I’d like to be somewhat vague because my job is somewhat niche. For my job I made custom products that are made up of subcomponents that cost me either by the foot, by the pair, or individually. So a particular product may include 5 feet of X, Y and Z, a pair of V and 1 of T and U. Then I add a bit for profit.
Right now I have a somewhat simple spreadsheet that has all my components and their costs listed which are then referenced on other sheets. The problem is adding or removing components is a real pain in the ass because I’d have to edit each and every sheet.
I’d like a better system where I can create a new product then from a drop down or something pick all the relevant components and enter how many of that component I need. Then create a quote that I can email to a client that lists the final cost of a bunch of products.
I’d prefer this to be a, open source web app but it can be a desktop application.
As others have said, this is something you could probably do in a spreadsheet, but I would expect that to become unwieldy as your business grows and/or your BOMs start getting bigger. You might want to look into some sort of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. There are some open source options that you could run yourself. However, ERP systems are comprehensive suites of tools for operating a business, which might be a lot more than what you need right now.
Yeah I was recommended ERPNext and another BOM webapp on reddit. ERPNext’s installation instructions are ridiculous while the other (I can’t remember its name, maybe indabom?) had bizarre design decisions like needing to restart the service if I decided to change the theme.