Connors Kitchens by Design have been around for over 18 years, owner Peter Connors was sick of seeing his hand writing and giving clients hand-drawn designs. He wanted to be able to give his clients more; giving them a better experience and ensuring they were confident in what they were going to get. Peter was also getting frustrated at how disorganised his office was, with large amounts of paper work pilling up around his office. Peter researched into the different software options available, and decided the best option for him was to use Cabinet Vision provided by Planit.
Peter started out with Planit’s entry-level software package, Solid Essential. This gave him the ability to draw his designs, modify cabinets, easily make changes to match client requests and provide them a 3D realistic render to sign off on. Using Cabinet Vision allowed Peter to better organise his jobs, which helped reduce those piles of paper work on his desk; it also allowed him to become more efficient in his designing and provide a better service to his customers.
Since Peter had the software installed into his business, he has found that it has helped him win more jobs and make more money. Peter explains, “One of the big advantages for us when we are competing against another company for a job, if they are giving the client hand drawings and we are using the software to show our design, clients have more confidence in what we’ll provide. We are winning more jobs because of the software.”
Peter also understood that he needed to continue to invest in order to improve his business. Again, Peter did his research, and realised that having a CNC in their factory would assist in improving their manufacturing, he chose to purchase a new Biesse Skill. The new machine was installed and they began to use Biesseworks to control their machine. However, a couple of months later, Peter wanted more functionality and greater control over his manufacturing, so he looked at how he could connect both his machine and software together.
Upgrading his software to access more features and be able to seamlessly connect to his machine was an easy process for Peter and his team. All the skills and data that they had developed in Solid Essential, was carried over to the higher level. Cabinet Vision’s Solid Standard gave Peter the functionality to draw their designs and send all the production information to the machine and factory floor. Peter and his team have greater confidence in the work they are producing because Cabinet Vision “ensures our drawings are 100% spot on”.
At the last AWISA show, Peter visited the Planit stand and made the next step with his software and upgraded to Solid Advanced. Peter had got to the stage where they were using Solid Standard to its full capacity, and now wanted more power and functionality to be able to expand. Upgrading to Solid Advanced also gave them the ability to improve their quoting systems by using the Bid Centre within Cabinet Vision. Just like their upgrade from Essential to Standard, everything carried over and allowed Peter to benefit from the features in the higher level.
Peter has been able to really benefit from the upgrade path that Planit has in place. Having an upgrade path has really helped the business financially and with the change process. Being able to upgrade gradually helped Peter take it all in. He explains, “Being able to make the changes in small steps was a much easier and simpler path for me. For us, it was the perfect lead up to where we are now.” The software is able to grow at the same pace as your business. In Peter’s case, the financial investment was spread across multiple steps, meaning the investments were more affordable for the business’ cash flow.
Peter comments at how “Amazed we are at the amount of work we are able to put through with Planit and the CNC, it’s phenomenal. If you didn’t have a CNC and software, you wouldn’t be able to take on extra work without putting yourself under pressure”. In the 5 years since Peter put the CNC and Planit in, he estimates that “our turnover has at least doubled, if not tripled”.
Describing his experience with Planit, Peter makes the remark, “the good thing I find about the guys at Planit is that most of them are ex-cabinet makers, not just sales guys. It makes a difference and gives you more confidence when you’re talking to a cabinet maker about software, not just a sales guy.”