Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for cleaning product manufacturers.
A checklist built from how cleaning product 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.
- Formula and batch card master
- Raw material lots
- Batch records and laboratory results
- Filling line records
- Packing material stock
- Retained samples
- Distributor dispatch and recalls
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For blending operators
- For the laboratory
- For the chemical store
- For filling supervisors
- For owners and sales
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Batch yield against tank volume
- Thickener and water additions at the tank, by product
- Surfactant, perfume and preservative lots by expiry date
- Viscosity and pH readings outside limits
- Filling rejects and purge loss by line
- Customers holding a given batch
- Retained samples due for disposal
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- Barcode and label printers
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can operators change a formula at the tank?
- How are liquid and powder products handled?
- Can we hold a tank until the laboratory approves?
- How do expiry dates work for chemicals?
- Can a recall list be produced?
- How is filling loss reconciled?
- Are retained samples tracked?
- Can recipes and stock be moved in?
- Does it certify our products?
- Who supports it after go-live?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Water is added by eye
- Raw material lots are mixed in the store
- Expired stock is used
- Filling losses are never reconciled
- A complaint cannot be tied to one tank
Prefer to talk it through? See the cleaning product manufacturers page.