AI Form Builder - Bill of Materials (BOM) Forms

BOM forms in the AI Form Builder let you create detailed recipe forms that automatically calculate ingredient costs. Track exactly what goes into each batch of edibles, extracts, or infused products while keeping accurate cost records for compliance and profitability analysis.

🎯 Why This Matters

Tracking production costs in cannabis manufacturing is challenging. You need to know exactly what ingredients went into each batch, how much they cost, and maintain complete records for compliance.

• Eliminate manual calculations - Costs are calculated automatically as you enter ingredient quantities
• Maintain compliance records - Document exactly what supplies were used in each production batch
• Track profitability - Know the true cost of each product you manufacture
• Reduce errors - No more spreadsheet mistakes or forgotten ingredients
• Standardize recipes - Create reusable BOM templates for consistent production

Overview

A Bill of Materials (BOM) form is a special type of form that tracks all ingredients used in a production batch. When you ask the AI Form Builder to create a BOM form, it generates a structured form with:

• Product information - The name of what you are making and batch size
• Ingredient selection - Dropdown menus populated with your organization's supplies
• Quantity inputs - Fields to enter how much of each ingredient you used
• Automatic cost calculations - Each ingredient's cost is calculated based on quantity and unit cost
• Total cost display - A running total of all ingredient costs for the batch

The BOM form pulls supply data directly from your GrowerIQ inventory, including lot numbers, available quantities, and unit costs. This ensures accurate cost tracking and complete traceability.

Before You Begin

Make sure you have the following in place before creating your first BOM form.

Prerequisites:

• Access to the AI Form Builder in the Administration section
• Supplies and consumables already entered in GrowerIQ with unit costs
• Understanding of what ingredients go into your production recipes

Why Supply Data Matters

The AI Form Builder creates ingredient dropdowns using your organization's supply data. For accurate cost calculations, make sure your supplies have:

Important: If your supplies do not have unit costs entered, the cost calculations will show $0.00. Work with your administrator to ensure supply costs are up to date before creating BOM forms.

🚀 Creating a BOM Form

Follow these steps to create a new Bill of Materials form using the AI Form Builder.

Step 1: Navigate to AI Form Builder

1. Click on Administration in the main navigation menu
2. Select AI Form Builder from the options

Step 2: Describe Your BOM Form

Type a description of the BOM form you need in the chat input. The AI understands keywords like "BOM," "Bill of Materials," "recipe," and "ingredient tracking."

Example Prompts

Copy these prompts directly or modify them for your specific needs:

Basic BOM Form:
"Create a BOM form for tracking gummy production ingredients. Include fields for cannabis extract, sugar, gelatin, flavoring, and coloring."

Extraction Batch Form:
"I need a Bill of Materials form for hydrocarbon extraction. Include the cannabis biomass input, butane solvent quantity, and any consumables used in the process. Add a production date and batch size field."

Edibles Recipe Form:
"Create a BOM for chocolate bar production. I need to track cannabis distillate, cocoa butter, sugar, cocoa powder, lecithin, and packaging materials. Include a field for the batch quantity being produced."

Infused Product Form:
"Make a Bill of Materials form for cannabis-infused topical cream. Include carrier oils, cannabis extract, emulsifiers, preservatives, and fragrance. Add a section for production notes."

Simple Template Request:
"Create a basic BOM form for edibles production with 5 ingredient slots."

Step 3: Review the Generated Form

1. The AI will generate a form preview showing all fields
2. Look for the ingredient rows with supply dropdown, quantity, and cost fields
3. Verify the Total Cost display appears at the bottom
4. Check that ingredient dropdowns show your organization's supplies

Step 4: Refine Your Form

If the form needs changes, describe what you want to modify:

• "Add another ingredient slot for packaging materials"
• "Include a production date field at the top"
• "Add a signature field for the production supervisor"
• "Remove the coloring ingredient - we do not use that"

Step 5: Save Your Form

1. When satisfied with the form, click Save Form
2. The form is now available for your team to use
3. Find saved forms in the View & Edit Saved Form dropdown

📊 Using BOM Forms

Once your BOM form is created and saved, here is how to use it during production.

