Questions to ask a vendor before buying avionics build software

Do not accept slides. Open a single board instead and check that the bill of materials, component lots, operators, stations and test results appear together on one screen.

Then repeat it with your data. Load a sample bill of materials with a few hundred lines and watch how long the import takes and which reference designators fail.

A system that tracks only a batch, never a serial, will fail you the first time a customer or an auditor asks about one unit. Test for it early. Rework is where records often go thin, so ask to see a unit that was desoldered, reprogrammed or scrapped and read what the operator typed.

Start at the receiving dock. Ask how a reel, tray or tube is booked in, tied to a lot or date code, and traced onward when one reel feeds two builds.

Counterfeit risk makes the supplier and distributor part of the record, so check that the system stores the source, the certificate of conformance and the inspection result.

Now ask about an alternate part. Substitutions need approval, and the system should record which serial numbers received the alternate, which engineer signed the change and which date code went on the board. Ask for a where-used search by lot. A good system answers it in seconds and lists every serial, every customer shipment and every open work order that touched the lot.

Firmware is part of the build. Ask whether the system records the image name, version, checksum and programming station for each serial, and whether it blocks a station from loading a file nobody approved.

Find out who signs a new firmware release, then ask for every serial carrying one version, as a list you can export.

Programming is a step on the line. Ask how the station reads the file, checks the checksum after loading and records a failed attempt, since a unit that needed three tries should say so.

Functional test, burn-in and screening produce files. Ask whether the report is stored against the serial or only linked to a shared folder that someone can rename, move or empty by accident.

Ask about raw logs as well as the pass mark, because customers want measured values from a power supply test or a vibration profile, not only the verdict.

Check retention. Aerospace and defence customers often set long retention, so ask how files are stored, backed up and retrieved years later, then watch one old serial come back. Test the file formats too. A report saved as a proprietary blob is useless when the test station is retired, so ask whether a plain text, CSV or PDF copy travels with the serial.

Ask who can edit a record, whether every change is logged with a name and time, and how users are separated when controlled technical data needs restricted access.

Ask how you get your data out, because a full export in open formats protects you when you change systems or the vendor closes. Ask what support looks like when a test station stops: who answers, in which time zone, and how quickly a fix reaches the floor.

Finish with a reference call. Ask a builder of similar hardware what broke in the first three months and how quickly the vendor answered, and whether a change request ever reached a release.