Start a software evaluation with a record structure: the required task or course, the version used, the completion event, its supporting evidence, any practical assessment and the review that follows. The checklist below is an evaluation aid, not a statutory form. Use it to ask what a shortlisted system can show, rather than treating a status colour as the whole record.
- Trace the status back to the record and its evidence.
- Evaluate instruction, recordkeeping and practical assessment separately.
- Check the course version and any unresolved follow-up.
Start with one operator's record
Write down the question the record should answer before comparing screens. Which requirement applied? What version was used? What was completed, and what still needs review? Keep the completion event separate from the decision about whether the relevant ability has been demonstrated. Leave unknown information visibly unresolved in your evaluation notes.
For the wider program, use the manufacturing training software guide. For this evaluation, keep the focus on the evidence behind one task-level record.
The training records software buyer checklist covers the general recordkeeping evaluation.
Check the evidence behind the status
The ISO/IAF Auditing Practices Group's guidance on ISO 9001:2015 explains that course participation alone may not demonstrate competence. This is guidance, not the standard text or a universal list of required fields. ISO/IAF APG competence guidance, page 6.
| Record question | What to inspect |
|---|---|
| What was completed? | Look for the original completion date and the evidence supporting that event. |
| How was practical ability checked? | Inspect the assessment method, result and evidence separately from attendance. |
| Which version applied? | Follow the record to the task or course version used at completion. |
| Who reviewed the evidence, and when? | Check the reviewer or assessor and the date of that review. |
| What remains open? | Look for any conditions, further assessment or follow-up that needs a decision. |
Ask to move between the status and its evidence during the evaluation. If the evidence is elsewhere, check whether its reference is clear enough to retrieve the right file and distinguish it from a later revision. The LMS completion and audit evidence guide explores the difference between a recorded completion and the evidence needed to explain it.
Separate instruction from recordkeeping
List the functions you need: teaching the task, presenting work instructions, recording completion and checking practical ability. Evaluate each function separately even when one product combines them. Poka describes digital instruction, scored exams, trainer assessments and training records in its published material. Poka's manufacturing training page. That example is a reason to inspect the workflow, not to assume that product categories are mutually exclusive.
Use a regulated example carefully
For US powered industrial trucks, OSHA distinguishes instruction and practical training from evaluation of performance in the workplace. 29 CFR 1910.178(l)(1)-(2). The forklift training records guide covers that example in more detail. Use the OSHA training guidance index to locate the applicable standard; do not turn this example into a rule for every task or jurisdiction.
What TrainGrid records
For an aerospace recordkeeping context, see AS9100 training records.
TrainGrid by Solvesoft is training records and training matrix software for manufacturing plants and other regulated workplaces, built by Solvesoft Corp. in Ontario, Canada.
TrainGrid records training and evidence; it does not deliver or grade e-learning courses.
A completed TrainGrid assignment has fields for completion date, grade, hours and instructor.
TrainGrid attachment types include Certificate, Attendance sheet, Competency evidence and Other.
For a course requiring competency, TrainGrid offers assessment recording to a user with assessment permission when the assignment is completed and is not marked as failed.
TrainGrid displays the assessor, assessment date and an optional reassessment due date with the assessment.
TrainGrid supports course versions and retraining assignments while keeping completed evidence tied to the version used.
Employees and courses import by CSV; training history not imported. Set Repeat every (days) and Valid for (days) on the course before recording past training with its original completion date, or keep the old register as the historical record.
Test a record before choosing a system
In each shortlisted tool, trace the requirement to its completion, evidence and version. Check who may view, record or assess the information. Ask to export the evidence your process needs, then inspect what you can actually open outside the tool. Record any gaps in the evaluation rather than assuming that a feature label proves the workflow.
Read the product guide for the documented workflow and compare the published plans against your requirements.