Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for blow moulding companies.
A checklist built from how blow moulding companies work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Container design register
- Machine set-up sheets
- Resin, preform and masterbatch stock
- Weight and wall checks
- Mould and cavity record
- Pallet and dispatch
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For production planners
- For setters and operators
- For quality staff
- For dispatch
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Bottle weight trend by cavity and shift
- Rejects by defect such as thin shoulder, pinhole or flash, by mould and resin lot
- Regrind used against virgin resin by container
- Leak and drop test results by customer and cavity
- Resin, preform and masterbatch stock against open runs
- Machine output against mould cycle target
- Pallets dispatched by filler with run references
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Tablet entry at the machine
- Barcode label printer
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can it hold extrusion blow and stretch blow settings?
- How are failed drop tests traced?
- Does it manage bought-in preforms?
- Can we control regrind use?
- Can a filler have its own pallet pattern?
- Will it read wall thickness from a gauge?
- How do we take our records out?
- What happens at the demo?
- Who supports it after go-live?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Weight and wall thickness drift unseen
- Flash regrind is blended blindly
- Preform and resin stocks are separate
- Test failures lose their context
- Pallet counts disagree at the gate
Prefer to talk it through? See the blow moulding companies page.