Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for nutraceutical manufacturers.
A checklist built from how nutraceutical 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.
- Formulas and brand owners
- Ingredient lots and certificates
- Assay-adjusted dispensing
- Batch records
- Laboratory results
- Allergen and clean-down control
- Labels, lots and best-before dates
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For plant managers
- For formulation and development staff
- For production and packing operators
- For quality and laboratory staff
- For brand-owner contacts
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Lots by status: in process, on hold, released
- Ingredient lots with potency, expiry and balance
- Yield and loss by product and line
- Out-of-limit results by test and supplier
- Label approvals pending by brand owner
- Allergen changeovers signed and outstanding
- Retained samples due for discard
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- Accounting export
- Barcode labels
- Laboratory instrument export
- Label printer
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Does the dispensing sheet change when the extract lot changes?
- Can I keep each brand owner’s products private?
- How are allergens controlled between products?
- What if an outside laboratory is slow?
- Can the label text be checked against the batch?
- Does it manage stability studies?
- How would a brand owner download a batch file?
- What happens to the spreadsheets we keep today?
- What decides the cost for a supplement plant?
- Who changes the batch sheets later?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Potency varies but the formula does not
- Certificates sit in a drawer
- Private-label formulas overlap
- Allergen changeover is tracked on paper
- Label copy and lot code are matched by eye
Prefer to talk it through? See the nutraceutical manufacturers page.