Dealing with inflation
Window fabricators are facing a squeeze unlike any they have felt for a long time. They’re dealing with pressure to balance rising input costs while attempting to remain competitive in the marketplace.
For many businesses, this situation went under the radar as business owners celebrated the increase in turnover generated by post-Covid demand. But the cost of raw materials was steadily creeping up during this time, eating into profit margins and leaving accounts weakened.
Today, window fabricators are looking at ways to cut costs, while increasing productivity and profitability. It’s not an easy task, says Greg Beachim, Sales Manager of First Degree Systems, but the route to carry your business through could be hiding in plain sight.
“First of all, if you are still processing designs manually, you are increasing the margin of error in production which carries significant extra costs,” he says. “From initial design, to processing at the window company, and then reprocessing at the window fabricator – at every stage you’re creating a point of risk where extra problems can be added in. Ultimately, this results in having to remake windows, which carries significant extra costs.
Window Designer
“Window Designer, and its add-ons from First Degree Systems, is a seamless integrated window product, which enables you to take the design from the end user’s perspective: an order is electronically sent to the window company, which then processes it, completes a survey, then sends it on to a fabricator, who checks the details and puts it into the manufacturing process before the final product is delivered on site.
“Not only does the right software speed up the window design process, it reduces the possibility of error and the associated costs: the window remake and delivery to site.”
Beachim states that many fabricators pick up the basic Window Designer software to process the designs in the factory, but they could benefit further from Window Designer’s suite of products that create efficiencies in the whole process.
“In practice, sales teams will sit with homeowners and go over window designs in Fengo2 to help win the sale. This gets fed into Cloud Retailer, which allows window installation companies to create instant quotes, release jobs to manufacture and see an order has been accepted in near real-time.
“Once the order is with the fabricator, Production Manager offers visual planning for greater productivity, and Delivery Manager populates delivery routes. Other bolt-on software includes Stock Assistant, an integrated stock management system, and Barcode Tracking, which gives full visibility of the work running through a given production facility.
Zandi
“Also available is Zandi, a powerful business metrics and CRM tool with pre-quote and pre-order facilities. These all seamlessly convert to Window Designer quotes and orders. Zandi allows users to manage the sales process from lead to delivery, with dedicated aftercare options and landing pages that can be tailored to a customer’s needs.”
Stock Assistant
Beachim also points out that First Degree Systems’ Stock Assistant programme integrates fully with Window Designer and gives fabricators full oversight of their stock holding. It can offer on-demand stock ordering, pre-allocate requirements, and even reconcile invoices.
This means fabricators can reduce their general stock overhead and reduce their stock levels, releasing money tied up in stock. Increased cash availability grants a much-needed flexibility for the future with companies no longer overburdened by their stock requirement.
“I have seen, even from medium-sized businesses, around £150,000 of released capital thanks to effective stock control, which can be critical for any business,” Beachim says. A significant knock-on effect of this is that fabricators don’t have to find extra space to put stock in, freeing up additional floor space, which can be used profitably.
Aluminium processing
“And if you are looking to expand into aluminium, then Window Designer can help you do that without investing in specialist architectural software, all while being up to five-times quicker,” he says. Window Designer has been made to match the ambition of any company that’s using it.
“If you have the basic Window Designer software from First Degree Systems, I’d say that now is the right time to talk to us to see how we can leverage it to save costs and make money,” says Beachim. “We can make you more efficient and help you make the most of opportunities.”
To learn more please visit www.firstdegreesystems.com, email [email protected], or call 01283 808042.