Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for specialty chemical manufacturers.
A checklist built from how specialty chemical 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.
- Laboratory trials and formulations
- Scale-up and pilot batches
- Master batch records
- Raw material lots and substitutions
- Batch quality results
- Certificates and data sheets
- Registration and customer records
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For research chemists
- For production supervisors
- For quality and laboratory staff
- For technical sales
- For regulatory staff
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Trials open and their customer feedback
- Formulation versions and approval dates
- Pilot and production batches by product
- Batches held or released by test result
- Raw lots used in a chosen product
- Data sheet versions sent by customer
- Small-batch cost against quoted price
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- Laboratory instrument import
- Label printer
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can we see every version of a recipe?
- How does scale-up work in the record?
- Can a raw material substitution be recorded?
- Does it keep customer-specific limits?
- Can the laboratory import instrument results?
- Can we price a small batch properly?
- How is the technical data sheet protected?
- What do we see before agreeing a proposal?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Trials and production recipes are disconnected
- Raw material variation passes unseen
- Small orders cost more than they should
- Technical data sheets multiply
- Registration status is scattered
Prefer to talk it through? See the specialty chemical manufacturers page.