Why panel BOMs are slow and risky
For a panel builder, the BOM is the quotation. Get it wrong and you either lose the order on price or win it at a loss. Yet in many shops the BOM is still built line by line in Excel:
- The estimator reads the single-line diagram and types out each MCCB, contactor, relay and meter.
- Prices come from a supplier PDF that may be months old.
- Charges for busbar, enclosure, wiring and labour are added from memory.
- Changing the brand means rebuilding half the sheet.
- One missed line — a CT, a control transformer, a set of indication lamps — comes straight out of the margin.
Our article From drawing to quotation: AI-assisted BOMs for electrical panel shops looks at this in more depth.
How a panel BOM is built
A typical LV panel BOM has these groups:
- Incomer and protection — ACB or MCCB, with metering, CTs and protection relays.
- Outgoing feeders — MCCBs or MCBs; for an MCC panel, motor starters (DOL, star-delta, soft starter or VFD) with contactors and overload relays.
- Power factor correction — for an APFC panel, capacitors, capacitor-duty contactors or thyristor switches, a PF controller and, where harmonics are present, detuned reactors.
- Busbar and enclosure — copper or aluminium busbar sized to current, sheet-steel enclosure, gland plates and hardware.
- Control and wiring — control transformer, indication lamps, push buttons, terminals, wire and ferrules.
- Charges — fabrication, powder coating, wiring labour, testing, packing and transport.
- Margin and GST at the applicable rate for the HSN code.
The estimator’s skill is knowing what the drawing implies but does not show. Software should speed up the obvious lines so that skill goes into the rest.
What to look for in panel BOM software
- Templates by panel type that already carry the usual groups and charges.
- Drawing and photo reading with a review step, not silent auto-fill.
- Matching to your own catalogue, so BOM lines are real products with real prices.
- Brand tiers, to quote options quickly.
- Price lists that are easy to import and update.
- A guard against unpriced lines before a quotation goes out.
- A path onward: BOM to quotation to sales order to purchase.
Why AI needs a review step
Drawings are inconsistent. One consultant draws every feeder in full; another shows one and writes “typical × 6”. Ratings are written in different ways, brand preferences sit in a note at the corner, and photos of old panels hide what is behind the door. Any AI that reads these will sometimes be unsure. The safe design is one that says so — marking a line as needing review rather than guessing — and leaves the final call to the estimator who knows the customer.
How Zaptiz Electrical builds panel BOMs
Zaptiz Electrical gives you four ways in, all ending in the same reviewed BOM.
Templates
The BOM Generator has templates for DB, MCC, APFC, VFD, AMF and other panel types, with brand tiers, charges and margin. Start from the template closest to the job and adjust it, rather than starting from a blank sheet.
From a drawing
Upload a PDF or image drawing. The drawing analyser lists the components it finds, and each line is marked matched, needs review or no match against your catalogue. Lines that need review are never attached automatically — the estimator decides. For measuring and counting, Panel Design Studio lets you trace and measure on the drawing, count components with AI detection and turn the takeoff into a BOM.
From a photo
Photograph an existing panel — useful for replacements and retrofits — and get a structured component list priced across low, mid and premium brand tiers, ready to become a BOM.
From a plain-English spec
Quote Studio turns an enquiry written as text, a photo or a drawing into a costed draft BOM and quotation. The Quotation Drafting agent does the same as a draft for approval.
Prices that stay current
Import supplier price lists from PDF, Excel or a photo, and bulk-edit prices with a dry-run preview. Vendor price comparison shows the cheapest option first across your vendors’ lists, and the Price-List Intelligence agent imports new lists into the catalogue after review.
From BOM to quotation
Quotations carry per-line GST and discounts, a missing-price guard that warns about ₹0 lines before you print or email, and 12 print layouts. Send by email or WhatsApp, and convert an accepted quotation to a sales order, which then drives requisitions for shortages. The guide Drawing or photo to BOM to quotation shows each step.
Limits worth knowing
Drawing analysis handles PDF and image files only, not DWG or DXF. The AI never replaces the estimator’s review. More on how AI is used at Zaptiz AI.
Get started
Take a recent enquiry you have already quoted, upload the drawing during the 9-day free trial and compare the BOM with yours. Book a demo to see it with your own drawings, or read about the whole system on ERP for panel builders.