As we head back to the office, factory or design studio after a well-deserved break, it’s a great opportunity to check on your information technology systems to make sure you can hit the ground running. The experts at Planit have compiled this handy list to get you started:
Make sure you back up your systems/data
Take the time to make sure you have a clean back up of your database. Keep your backups on a device, and in a location, separate to your main server as an extra safety net in the event something unfortunate happens.
Allocate time to review your pricing methods to ensure you’re quoting accurately
Make sure you’re updating any price changes that may come into effect in 2016. Items to revise may be cost of overheads or cost of materials. Here are a few suggestions:
- Wages may have increased
- Materials may be less
- New drawer systems might take longer to assemble
- Lease on building(s) may have increased
- Lease repayments on car(s), machine(s) may have increased or finished paying off
- General running costs such as electricity, phone or internet should have increased
Software maintenance
Software maintenance is similar to servicing your machines – keep them tidy and they’ll keep making you money. Below are a few examples of how to ensure your systems are working efficiently:
- Review current materials in your database – delete un-used items
- Review current hardware in your database – delete un-used items
- Add new trends into the database – glass, aluminium, solid timbers
- Create your top 10 colours, schedules, edgebands etc… to save design and production times
- Create labour schedules to improve factory flow
- Spend time cleaning out unwanted cabinets to ensure you have a clean and easy to use library
- Save common cabinets to favourites bar
- Archive old files to a folder for 2015 and create a folder for 2016
For more information visit http://www.au.planit.com/
