all lines.

The AI analyzes each BOM line and may suggest:

• Description – standardized formatting (e.g., "MLCC 100nF 50V X7R 0402")
• Type – SMD, THT, Mounting, or Other classification
• SMD classification – Fast, Slow, Finepitch, or BGA
• Manufacturer – primary manufacturer name and part number
• Second source – alternative manufacturer suggestion
• Group – suggested group name for the line

Suggestions appear as highlighted fields in the detail pane. For each suggestion you can:

• Accept – apply the suggestion to the BOM line
• Dismiss – remove the suggestion without applying it
• Accept all – apply all pending suggestions for the line at once

Lines with pending suggestions show a sparkles icon in the table.

Filters

Quick-filter buttons in the toolbar:

• SMD / THT – filter by mounting type
• DNP – Do Not Populate components
• CP – customer-provided components
• Long Lead – items flagged as structurally long lead (see Long lead items)
• No Mfr – lines missing a manufacturer
• No Price – lines without pricing data
• Missing PnP – lines with no matching PnP reference

Each filter shows a count badge indicating how many lines match.

Long lead items

Some components are structurally long lead — their procurement time is a property of the commodity class itself, not of current market conditions. Typical examples are custom cables and harnesses (often 8+ weeks build-to-order), custom-wound transformers and inductors, factory-programmed parts, and custom-marked devices.

Lines flagged this way get an amber Long Lead pill in the BOM list and a matching badge in the detail pane. Hover the pill to see why it was flagged.

There are two ways a line gets flagged:

1. Imported from the BOM file. Add a Long Lead (or Lead Time Risk) column to your BOM. Values can be Yes/No/True/False/1/0, or a free-form note like 12 week vendor quote — see the BOM File Format reference for the full list of recognised header names.
2. Auto-detected at import time. When no column is present, Gerbtrace runs a conservative heuristic against each line's description and comment to flag obvious structurally long-lead items (cables, harnesses, custom magnetics, programmed parts, custom marking).

You can always override either source from the detail pane: toggle Long Lead on or off and add a short reason note (e.g. Custom 12-week harness, vendor confirmed). Manual edits persist across re-imports.

The flag is intentionally limited to structural lead times. Market-driven shortages and allocation cycles change too quickly to track on the BOM itself — use the distributor lead times that come back with Supplier pricing for that.

Quantity tiers

The quantity selector at the top sets the production quantity. Multiple quantity tiers can be added (e.g., 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000). Pricing calculations update for each tier. Remove tiers with the X button or add new ones by typing in the input field.

Detail pane

Clicking a BOM line opens the detail pane with editable fields:

• Description and Comment
• Type (SMD, THT, Mounting, Other)
• Package footprint name
• Customer Item number
• Qty / board count
• Customer Provided and DNP toggles
• Long Lead toggle and reason note – flag structurally long-lead items (see Long lead items)
• References – add or remove component designators
• Group – assign the line to a BOM group

Fields that differ from the original customer BOM are visually highlighted.

Manufacturers

Each BOM line can have multiple manufacturer entries. Each entry includes:

• Manufacturer name
• Manufacturer part number (MPN)
• Refresh pricing button
• Remove manufacturer button

Click + Add manufacturer to add alternatives.

Supplier pricing

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When the Elexess API is configured in Team Settings, Gerbtrace fetches live distributor pricing for each manufacturer part number. Expand the suppliers section under a manufacturer to see:

• Supplier name (Weltron, Anglia, Abacus, TME, LCSC, Farnell, etc.)
• Stock – available quantity
• MOQ – minimum order quantity
• Unit price – per-component cost
• Total – extended price for the selected quantity

The best price is highlighted in green. Click Fetch Prices in the toolbar to fetch pricing for all lines at once. A progress bar shows the pricing queue status. Use the refresh button on individual manufacturers to update pricing for a single MPN. The pricing age is displayed next to each supplier result.

Copy CP List

The Copy CP List button in the toolbar header copies a formatted list of all customer-provided component references to the clipboard. This is useful for sending to the customer to confirm which components they need to supply.

Sorting

Use the Ref and Price sort buttons to order BOM lines by designator (alphabetical) or by total cost (highest first, to identify cost drivers).

BOM and PnP cross-referencing

When both BOM and PnP data are loaded, Gerbtrace surfaces mismatches:

• References in BOM but missing from PnP
• References in PnP but missing from BOM
• Quantity discrepancies

The Missing PnP filter highlights lines with cross-reference issues. A warning badge also appears in the detail pane for affected lines.

Lock

The Unlocked / Locked toggle prevents BOM line edits, manufacturer changes, and pricing fetches. Use this in team projects when the BOM has been verified and approved.