Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for surgical instrument manufacturers.
A checklist built from how surgical instrument 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.
- Patterns and drawing revisions
- Steel and blank lots
- Route cards and operation sign-off
- Hardness, alignment and sharpness checks
- Outside processes
- Marking and set building
- Dispatch and invoices
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners and works heads
- For bench supervisors
- For quality inspectors
- For stores and purchase staff
- For packing and dispatch
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Batches by operation with counts in and out
- Rework and rejects by cause and pattern
- Steel heats with the batches they fed
- Lots at outside vendors with return dates
- Sets built against buyer lists with shortages
- Hardness readings trend by pattern
- Orders due against promised dates
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- Accounting export
- Barcode labels
- Laser marker file export
- Tablet at the bench
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Does the route card change when a drawing revision does?
- Can I see which steel heat went into a batch of forceps?
- How are private-label orders kept separate?
- Does it track instruments in a set?
- Can lots at the plating vendor be followed?
- Do operators need a computer at the bench?
- Will it store hardness readings from our tester?
- Can we bring in the patterns we already have?
- What shapes the cost for an instrument maker?
- Who edits routes and checks after go-live?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Travellers do not match the pattern revision
- Steel heat numbers are lost after forging
- Hardness and finish checks are only on paper
- Subcontract steps go out without a trail
- Set builds are counted by hand
Prefer to talk it through? See the surgical instrument manufacturers page.