Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for chemical manufacturers.
A checklist built from how chemical 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.
- Formulation master with versions
- Batch manufacturing record
- QC, COA and retained samples
- Lot traceability
- Job work sent out
- Returnable container register
- Mould and rejection log
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For production planners
- For shop floor supervisors and operators
- For stores and purchase staff
- For accounts and dispatch
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Work orders still open, grouped by stage and promised week
- Production by stage, machine and operator each shift
- Material consumed against the bill of materials
- Rejection and scrap by stage and reason
- Job work out, returned and short, by job worker
- Bar, sheet and resin stock against shortages
- Dispatches and buyer outstanding by order
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- Payment links and gateways
- Accounting software export (quoted separately)
- Barcode or label printers
- Weighing scales
- Biometric attendance devices
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can a bill of materials nest levels?
- How is material issue tied to a work order?
- Can we plan against machine capacity?
- Does it give the cost of a batch?
- Can rejections and scrap be counted stage by stage?
- Does it track outside job work?
- Can operators mark cards on a phone?
- What about drawing revisions?
- Will these figures go into my accounting package?
- Do we need this with two machines?
- How soon could the shop floor run job cards on it?
- What does a factory prepare before the first meeting?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Tracing a batch is slow
- Formulations sit in one person’s Excel
- Rejection and yield are not measured
- Job work sent out is not reconciled
- Returnable drums go missing
Prefer to talk it through? See the chemical manufacturers page.