On April 12th and 13th, Canter was invited to attend and work at the Colorado Chapter of APPA, which consists of facilities professionals throughout Colorado. The beginning of the event was held at the Colorado School of Mines, which we were not able to attend, but the evening networking event we made it to was held at the Ameristar Casino in Blackhawk.
The event is meant to inform members of new trends, sustainable practices and technologies that can be utilized within their facilities. Campuses and Universities don’t necessarily invest into their findings from the event right away, so seeing these aspects of their functionality currently in use at other locations is the best way to express why some of these new trends, sustainable aspects and new technologies are so vital to upcoming higher education facilities. During the event, two of our sales representatives held down the fort and manned a table educating visitors on all that Canter brings to the table in terms of commercial furniture and how our team can assist them in their design process with our 8 simple steps that we call ‘The Canter Experience’:
- Vision – Step one is all about information gathering. The sales rep and your designer will collaborate with you to discuss the budget, define the goals of the project, recommend products, and finally, explain expectations moving forward.
- Design – This is when we begin to clarify the project. We take a close look at drawings, explore the floorplan, narrow down product selections, and ultimately, provide an estimate for the project.
- Style – We get hands-on with color, fabric and finishes. Finish selection overlaps with architecture and branding, so we want to make sure finish selections compliment your brand.
- Space – At this stage we bring in our Project Manager to coordinate installation and space requirements. We also take a closer look at furniture drawings and floor plans and compare them to the estimate.
- Order – Your project team checks for accuracy and prepares the order. Our manufacturer partners are notified of the impending order. They prepare their facility for the manufacturing process which may include any custom requests.
- Partners – We go to great lengths to make sure we maintain open communications with our manufacturing partners. Communication is critical to delivering and installing the products on time and without any errors.
- Installation – This is when all our hard work begins to pay off. But the work is far from over. Installation requires tight collaboration and communication between the Project Manager, manufacturing partners, and the installation team.
- Post Occupancy – All hands are on deck to review the project. A thorough walkthrough is performed with you and the project manager to make sure everything is just as you imagined it. If errors or damages are found, they are notated and addressed promptly.
Throughout all of the presentations on the various topics relating to facilities and facilities management, the vendor booths providing solutions and information and all the networking, our Canter team was well represented and we obtained and now implement into our suggested client solutions.