Tightening The Belt

First Degree Systems’ Greg Beachim explains how finding efficiencies in your business could be a life saver in these precarious times and suggests the application of software will help you through.

He writes, the stresses and strains currently felt by window fabricators aren’t something new but it’s been about 14 years since we’ve seen demand drop after a prolonged period of growth. And when the market did contract in 2008, we didn’t have the added pressures of rising energy and fuel costs, inflation at 11% and the cost of living squeezing household finances.

This puts real pressures on fabricators as increased supply costs are passed on in a timely fashion and decent cash reserves are maintained to cover late payment. Making efficient use of their assets, rather than simply cutting those that are inefficient, is one way fabricators can do this.

 

Remakes make trouble

Take Window Designer from First Degree Systems as an example. The software is used to process window designs more efficiently - and reduce the number of remakes as a result. The cost of a window remake extends far beyond the price of material and labour. If you factor in the delay to other products in the manufacturing schedule, the delivery to site, the potential delay to the project and the reputational damage, then the cost of that one remake is very much more.

 

Stock control

Further efficiencies can be realised that also add margin and profit to the bottom line. For example, within the Window Designer suite of software products, there are solutions for managing stock efficiently, another area that can free up a significant amount of cash.

Good stock control comes down to understanding demand. If you know what you want, and when you want it, you don’t need to buy profile on spec. And, as homeowners have more product choice, it is more important than ever to keep stock levels down, otherwise you could find yourself bursting at the seams.

First Degree Systems’ Stock Assistant programme integrates fully with Window Designer and gives fabricators full oversight of their stock holding. It can offer just-in-time stock ordering, pre-allocate requirements and even reconcile accounts.

This means that you can reduce your general stock overhead and buy in at demand. And if you're working effectively with your stock lead times, you will reduce your stock levels. Generally, this will release the money that you've got tied up in stock.

 

Footprint

A significant knock-on effect of this is that you don’t have to find extra space to put stock in, and you can free up additional floor space, which can be used profitably.

I have seen, even from medium-sized businesses, around £150,000-worth of released capital thanks to effective stock control, which can be critical for any business.

 

Aluminium

If you have Window Designer set up for you PVC-U window production, don’t forget that you can use the same software if you expand into aluminium manufacture. This immediately saves you the cost of investing in new software - and it also improves your bottom line in other ways. We’ve found that processing aluminium orders is up to five times quicker than the architectural software that is typically used for aluminium orders, allowing you to push more product through your product line, more efficiently.

 

Don’t buy, rent

Finally, I would suggest that if you bought Window Designer some years ago, I would consider changing to an online rental model. This will keep you updated to the latest version and make is easy for you to access the bolt-on packages that will help you realise further efficiencies and release more cash in your business.

Picture: First Degree Systems’ sales manager Greg Beachim.

www.firstdegreesystems.com

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
12th September 2022

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