Overview
Luminous uses Bills of Materials (BOMs) and assembly orders together to track the manufacturing or kitting of finished products from raw-material components. A BOM is the recipe; an assembly order is the production run that consumes that recipe.
Bills of Materials (BOMs)
What a BOM is
A BOM is a named list of component SKUs — each with a quantity and unit of measure — that are required to produce one unit of a finished product. Think of it as a recipe: for example, "Chocolate Chip Cookie BOM" might list flour, cocoa, butter, and sugar with their respective amounts.
Where to manage BOMs
Go to Inventory Admin → Bills of Materials. From there you can:
- View all existing BOMs
- Click Create BOM to build a new one
- Add or remove component rows, set quantities and units of measure, and add optional notes or instructions per line
- Save the BOM when finished
Tip: Every component must already exist as a SKU in Luminous before you can add it to a BOM.
Attaching a BOM to a finished-goods SKU
Once a BOM is saved, open the product page for your finished-goods SKU and navigate to the Bill of Materials tab. Search for and select the BOM, then click Done. The BOM is now linked to that SKU and will be available when creating assembly orders.
One SKU, multiple BOMs: Luminous allows you to attach more than one BOM to the same finished-goods SKU. This is useful when the same product can be made using alternative components or sourcing options (e.g., cocoa from different suppliers). When you create an assembly order you choose which BOM to use for that run.
Bulk-importing BOMs
If you have many components to set up at once, go to Tools → Imports → Bills of Materials, download the Excel template, fill in the Product SKU, Component SKU, Quantity, and optional fields for each row, then upload. Rows with errors are highlighted before you commit the import.
Assembly Orders
What an assembly order does
An assembly order is the transaction that turns components into a finished product:
- Deducts the component quantities from inventory (at the warehouse/location you specify)
- Adds the finished-goods quantity to inventory
- Creates a full audit record of what was produced, when, by whom, and from which lots
Assembly order statuses
Every assembly order moves through the following lifecycle:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Created but not yet active. No inventory is reserved yet. |
| Issued | Work has been authorized. Component quantities are moved to pending, reserving them. |
| In Progress | Production is actively underway. Components remain reserved. |
| Paused | Production is temporarily stopped. Components remain reserved. |
| Completed | Finished. Components are fully deducted; finished-goods stock is increased. |
When an order moves from Draft to any active status (Issued, In Progress, or Paused), Luminous immediately reserves the required component quantities as pending stock so they cannot be double-allocated elsewhere.
Creating an assembly order
- Navigate to Inventory → Assembly Orders
- Click Create → Create Assembly Order
- Select the finished-goods SKU
- Choose the BOM to use for this run
- Confirm the component lines populate correctly
- Set the Destination (warehouse group, warehouse, or specific location)
- If lot tracking is enabled, assign or create a lot number for the finished product
- Enter the Quantity to Produce — planned and actual amounts are tracked separately so you can record real yield vs. target
- Optionally add extra cost rows for labor, outsourcing, or packaging fees
- Save, then advance the status through the workflow until you mark it Completed
Disassembly orders
Luminous also supports disassembly orders — the reverse operation. A disassembly order breaks a finished product back into its components, adding those component quantities back to inventory and deducting the finished-goods count. You create one from the same Assembly Orders screen.
Creating assembly orders in bulk
If you need to produce multiple SKU variants at once (common in apparel or food), use Create → Create Multiple Assembly Orders. You can add multiple SKU/BOM/quantity/location rows in a single form and generate all of the orders at once. You can also export multiple assembly order PDFs in bulk to send as work orders to a vendor.
Inventory impact at a glance
| Event | Component Stock | Finished-Goods Stock |
|---|---|---|
| Order moves to Issued / In Progress / Paused | Moved to pending (reserved) | No change yet |
| Order Completed | Fully deducted | Increased by actual quantity produced |
| Order Disassembly Completed | Increased | Deducted |
Automating assembly order completion
Luminous automation rules can automatically complete Draft assembly orders as soon as the required BOM components are received into inventory — no manual intervention needed. This is configured with a Receiving trigger, a BOM Item Received condition, and a Complete Assembly Order action.
See How to Automatically Complete Assembly Orders When BOM Items Are Received for the full setup walkthrough.
Lot tracking and cost traceability
- Lot tracking: If your components carry lot numbers or expiration dates, Luminous captures which lots were consumed during assembly and links that traceability to the finished product's lot.
- Costing: The finished-goods SKU inherits the true landed cost of its components at the time of assembly, giving you accurate cost-of-goods-sold and margin reporting.