How to Make a Bill of Materials With Access 2007
By Stephanie Ellen
A bill of materials is a list of raw materials, components and parts needed to manufacture a product. A Microsoft Access 2007 database is the ideal way to keep track of what's needed to manufacture items. Access 2007 can keep track of what items you have at hand and what items you need to order. You don't need any database experience with Microsoft Access; the accessible interface can be used by the novice developer.
Click the "Microsoft Office" button and then click "New."
Type "Bill of Materials" into the "File Name" text box.
Click "Create."
Click the "Home" tab and then click "View."
Click "Design View."
Type the field names into column 1, under "Field Name." Field names are the groups of data that you want to include in your table. For a bill of materials, you'll want to include the item, the item description, cost per item, number required and the item grade. Type "Item" into column 1, row 1; "Description" into column 1, row 2; "Cost per item" into column 1, row 3; "Number required" into column 1, row 4; and "Grade" into column 1, row 5.
Type the data type into the second column for each entry you made in column 1. For this example, type "Text" into column 2, rows 1 and 2, and "Number" into column 2, rows 3, 4 and 5.
Save your table by clicking the "Microsoft Office" button and then clicking "Save." Your database is now ready to use for data entry.
References
Warnings
- Do not open a new database with the same name: each database name must be unique. If you make another "Bill of Materials" database, Access will write over the data in your existing database with any entries you make in the second database.
Writer Bio
Stephanie Ellen teaches mathematics and statistics at the university and college level. She coauthored a statistics textbook published by Houghton-Mifflin. She has been writing professionally since 2008. Ellen holds a Bachelor of Science in health science from State University New York, a master's degree in math education from Jacksonville University and a Master of Arts in creative writing from National University.