Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for solar mounting structure manufacturers.
A checklist built from how solar mounting structure 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.
- Site layouts and bills of quantities
- Bar lists and cutting plans
- Fabrication stage tracking
- Galvanising and coating subcontract
- Fastener and accessory kits
- Packing lists by array row
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For the owner
- For design and estimating
- For shop supervisors
- For stores and packing
- For site coordinators
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Projects by fabrication stage and dispatch date
- Steel issued by heat number against bills of quantities
- Coating lots out, returned and rejected, by plant
- Fastener kits packed against site layouts
- Shortfalls reported from site, by project
- Offcut stock by tube and channel size
- Customer dues with oldest bill first
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- Drawing file attachments
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Does it work out loads and member sizes?
- What happens when the customer revises the layout?
- Can heat numbers from steel suppliers be recorded?
- How do we follow parts out at the coating plant?
- Can kits be packed by array row?
- Is aluminium handled as well as steel?
- Can the site report a missing item?
- Can drawings be attached?
- Who holds the project records?
- How is cost decided?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Layout changes arrive after cutting has started
- Galvanised parts return without a record
- Fasteners are packed from memory
- Steel offcuts are not reused
- Dispatch lists do not match the array
Prefer to talk it through? See the solar mounting structure manufacturers page.