Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for vMC machining shops.
A checklist built from how vMC machining shops 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.
- Machine loading by spindle hours
- Magazine and tool lists
- Fixture and pallet records
- Casting and forging receipt
- Batch logs and rejects
- Night-run notes
- Washing, deburring and dispatch
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For production planners
- For setters
- For operators and night shift
- For incoming and final inspection
- For owners
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Spindle hours cutting, changing over and idle, per centre
- Batches due, late and short, per buyer
- Reject causes per housing and per centre
- Blowholes and cold shuts per foundry lot
- Night-run halts per alarm number
- Insert and drill consumption per programme
- Cycle time achieved against the CAM estimate
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- Accounting export
- Barcode labels
- Machine controller data feed
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can it connect to the machine controls?
- How are pieces per cycle handled?
- Can we hold a casting lot that looks suspect?
- Does it plan tool requirements?
- Can a batch move to another machine?
- What about parts that need outside treatment?
- Is machine downtime recorded?
- How long does it take to load our existing data?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Magazine lists are rebuilt each time
- Spindle hours are known only by guess
- Castings arrive with unrecorded defects
- Unattended runs stop early
- Multi-part fixtures make counts untidy
Prefer to talk it through? See the vMC machining shops page.