Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for industrial packaging manufacturers.
A checklist built from how industrial packaging 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.
- Container specifications by customer
- Coil, resin and fabric lots
- Line planning for drums, pails and bags
- Leak, drop and lift test records
- Rejects and customer returns
- Pallet packing and labels
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For planners
- For quality staff
- For stores and purchasing
- For dispatch and accounts
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Batches by line with test status
- Coil, resin and fabric consumed against output
- Rejects by cause, line and shift
- Customer returns traced to batch
- Mould and die runs since last repair
- Pallets dispatched by customer and count
- Filler balances, oldest due first
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Barcode and pallet label printing
- Weighing scale input
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- Accounting software export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can a drum batch be traced to the coil it was made from?
- Can pails and bulk bags sit beside drums?
- How are leak and drop tests entered?
- Can it hold a different closure for each customer?
- What happens when a filler returns a damaged pallet?
- Does it manage the tooling for blow moulded pails?
- Can we start with live orders?
- Can we take our data with us?
- How is pricing worked out?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Test results are not tied to a batch
- Steel coils are drawn without a trail
- Specifications differ by filler
- Returns and rejects are untracked
- Pallet counts differ at the dock
Prefer to talk it through? See the industrial packaging manufacturers page.