Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for solvent manufacturers.
A checklist built from how solvent 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.
- Tank and lot register
- Blend recipes
- Laboratory results
- Certificates of analysis
- Drum and IBC pool
- Dispatch and tanker loads
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For plant managers
- For laboratory analysts
- For tank farm operators
- For dispatch and the office
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Tank stock by product, book level against dipped level
- Lots on hold and released, with the test that held them
- Blend batches by recipe revision and yield
- Distillation cuts by boiling range and receiving tank
- Drum pool by status, owner and last contents
- Dispatches by customer with certificate numbers
- Unpaid customer invoices by 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.
- Can the system compare book stock with dipped stock for a tank?
- How are blends tied to recipes?
- Can a lot be blocked from shipping?
- Does it handle recovered solvent?
- Can we track customer-owned drums?
- What do you need from us to set the system up?
- How is it priced and shown?
- Can we get our data out?
- Who looks after changes when a grade or a limit changes?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Tank stock and lot numbers drift apart
- Recipe sheets live on paper
- Certificates are typed by hand
- Drum returns have no owner
- Recovered solvent loses its history
Prefer to talk it through? See the solvent manufacturers page.