Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for commercial furniture manufacturers.
A checklist built from how commercial furniture 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.
- Project quotation from bill of quantities
- Shop drawings and sample approvals
- Production by item and floor
- Fabric and foam lots
- Phased delivery schedule
- Installation and variations
- Defects and handover
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For sales engineers and designers
- For shop and upholstery supervisors
- For dispatch and installers
- For accounts
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Projects by stage, awarded value and delivered value
- Items awaiting sample or drawing approval
- Fabric rolls issued by lot and the chairs they covered
- Deliveries by floor and zone, with balance to ship
- Variations pending, approved and billed
- Defects by item, installer and age
- Retention held and released by project
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- Drawing file storage
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- How are approvals tied to production?
- Can fabric lots be traced to chairs?
- Does it support phased delivery?
- How are variations handled?
- Can installers use it on a site with weak signal?
- Are retention and defects periods supported?
- Can we import our existing project list?
- What does the demo show?
- What leaves the system if we stop using it?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Approved samples and drawings drift
- Fabric lots do not match
- Phased delivery is tracked on paper
- Variations are agreed by phone
- Defects have no history
Prefer to talk it through? See the commercial furniture manufacturers page.