Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for farm machinery manufacturers.
A checklist built from how farm machinery 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.
- Dealer orders and season plan
- Chassis, engine and transmission register
- Fabrication and assembly stations
- Bought-in part shortages
- Run-in and field trial
- Dealer dispatch and warranty
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For planners
- For fabrication and assembly leads
- For trial drivers
- For dealer coordinators
- For service and spares staff
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Open orders by model, variant and sowing season
- Machines held by missing gearbox, engine or pump
- Chassis and engine numbers by batch
- Trials passed, failed or pending, with the failed check named and the trial driver’s initials beside it
- Machines dispatched by dealer and district
- Warranty claims by variant and part
- Bought-in parts on order against batch release dates
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Accounting export
- SMS
- Barcode and label printing
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- What is on a machine’s build sheet?
- How are batches tied to the crop calendar?
- Can we see which machines wait for an engine?
- Can the trial result block dispatch?
- Do dealers get access?
- How do warranty claims work?
- Can different engines be used on one model?
- How do you price this?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Engine and chassis numbers are written in separate books
- Bought-in parts hold up whole lines
- Field trials leave no usable record
- Dealers cannot see where their machine is
- Spares go out without the machine’s configuration
Prefer to talk it through? See the farm machinery manufacturers page.