Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for snack manufacturers.
A checklist built from how snack 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.
- Raw material and oil lots
- Fryer and oven batches
- Seasoning recipes and dosing
- Pack weight and seal checks
- Flavour changeover log
- Cartons and distributor dispatch
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For line leaders
- For production planners
- For quality staff
- For the store
- For owners and dispatch
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Yield and waste by run and flavour
- Bag giveaway by weigher and shift
- Fryer batches outside temperature limits
- Seasoning used against recipe
- Oil changes by fryer
- Cartons dispatched by flavour and distributor
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Checkweigher data import
- Barcode and label printing
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can fryer temperature and time be logged per batch?
- How does it show bag giveaway?
- Can seasoning be tied to a recipe?
- Does it track the age of the frying oil?
- Can a metal detector log be kept?
- Can we plan flavours to save clean-down time?
- Can distributors place orders themselves?
- Who holds the data?
- How do we get started and what will it cost?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Fryer settings drift and nobody notices
- Seasoning is dosed by eye
- Bag weight giveaway is unmeasured
- Raw material yield is not tracked
- Flavour changeovers waste product
Prefer to talk it through? See the snack manufacturers page.