Window treatment software – precision of designs with no reworking or complaints

In the production of window coverings everything starts with the design – this is the stage where decisions are made that later determine the correctness of manufacturing and installation. The design serves as the basis for creating quotations, component summaries, production documents, and installation guides. If the design contains imprecise data, the error propagates through subsequent stages and becomes visible during production or installation at the customer's site. Then a correction means a loss of time, material and profit.

In Stolcad^® Professional designs are treated as technical documents – directly linked to the manufacturer's technologies. All design decisions such as, for example, system type, installation method, control direction or dimensions are interpreted by the software in the context of the specific technology. This means that the program describes the design not only visually, but also checks whether it is feasible and technologically correct within the selected parameters.

Stolcad^® Professional in real time verifies every design decision made by the user in accordance with the technology entered into the software and does not allow incorrect combinations. When the designer defines dimensions, installation type or fabric type, the software automatically analyses dependencies between structural elements. If the calculated dimensions of profiles, cassettes or guides exceed permissible lengths – the software will not allow the incorrect configuration to be saved and will display an appropriate message. Stolcad^® Professional functions as a quality controller even before production begins – instead of checking the finished product, it eliminates the error at the level of input data.

In many companies the biggest source of problems is a lack of consistency of information between departments. The salesperson records data in a spreadsheet, the designer interprets it in their own way, and production receives yet another version of the dimensions or a description inconsistent with the technology. As a result, products which are created are “in accordance with the document” but not with the intention of its customers. In Stolcad^® Professional the design constitutes a complete and sufficient data source for both sales and production. The data determined in it is passed directly to production in subsequent stages.

A change in the design automatically updates technological documentation. In practice this means that the design created by the salesperson is identical with the production design. If the company cooperates with showrooms, project data may also be passed via Dealer Professional programs. This way all approved designs prepared in showrooms will reach Stolcad^® Professional as verified technical data – without manual retyping and without errors.

Every design created in Stolcad^® Professional is a record of actual technological decisions and the assortment used. Over time, the database of designs in the software becomes a source of knowledge about the production process. It enables analysis of the consistency of design decisions, checking which configurations are selected most frequently and assessing to what extent designs reflect the accepted technological standard of the company.

In the long term the designs form an internal database of the technological experience of the company. Every new order uses the knowledge recorded in previous projects, which translates into process stability, shorter design decision times and minimisation of subjective interpretations. As a result, the company gains a real tool for analysing repeatability and improving the quality standard.

Every inconsistency in the design is a potential complaint. Most often the cause lies not in manufacturing, but in the discrepancy between documentation and the expectation of the customer. Stolcad^® Professional eliminates this risk through strict and unambiguous linking of design data with the mechanism that generates production data on the basis of those designs. In Stolcad^® Professional every configuration is created on the basis of verified dependencies, so even a new employee obtains a result consistent with the long-established standard of the company.

Standardisation of design rules translates into identical results regardless of who prepares the order. Continuous background validation, data consistency and automatic generation of documentation ensure repeatable quality. With a properly configured database a sales department employee does not even need to know the technological details and can focus solely on selling. For the company this means fewer corrections and greater work efficiency. Instead of controlling the result, Stolcad^® Professional controls the process – and it is the process that determines quality stability and reduction of complaints.