Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for industrial chemical manufacturers.
A checklist built from how industrial chemical 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.
- Raw material intake and gate weights
- Reactor batch records
- Assay and laboratory results
- Yield and loss reporting
- Tank farm stock
- Packing and tanker dispatch
- Certificates and safety data sheets
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For plant managers
- For reactor operators
- For laboratory chemists
- For the weighbridge and dispatch
- For safety and compliance staff
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Yield against theoretical by batch and product
- Tank stock by product, density and age
- Assay results released and held
- Tankers loaded and drums filled by order
- Raw materials received against purchase orders
- Safety data sheet versions sent by customer
- Waste streams by batch and disposal route
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- Weighbridge feed
- Level gauge feed
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- How is the yield worked out?
- Can a tanker be loaded from two tanks?
- Is the safety data sheet attached automatically?
- Can we run several reactors in parallel?
- How does the weighbridge connect?
- Can we trace a contaminated tank?
- Does it handle sales in several currencies?
- What happens in a demo?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Yield is calculated after the fact
- Assay results are not tied to the tank
- Weighbridge tickets are separate
- Safety data sheets are out of date
- Stock in tanks is estimated by gauge
Prefer to talk it through? See the industrial chemical manufacturers page.