Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for wire EDM shops.
A checklist built from how wire EDM 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.
- Quotation by cut length
- Machine hour booking
- Cut programme library
- Wire spool and consumable log
- Start-hole and fixture routing
- Profile inspection record
- Outside process and delivery
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For estimators
- For wire machine operators
- For the inspection bench
- For dispatch and accounts
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Machine hours planned, run and idle, by wire machine
- Quoted cut time against actual cut time, by alloy and plate thickness
- Wire breaks by alloy, thickness and spool
- Brass wire consumed and its cost, by job
- Plates blocked on start holes or fixtures
- Profile reports issued by customer and part
- Hardening and grinding lots with days away from the shop
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- Spreadsheet import
- Accounting export
- Barcode scanner
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Will it tell us what a cut should cost?
- Can an operator log a wire break in a few seconds?
- Does it handle unattended night runs?
- Can we keep slugs and offcuts of expensive material?
- How do repeat orders find the old programme?
- Can profile readings from the measuring machine be imported?
- What about hardening before the cut?
- Can we see which customers are slow to pay?
- How do we start, and what does it cost?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Cut time is estimated, never compared
- Wire breaks leave no trace
- Programmes sit on the machine controller
- Fixtures and start holes are forgotten
- Profile reports are made from memory
Prefer to talk it through? See the wire EDM shops page.