Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for resin manufacturers.
A checklist built from how resin 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.
- Resin recipes and grades
- Reactor cook records
- Test values and release
- Rework and blending
- Bulk tanks and drums
- Certificates and dispatch
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For the plant manager
- For reactor operators
- For laboratory staff
- For sales and dispatch
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Cooks by grade with final acid value and viscosity
- Lots on hold, with the failed value
- Rework quantities by cook and approver
- Drums filled by cook and tank
- Raw material consumption against recipe
- Batch cost against recipe cost
- Customer dues by invoice age
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Weighbridge
- Barcode and label printers
- Accounting export
- Laboratory instruments by file import
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- What does an operator post at the reactor?
- How are in-process samples used?
- How is a thinned batch shown on the certificate?
- Can one grade carry different customer limits?
- Can it work out the cost of a batch?
- Can we run bulk tankers and drums from the same stock?
- How can we see it before buying?
- Can the records leave the system?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Cook sheets vary by shift
- Rework is invisible
- Test values live in several places
- Solvent and monomer stock is estimated
- Drum numbers are not linked to cooks
Prefer to talk it through? See the resin manufacturers page.