Loading a Saved BOM Form

1. Open the AI Form Builder
2. Click the View & Edit Saved Form dropdown
3. Select your BOM form from the list
4. The form loads with all ingredient fields ready for data entry

Entering Ingredient Data

For each ingredient row in the BOM form:

1. Select the supply - Click the ingredient dropdown to see available supplies from your inventory. Each option shows the supply name, lot number, available quantity, and unit cost.
2. Enter the quantity - Type how much of that ingredient you are using. The unit of measure is shown next to the quantity field.
3. View the calculated cost - The cost field automatically updates based on (quantity x unit cost). This field is read-only.

Understanding the Cost Display

As you enter ingredient quantities, watch the form calculate costs:

• Individual ingredient costs - Each ingredient row shows its calculated cost
• Total cost - The sum of all ingredient costs appears at the bottom of the form
• Automatic updates - Costs recalculate whenever you change a quantity or select a different supply

Example: If you select a solvent with a unit cost of $0.50/mL and enter 500 mL, the ingredient cost displays as $250.00. Change the quantity to 750 mL, and the cost updates to $375.00.

Submitting the Form

1. Fill in all required ingredient fields
2. Add the production date and batch information
3. Review the total cost calculation
4. Click Test Submit to preview the form data
5. The submitted data shows all ingredient selections, quantities, costs, and the total

✨ Tips and Best Practices

Get the most out of BOM forms with these recommendations.

Keep Supply Costs Updated

BOM cost calculations are only as accurate as your supply data. Regularly review and update unit costs when you receive new inventory or prices change.

Create Templates for Standard Recipes

If you produce the same products regularly, create and save BOM form templates for each recipe. This ensures consistency and speeds up data entry.

Use Descriptive Form Names

When saving BOM forms, use clear names that identify the product:

• "BOM: Cherry Gummies 500mg Batch"
• "BOM: CO2 Extraction Run"
• "BOM: Infused Chocolate Bar"

Include All Cost-Relevant Ingredients

For accurate production costing, include:

• Cannabis inputs (flower, trim, extract)
• Processing supplies (solvents, filters)
• Recipe ingredients (flavors, carriers, additives)
• Packaging materials if tracking per-batch costs

Add Context Fields

When creating BOM forms, ask for additional fields that help with record-keeping:

• Production date
• Batch/lot number for the finished product
• Operator name or signature
• Notes field for batch-specific observations

Pro tip: You can iterate on BOM forms just like any other form. Start with a basic template and add fields based on what information you find useful during production runs.

❓ Troubleshooting

Solutions to common issues with BOM forms.

Ingredient dropdown is empty

If no supplies appear in the ingredient dropdowns:

• Verify that supplies have been added to GrowerIQ
• Check that the supplies have available quantity (depleted supplies may not appear)
• Contact your administrator to add supplies if needed

Cost shows $0.00 even with quantity entered

This usually means the supply is missing unit cost data:

• Check that the selected supply has a unit cost entered in the system
• Work with your administrator to update supply costs
• For cannabis extract fields (manual entry), a default calculation is applied

Total cost is not updating

If the total cost display is not calculating correctly:

• Make sure you have entered quantities for the ingredients
• Check that you have selected supplies from the dropdowns (not just typed text)
• Try clicking into another field to trigger the recalculation
• Refresh the page and reload the form if the issue persists

The AI did not create ingredient rows

If your form does not have the BOM-style ingredient layout:

• Make sure to include "BOM" or "Bill of Materials" in your prompt
• Explicitly mention that you want ingredient tracking with cost calculations
• Try a follow-up prompt: "Convert this to a BOM form with ingredient, quantity, and cost fields for each item"

Cannot find my saved BOM form

If a saved form is not appearing in the dropdown:

• Refresh the page to reload the saved forms list
• Verify you saved the form (look for the success message)
• Check that you are logged into the correct organization

Need more help? Contact GrowerIQ support if you continue to experience issues with BOM forms. Include the form name and a description of the problem for faster assistance.