Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for shaft manufacturers.
A checklist built from how shaft 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.
- Shaft drawing and tolerance register
- Bar lots and mill certificates
- Turning and milling routes
- Hardening and straightening log
- Grinding and runout readings
- Outside coating and plating
- Quotation and despatch
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For the owner
- For planners
- For lathe and mill operators
- For grinders
- For inspectors
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Shafts by operation and due date
- Runout readings by order and stage
- Bar lots with cut pieces and balance
- Outside plating loads sent and returned
- Gauge calibration due list
- Grinding stock left against final size
- Orders delivered against promised date
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Accounting export
- Barcode labels
- Measuring instrument data import
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can the same shaft be repeated without retyping the drawing data?
- How is runout stored?
- Does it track bar offcuts?
- Can we send shafts for chrome plating and track them?
- What about long shafts that need special racks?
- What decides the price for a shaft shop?
- Can the shop’s old order sheets be loaded?
- Can a customer be sent the final readings?
- Who maintains the forms?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Straightness is lost between operations
- Bar certificates do not follow the cut piece
- Grinding stock is guessed
- Outside plating returns without a count
- Spline and keyway gauges are not recorded
Prefer to talk it through? See the shaft manufacturers page.