Notes for owners · Industry-Specific Software Guides
How to Choose Production Software for a Panel or Transformer Factory
Choose software that follows one order from drawing approval to final payment, because panels and transformers are built to order, not for stock. Test it on a real order before deciding. The Manufacturing Production Management Software from GullySystem covers the bill of materials, job cards, test readings and dispatch. Retention and drawing-status registers are added during implementation.
Ganesh HS, Strategy and Technology, GullySystem · · 3 min read
Start from the order, not the item master
Retail and trading software is built around items in stock. A panel builder works the other way. Each order carries its own specification, single line diagram, approved makes and drawing.
So the first test of any software is whether one order can hold all of that. Ask the vendor to load one of your recent orders and show where each document and revision sits.
Check how it handles the bill of materials and revisions
An LT panel’s material list changes as the drawing changes. A transformer carries sub-assemblies such as the core, windings and tank. The software should hold a multi-level list against a drawing revision.
Ask what happens when a revision arrives after purchase has started. The system should show which items were already ordered against the older list. The wiring bay should see which revision is current.
- Multi-level lists for busbar sets, cores and windings
- Revision held on the order and the work order
- Bought-out, in-house and sent-outside items marked
- Approved makes recorded per order
Test the shortage list against long lead items
Breakers, relays, meters and CTs often decide the dispatch date. A useful system sets the bill of materials against stock and open purchase orders, then lists what is short for each order.
Ask to see that list for three open orders at once. Shared stock is where reservations fail. If one order quietly uses another’s breakers, the list should show it.
Look at testing, inspection and dispatch records
Routine test readings, serial numbers and component makes go into the report the buyer’s inspector signs. Check that readings are entered once and printed in the format your buyers accept.
Then check the hold. An order should not move to dispatch until testing is cleared. The GST invoice and challan should come from the same order record.
- Routine test readings stored per order
- Serial numbers linked to the order
- A hold until quality clears the order
- Challan and invoice raised from the work order
Questions that show the limits
Ask what the software does not do. Tender bids, retention money and the warranty period after commissioning often sit outside a production product. Find out whether they are added, and how.
Ask who enters the opening stock, open orders and buyer balances. Ask how the shop floor marks job cards and what happens when the network drops.
A unit making a handful of standard boards may not need this yet. A register and a spreadsheet can still hold that work.
Order walk-through test sheet
A sheet listing one recent order’s steps: drawing approval, bill of materials, purchase, fabrication, wiring or winding, testing, inspection, dispatch and payment. Ask each vendor to show where every step sits in their system. Blank rows mark what you would still keep elsewhere.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Can production software prepare our tender bids?
No, not the product described here. Estimates and quotations sit in it with their revisions. Bid documents and portal uploads stay with your tender team.
Should transformers and panels sit in the same system?
Yes, if both are built to order in one works. Each product family keeps its own stages, such as winding and tanking for transformers and wiring for panels.
Is a ready ERP enough for a panel builder?
Sometimes. If orders are mostly standard boards from stock, a ready package may fit. Order-wise material lists, drawing revisions and test records are where ready packages often need work.