Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for fastener manufacturers.
A checklist built from how fastener 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.
- Wire rod and drawn wire stock
- Part catalogue and special drawings
- Header and thread rolling log
- Heat treatment and strength tests
- Plating and coating
- Sorting, packing and labels
- Dispatch and invoicing
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For sales desk staff
- For header and roller setters
- For the lab
- For packing staff
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Finished stock by diameter, length, class and coating
- Header and roller hours with die life against limit
- Proof load and hardness by lot and property class
- Lots at the plater and past their bake window
- Rejects by cause: laps, cracked heads, short threads and bent shanks
- Wire rod drawn against parts shipped
- Open and late orders by customer
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- Barcode labels
- Spreadsheet import
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- How is a carton traced to a coil?
- Can it stop two lots going into one box?
- Does it keep tensile and proof load results?
- How is tooling life counted?
- Can plating be done by a vendor?
- Does it manage reorder levels?
- Can special drawings be priced separately?
- Can we hold both metric and inch sizes?
- What makes up the price?
- How do records leave the system?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Mixed lots end up in a carton
- Tooling life is not recorded
- Furnace results sit in the lab book
- Plating is a black box
- Stock and special orders compete
Prefer to talk it through? See the fastener manufacturers page.