5 MIN READ
Manage FF&E specification, procurement, and product data at scale. Take on bigger projects with confidence and grow your firm with Fohlio. Schedule a demo or book a consultation with one of our account managers to explore features today.
I was probably on my second or third night burning the midnight oil at this point, finally realizing how remarkably inefficient our current design workflow is. Shouldn’t we be spending our time focusing on what we’ve been trained to do?!? Instead I find myself spending countless hours scouring the internet looking for suitable products to include into my projects: faucets, carpet tiles, even brick ties. Five cups of coffee and I can’t remember my own project’s name, let alone that lunch & learn from two months ago where I saw that great whatever.
When you find that great FF&E specification, what then?
I’m sure there’s a couple ways in which you tackle this next part, but for me, it involves a lot of copy and pasting spec details into Microsoft Excel where my design schedules are. Others may use InDesign, AutoCad or Revit, but it really doesn’t matter… we’re spending tedious hours moving data from a webpage or cut sheet and reformatting it into FF&E schedules. With a huge risk of errors that will cost even more time in the future.
The simple solution to FF&E specification? FOHLIO TECHNOLOGY
Technology startups are all over the place, some more worthy than others. Interested in playing with a puppy at work? There’s an Uber app for that!
Surprisingly, architects and designers are still left in the dust and I think the main reason is because, for those not in the industry, understanding its shortcomings is extremely difficult. Check out Fohlio, the web startup that I have been working on with some very talented people that will solve all of this.
No more copy-pasting! Automatic FF&E schedule formatting! Export to software you already use
Our first feature released is a Chrome browser plugin to extract product information from any webpage. Seriously. Just open the plugin, click on the field you want to fill, then click on the bit of information on the webpage that you want to save. That includes text, images, numbers, and even documents. Yes, documents! PDFs, CAD files — you name it, the Fohlio webclipper pulls it into your project and saves it.
We’ve even created a PDF/Indesign presentation tool for those in-house or client presentations we all do from time to time. View your schedules with a new moodboard gallery view, or organize them with our drag-and-drop location navigator.
Solving the data migration of design schedules is just a tip of the iceberg for us. Stay tuned for what’s coming up around the corner: a centralized library of finish products and their manufacturers resources, multi-functional schedule editor, browsing and adding real product drawings directly into your AutoCAD project drawings, collaborating with your team members, specifiers, contractors and vendors, and more.
Go to Fohlio.com to see our specification features in action
Tell us how we can make your FF&E specification workflow better
Your ideas and feedback are what drive us. We are constantly evolving and looking to use technology for our advantage in building solutions focused on the design community. Those workflow bottlenecks, the pains, the shortfalls WE WANT TO HEAR IT! Comment on this post, share it with your cohorts. When you give the tool a try, let us know how we can do better through the chat button.
Manage FF&E specification, procurement, and product data at scale. Take on bigger projects with confidence and grow your firm with Fohlio. Schedule a demo or book a consultation with one of our account managers to explore these features today.
