Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for furniture manufacturers.
A checklist built from how 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.
- Showroom orders to factory work orders
- Material list and cutting list
- Job work dispatch notes
- Stock of boards and hardware
- Delivery and installation schedule
- Material and labour by order
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For salespeople
- For warehouse managers
- For delivery supervisors
- For accounts
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Sales by showroom, salesperson, category and month
- Pending balances by order and age
- Stock by location, display and slow-moving pieces shown apart
- Quotations sent against orders won, by salesperson
- Deliveries due, done and rescheduled this week
- Open after-sales complaints and their waiting time
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Accounting package export
- SMS
- Bank transfer and payment gateways
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can it show display and warehouse stock separately?
- Can it record custom orders in fabric and finish?
- How are advance and balance payments handled?
- Is there a counter POS with barcode scanning?
- Does it keep purchases from manufacturers and what we owe them?
- Does our accountant keep using their accounting package?
- Can salespeople use it on the showroom floor?
- Does it arrange instalment finance for customers?
- Who owns our data?
- What does it cost?
- What would salespeople get first, and what waits?
- What should showroom managers collect ahead of set-up?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Orders reach the factory late
- Material is short when cutting starts
- Pieces sent out for finishing go missing
- Profit on custom orders is unknown
- Piece-rate wages are added up by hand
Prefer to talk it through? See the furniture manufacturers page.