If you bought your BPO from the market (the market only sells BPOs) then if won't be researched. You can research the BPO to reduce the materials you need to make it (and a second type of research to reduce the time it takes to manufacture).
The first type of research is Material Efficiency, ME. If your ME is zero then you likely won't be able to make the item profitably as you'll compete with people who can produce at a lower cost.
If you bought the BPO on contract it is likely someone already did the research for you. Show Info will display these attributes.
This is a handy tool:
BPO ME and PE calculator
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