Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for label manufacturers.
A checklist built from how label 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.
- Label specification library
- Proof and data approval
- Face stock and adhesive lots
- Press and finishing queue
- Rotary die register
- Roll counts, labels and dispatch
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For prepress staff
- For press operators
- For quality staff
- For stores and dispatch
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Jobs on press by flexo, digital and finishing station
- Face stock consumed against labels delivered
- Make-ready and stripped matrix waste per job
- Barcode grade results per roll
- Dies by metres run since sharpening
- Rolls dispatched by customer and label count
- Open invoices per customer, longest unpaid at the top
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Barcode and roll label printing
- Prepress or press data files
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- Accounting software export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can a roll be traced to its face stock and adhesive?
- How does it prevent a serial range being printed twice?
- Does it handle digital and flexo presses?
- Can matrix waste be recorded?
- Can it follow die life?
- Can customers have fixed winding rules?
- Can we start with live jobs?
- What can we take with us if we stop?
- How is pricing decided?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Material combinations are unrecorded
- Rotary dies are unlogged
- Barcode and variable data errors
- Colour approval is repeated
- Roll specifications vary by applicator
Prefer to talk it through? See the label manufacturers page.