A Checklist for Tomorrow (2022 Edition)

No more survival mode.

This is our annual wishlist for your business – our top ten list of actions, improvements and goals we hope you have on your vision board.

1. Advocate for what you need
Labour issues? Competition from cheap imports? Time to do something about it. Don’t wait for 10 000 of your closest woodworking friends to join you before you raise your voice. Often, the best advocacy initiatives start with one call, one open door, and one invitation to chat. Invite your local MNA to your shop for a photo op and a conversation about how these issues affect your business. If you want help with talking points, reach out to your favourite industry association who will gladly give you something to work with.

2. Be a joiner
The previous point dovetails nicely into our next recommendation: join an association. For our industry to remain strong, we’ll need to work together. Curious about HR best practices, software integration times, or how to hire foreign workers? An industry association will connect you with a shop owner who knows the ropes and is willing to save you some trouble. The opposite is true too – you can give back by sharing some of the wealth of knowledge and experience you’ve gained over the years. We need your beautiful mind!

3. Upgrade your calendar
Whiteboard, Google calendar, paper systems got a little out-of-control in 2021? You’re not alone. With increased demand for your product and supply chain issues, standard calendars just won’t cut it anymore. Enter WEB-CAB’s Planning Assistant – a smarter calendar designed for your business. Watch the video here. Request a demo here.

4. Welcome the robots
With projects coming in at a breakneck pace and a labour market that hurts even more, cabinet manufacturers are taking a serious second look at robotics. Lean robotic cells offer the consistency needed for volume manufacturing while Cabinet Vision allows the flexibility required for custom projects. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a robot for intelligent offloading, automated doweling and sorting? We think so.

5. Keep your people by training your people
Say what you want about kids these days, but if you’ve hired them, you’ll want to keep them onboard. Sure, we see poaching from industries that can afford to offer higher salaries, but many young people are motivated more by quality of life and possibility of growth than money. Offering on-the-job software training can be a way to show your team you care about their future. Ask us about Cabinet Vision training opportunities.

6. Stop thinking you’ll avoid the inevitable
If these past two years have taught us anything, it’s this: the thing we’re hoping isn’t going to happen is going to happen eventually. The Windows update you can no longer put off is going to crash your system. Your desktop computer will finally call it quits. Your dongle might even get damaged. This year, be unsurprised. Be ready. Upgrade and standardize your Cabinet Vision equipment and related software. Understand what it means to safeguard your manufacturing software investment. Migrate to a keyless license. Prevent future emergencies.

7. Waste not, want not
If you’re in BC, then you’re already painfully conscious of the importance of conservation and considering the environmental impact of manufacturing. Think about ways to leverage software to reduce material waste in your shop. With Cabinet Vision’s xOptimizer, you squeeze the most parts per sheet and can automatically reuse leftover sheets to cut more parts. But material is not the only waste in your shop – there’s time and energy too. With WEB-CAB’s Production Assistant, you can be sure to get your complete orders on site without leaving items behind that’ll need to be shipped later.

8. Sell more efficiently
How much time are your designers spending on rendering? How much have you invested in renovating your showroom? How much trouble are you having generating content for social media? VORTEK Spaces solves all the above. You can go from a Cabinet Vision drawing to a gorgeous render in minutes and publish a walk-through video to social media in one click. With the VR option, you can take clients on a tour of their new kitchen, with a vast selection of material and finish options that can be changed on the fly. Request a demo here.

9. Know where you’re winning, know where you’re losing
Do you get the sense you’re making money on some projects and losing on others? Maybe you’re not even sure? With Cabinet Vision xBidding you generate more accurate quotes, faster. You’ll know where you make your money and can choose your projects accordingly.

10. Measure better
You’re not still sending people onsite with paper and a tape measure, are you? New year, fresh start, efficient measuring tools! Our Leica Geosystems Disto series is directly integrated with CABINET VISION, so you can save time and reduce errors. Ask our team about laser measuring.