One Hundred Kitchens a Week for Social Housing:   

ArtiCAD-Pro performs for Newco

Based in Stratford, east London, Newco Products (currently an enterprise owned by the London Borough of Newham) manufactures designs and fits kitchens, bathrooms and windows.Newco Products chose ArtiCAD-Pro in 2003 and now uses the software to design, on average, one hundred kitchens every week. Suraj Meghani, Contracts Manager at Newco Products:  “Our surveyors take their laptops into the tenants’ houses and use ArtiCAD-Pro to create a kitchen design on the spot.  Typically they do between ten and fourteen surveys each day using the software.  This illustrates just how quick and easy it is to use ArtiCAD-Pro.  And since we are paid for each survey we undertake, the more we can complete, the greater our revenues.”

Planning for success

The majority of the company’s work is undertaken under the auspices of the Decent Homes initiative, with a small but increasing proportion also being carried out for private home owners.  The Decent Homes 2010 standard was launched in 2000 by central government and is committed to bringing all public sector homes up to an agreed standard within ten years.  In the case of Newham Council, this involves inspecting and potentially carrying out remedial work on some 20,000 council properties.

Despite the large number of houses owned by the Council, Newco Products is looking to the future.  The company is currently in the process of  investigating the feasibility of  its status such that it will no longer be wholly owned by Newham Council.  Once some degree of independence has been established – probably with the Council retaining just a percentage of the ownership -  Newco Products will be free to respond to tenders and pitch for kitchen design work outside the Borough.  Suraj Meghani:  “Initially we will look at other areas of London.   We are the only disabled workshop in London manufacturing kitchens and employing about one hundred staff from the local community.  Not only will this stand us in good stead when we respond to public sector tenders, but we will also be very competitive in terms of our pricing and levels of service.”

A seamless operation

Although part numbers and delivery notes are currently added manually to the ArtiCAD design before it is passed to the factory for manufacture this is shortly to change.  ArtiCAD has developed an interface between their design software and Newco Products’ data file.  This is currently being tested and once implemented will ensure that parts numbers and delivery notes are produced automatically for each design, saving even more time.

Suraj Meghani had previously used a different kitchen design package before he moved to ArtiCAD-Pro in 2003.  However having found this difficult to use, he has been very pleased with the results from ArtiCAD-Pro.  “We now have about fifteen users of the software and all of them find it very easy to use.  ArtiCAD-Pro is very important for our business both now and into the future.  Every single kitchen we design, manufacture and install starts and finishes with ArtiCAD.”

The ArtiCAD impact

The level of service offered by Newco Products has – and will in the future – be important in the company’s ongoing growth and success.  And ArtiCAD-Pro will continue to plays a major role in this.  “Constructors were used to waiting a couple of days for a drawing.  But because of our use of the ArtiCAD software, they now receive the drawings immediately.  They don’t have to return to the property to check anything because of the accuracy and level of detail in the ArtiCAD designs.  This is saving them considerable amounts of time and effort.”

For its social housing contracts, Newco Products receives details of the properties to be upgraded from the main partners.  Newco surveyors then make an appointment to visit the tenants and, having discussed what they’d like in their new kitchen, produce a design immediately using ArtiCAD-Pro. 

Since all Newco’s doors, worktops and handles are included in a catalogue in ArtiCAD-Pro, the surveyor simply drags and drops the selected items into the design.  A copy of the design is printed out to be left with the tenant, one is sent to the constructors and one is retained by Newco to be posted on its web site for access by authorised users. 

Suraj Meghani:  “Newham has standardised on four types of door, six work surfaces and six handles.  This makes it quicker for the surveyors to produce the designs and it simplifies our manufacturing process, whilst still giving the tenants lots of choice.

“Many of the tenants find it very helpful that we leave a copy of the design with them.  It gives them time to think about it and, particularly for the elderly, a chance to discuss it with friends and relatives.  If they want any changes made, they simply call and the surveyor goes back, makes the changes in ArtiCAD-Pro and shows them the final design.”