Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for brake component manufacturers.
A checklist built from how brake component manufacturers 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.
- Friction mix batch records
- Press and cure logs
- Casting lots and machining cells
- Dynamometer and shear test results
- Marking, packing and edge codes
- Complaint and return records
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For plant managers
- For the press shop supervisor
- For the test lab
- For machine cell operators
- For despatch
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Mix batches and the cartons they filled
- Press loads and cure cycles by date and mould
- Test failures by lot, mix batch and casting heat
- Balance and runout trend by cell
- Cartons packed against orders by variant
- Returns by edge code and heat
- Raw material stock by lot
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Balancing machine file import
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can it log press and cure settings?
- How is a pad traced to a mix?
- Does it work for discs as well as pads?
- Can failed samples hold a lot?
- What about balance machine data?
- Can customers get a lot history?
- What does a rollout cost us?
- Who edits formulas and fields later?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Friction mix batches are not tied to pads
- Press and cure settings are written on a board
- Rotor balance and runout results are scattered
- Test samples are slow to link back
- Customer part variants multiply
Prefer to talk it through? See the brake component manufacturers page.