Evalock discovers a single solution to joinery software

Evalock has been manufacturing windows & doors in the Mittagong area of NSW and supplying Australia wide, since 1980. Owner Gary Evans discovered a love for joinery after a building apprenticeship provided him with an opportunity to work with timber. Completing his apprenticeship Gary started his business initially in his father’s shed, now 33 years later he has 13 staff with 9 joiners and is joined by his son Will. Gary now concentrates on the customer side of the business doing most of the quoting himself, while son Will runs the machines and workshop.

Content with a combination of software programmes that between them provided quoting & drawing tools, Gary was reluctant to look at more software but due to the curiosity of his existing software supplier Gary agreed to visit the AWISA show in July 2012 and take a look at Joinerysoft’s Joinery Management Software (JMS) to provide competitor feedback! The suggestion slightly backfired as following a demonstration of JMS Gary was immediately convinced that the software would have major benefits for his business and remove the need to utilise two packages to do one job – offering significant time savings and reducing duplication. Gary is now gradually phasing out his other two packages and replacing them with Joinerysoft’s total solution – JMS.

Gary says, “I liked the fact that the software was so quick to price and included all the drawing images that I was having to do separately before.” He adds, “We have some regular customers with very specific requirements which I’ve been able to set up on JMS and save even more time.”

JMS provides a complete package from initial design right through to finished product, including:

• Drawing, • Quotes, • Order Confirmation, • Timber, glass & fitting orders, • Cutting lists, • Delivery Notes, & • Invoicing. This means that Gary only needs to utilise one piece of software to do the entire job. As soon as the initial design has been drawn all other reports can be instantly printed, reducing duplication and improving accuracy. The software can handle custom, heritage or contemporary timber joinery and even automatically calculates u-values at the design stage; helpful if you need to meet a particular standard!

Customer quotes include true scale diagrams with detailed fittings, timber & glass so customer disputes are a thing of the past. The clear layouts, fast response times and accuracy that JMS quoting brings to the business present just the right professional image that Evalock demands. Gary adds, “We are constantly discovering more that we can do with Joinerysoft. In the next six months we will receive 3D drawings as a free upgrade which will further enhance our business.”

Quick to correct the view that he is a computer whizz, Gary says he has only been using computers for the last 5 years and gets to know computers by simply having a go, rather than being taught. The approach used by UK supplier Joinerysoft to provide training in bite size chunks over the internet suits Gary perfectly as his training was staggered over a number of weeks meaning that Gary has been able to have a go and use the software in between each scheduled training session. Gary adds, “Joinerysoft’s support and training is based in NZ and is very good. If we need support a trained joiner responds in good time – Not that we’ve had to ask too much!”

Gary is keen to improve the business while still maintaining his small family run ethos. Most of his joiners & staff have been home grown and he hopes this trend will continue. Keen to improve in policies and performance Gary’s progressive approach has ensured that the business is able to grow without having to expand in size. A modern website has provided a significant increase in enquiries and utilising the Joinerysoft software for quoting now means that Gary can keep up with the volume of enquiries coming in, whereas he used to have to be selective and prioritise quotes as he couldn’t do them all. Able to keep up with the work load now, not only will more work be generated but also profitability should also benefit as Gary is also finding Joinerysoft far more accurate than previous software. Gary’s drive for precision has led to digital readouts for all measuring tools in the workshop which makes it easy for his machinists to transfer the accurate measurements from Joinerysoft’s cutting lists into the timber required.

Gary concludes,” I believe that software is important to the business to make us more efficient and accurate. I find JMS so easy to get around and believe where JMS is concerned one piece of software is definitely better than two.”

Evalock Windows & Doors

gary@evalock.com.au

www.evalock.com.au

Tel: 61 (2) 4871 2144