Here's a question I get all the time in my training sessions... "Bruce, can you help me fix my Birch/Birch construction method?"
And right after I hear that question, my vision narrows and my ears are filled with sirens wailing. Fluttering red flags go up everywhere. Metal gates come crashing down while giant bank safes slam themselves closed. And snipers in uniforms suddenly appear on the rooftops. The theme music to Mission Impossible plays loudly from every speaker.... Well, that's what goes on in my head anyhow.
Let me run down a little background here. Cabinet Vision is an amazing program. It has a full slate of stellar features and capabilities - don't get me wrong. With it, you can make detailed estimates without making a single drawing. Your purchasing department can order specific materials for any job from Material Summary reports. You can manage change orders in seconds. You can make detailed professional submittal drawings. Cabinet Vision can show you how its going to cut all the parts for every job and it'll communicate with your CNC machinery.
But, as you have already discovered, you can't get Cabinet Vision to do any of those things very well right out of the box. Oh sure...the program is all there and it doesn't throw any errors. Technically, everything that you paid for is there. All the fundamental data elements are in place. The "seeded", out-of-the-box and limited data is installed and working. You have some basic and generically named materials. And you have some oddly named material schedules. And you can create jobs with 4 basic construction methods for the "assemblies". And it comes with other basic construction methods for drawers and counter tops.
Without realizing it, you've become indoctrinated. You've already swallowed the Cool-Aid. Like everyone else who gets their feet wet with Cabinet Vision, you automatically assume that since the basic data is there - right outta the box - you further assume that the data included must be "good data". You say to yourself, "If Cabinet Vision named a Material Schedule Birch/Birch, I should probably continue to use that naming convention as the model for all my new material schedules".
Or maybe you just keep modifying the Birch/Birch schedule to suit your needs for each new job.
Or maybe you just keep using the Birch/Birch material schedule as it was regardless of the actual materials needed on every subsequent job. Your solution is to simply hand write the names of the actual materials at the top of every cut list report.
At some point, you discovered your Custom Cabinet library...again, the one that comes with Cabinet Vision. In the Custom Cabinet library you found some useful cabinets that you can place in your jobs. All the Std Bases lined up on a wall look pretty good. And you threw in some Std Wall cabinets above the bases on the walls. Where's the full height cabinets? Oh, there they are....Std Tall. One of those will look good right over there. "This is fantastic!"
After an hour or so, that "Christmas morning" high you were feeling was replaced with questions and confusion and even frustration. It's just not the same as figuring out how to move around Fortnite or ROBLOX and it's certainly not as intuitive. If you could install it on your PlayStation or Nintendo, surely, you could figure it out.
And so, you ask yourself, "Am I missing something here?"
Without hesitation and with complete professional confidence, I can tell you the answer is an emphatic, "Absolutely, yes!. You're missing at least three things; personalized training, quality experience and better data."
But you don't have time to worry about any of that right now because you "Gotta get that Anderson job out the door by the 15th". And so it starts. The Anderson job gets out the door somehow....a week late but at least its done. Now, on to the next one.
And the cycle starts all over again with the next job and the next one after that. Little by little and over the coming weeks, months and years you've learned some "work arounds". The "work arounds" became "That's the way I've always done it". And without knowing it, you've created some really nasty habits and some real ugly work-flows.
I really don't get it! If Cabinet Vision was made for Five Star Restaurants, the only thing on the lunch menu would be a "Sandwich", a "Bowl of Soup" and a "Drink". Mmmm! Doesn't your mouth start watering just thinking about that tasty lunch?
To some degree or another, all of us Cabinet Vision users can benefit from personalized training, quality experience and better data.
Personalized Training
To stop the endless cycle of building on nasty habits and following ugly work-flows because that's the way you've always done it, I would like to encourage you to get some help. Seek out an experienced and qualified mentor. Craftsman Engineering offers personalized training for every level of Cabinet Vision user. Follow this link to schedule an introductory meeting with Craftsman Engineering to find out how you can "up your Cabinet Vision game".
Build up your "stick time"
Practice what you learn from your mentor. There is nothing better than a little "stick time" to practice what you've learned. It'll help you undo all those nasty habits you've acquired over the years. Quality experience comes from applying the skills and techniques and work flows you've learned from your personalized training.
Better data
Check out the data products ( packages ) in the Craftsman Engineering Online Store We've created some transformative data packages that will help you become more productive, more profitable and more efficient with Cabinet Vision. Every data package in the Craftsman Engineering Online Store is designed to supplement your current Cabinet Vision database.
Look at the Cost-Plus Bid Center, for example. All the data in the the Cost-Plus Bid Center and Estimators' Toolbox Bundle adds to your current database. You may have years of data that you don't want to part with. And we understand that. It's certainly not our aim to get you to start over. We never encourage you to replace your existing database. Our data packages are designed to complement your current database and make it more complete.
* Please don't send me comments that attempt correct me about Birch/Birch NOT being a construction method. I know it's not. But, I'm here to tell you, that "attention getter" is much more true than it is fiction.
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