Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for household plastics manufacturers.
A checklist built from how household plastics 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.
- Mould and cavity register
- Resin and masterbatch lots
- Moulding job records
- Colour changeovers
- Regrind and scrap
- Printing and packing
- Dealer orders and dispatch
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For setters
- For machine operators
- For the resin store
- For planners
- For dispatch and sales
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Shot weight against target by mould and shift
- Purge resin and minutes lost to colour changes
- Regrind share by job and machine
- Mould shots and repairs due
- Resin and masterbatch stock by lot
- Finished stock by size and colour
- Dealer orders open and dispatched
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- Weighing scale export
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can weight limits be set for each product?
- Does it cover injection and blow moulding?
- How do colour changeovers get costed?
- Can we limit the regrind used in a product?
- How is a mould’s life tracked?
- Can orders be taken by colour and size?
- Can the shade of a masterbatch lot be traced?
- Can open orders and resin stock be moved across?
- Does it work for contract moulding too?
- Who looks after it after go-live?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Shot weight drifts on long runs
- Colour changes burn resin and hours
- Regrind share is set by habit
- Mould history sits in people’s heads
- Mixed colours reach the wrong carton
Prefer to talk it through? See the household plastics manufacturers page.