Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for well-drilling companies.
A checklist built from how well-drilling companies 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.
- Enquiries and site surveys
- Quotations by metre and item
- Drilling jobs and rig schedule
- Daily drilling log
- Casing, pipe and bit store
- Rig maintenance and fuel
- Yield tests and completion reports
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For surveyors and estimators
- For drillers
- For store keepers
- For the office and accounts
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Metres drilled each month, split by rig and formation
- Casing and drill pipe issued, borehole by borehole
- Quotations won, lost and still open, with quoted depth beside depth drilled
- Services falling due by hours run, and repairs for each machine
- Diesel drawn by each rig and its fuel cost per metre
- Boreholes awaiting a yield test before the completion report
- Amounts owed, customer by customer, oldest first
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- SMS
- Payment gateway
- Accounting package export
- Spreadsheet import
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Does it suit water boreholes and geotechnical drilling?
- Can a driller fill in the log on a phone at the rig?
- How are metres billed when depth differs from the quotation?
- Can casing be tracked by size and length?
- Does it handle rig servicing?
- Can pump installation be billed apart from drilling?
- Can the completion report be given to the customer?
- What does a demonstration involve?
- Who looks after changes to rates and forms?
- Can I take my records out if I stop using it?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- The drilling log is on paper
- Quotes and final bills differ
- Casing and bits are not tracked
- Rigs lose time to repairs
- Fuel and crew costs are spread thin
Prefer to talk it through? See the well-drilling companies page.