I love change. I welcome it and it drives me every day and maybe that’s why technology and I are good together.
Technology changes so fast. You can see trends in a lot of technologies like things getting smaller, faster and cheaper. The woodworking industry is no exception. We may be a little behind in adopting it, but it’s there. CNC and software are much more accessible than ever before. Thirteen years ago, a software and CNC machine solution would have been starting in the range of $200k. Today a decent complete system can be bought for less than half that. It’s a lot more accessible than ever before.
Manufacturing today can be achieved much more efficiently, in a smaller space and with a fraction of the investment.
Now let’s talk about the showroom and sales process.
Software has changed the presentation stage to the customer. The public is now often expecting 3D drawings or even renderings. So what’s next?
I’ve recently been exposed to new simulation software that shows the kitchen (or any other room) in full 1:1 scale, fully rendered and in full 3D depth. It’s quite amazing. I believe it’s the future of our showrooms.
A rendering on an 8 1⁄2” x 11” sheet of paper is better than showing a floor plan, but full 1:1 scale shows the exact job before a single penny is spent or a piece of wood is cut.
It takes less than 50 square feet of floor space and you can display an unlimited number of kitchens, jobs. Imagine having a showroom with 100 kitchens in just 50 square feet. The reduction in overhead is tremendous. Updating models is done at a very low cost compared to ripping out a kitchen display and putting in a new one. You can import FBX files from Autodesk products or files from Google SketchUp. Once imported, the files can be virtualized to allow the user to mix and match textures and colors. So you can have a kitchen displayed in front of you at full scale in full depth and then change the counter top granite, floors, cabinets color, backsplash, and wall colour, something that you can’t do with a kitchen on display in your showroom. It has a fixed look to it and that’s it.
Since it has a small footprint, new opportunities open up, such as displaying in a shopping mall, at home shows, displaying in a storefront on busy pedestrian streets, or even in showrooms that sell complimentary products, such as plumbing fixtures, granite, etc. The system uses a sensor that detects when someone is in front of the display. From there, the user interaction is very intuitive. The user can move the kitchen around, change kitchen models, change colors and textures and even save a configuration they have created and like. For the manufacturer or dealer, all the usage statistics are recorded and can be reported on. You can tell how many people used the system, for how long, what they looked at, etc.
With nesting CNC routers, the manufacturing floor space required has been reduced. Now with this type of technology, the showroom floor space can be reduced as well. New shops will be using these technologies as they start up, so existing businesses need to pay close attention to the technology trends to stay competitive. At the end of the day, your customer doesn’t care about how high your overhead is, they continuously look for better price, better quality and faster delivery. It’s our job as business owners to figure out how we can continuously deliver that to our customers.
Peter Mate is co-owner and president of Planit Canada, a software and services company devoted to servicing the manufacturing industry. For more info, email peterm@planitcanada.ca or visit planitcanada.ca
