Latest News

Date : 27th January 2003

In this issue:

New Catalogues
New Support Facilities
Training Courses
KitchenDraw Charges
Future Developments
Your Views

As this is the first newsletter of 2003 let me first of all wish you all a very prosperous New Year.
The fact that there have not been any update e-mails for a while does not mean that nothing has been happening. On the contrary, as you will see from the rest of this letter there has been a lot of work going on both at the KitchenDraw Office and ours.

We trust that the developments will be of interest to you, and would encourage you to give us your feedback - which is always of interest to us, particularly suggestions which if we can implement them, will benefit fellow users.

New Catalogues.

AGA and New UK Generic Catalogue:

Today two new catalogues were placed on our web site. The first is a revised 'Aga Range Cooker' catalogue which has been updated to include all of the options such as electric, oil, gas cookers in 2 and 4 door versions, as well as the 'companion' to compliment the range.

The second catalogue is an update to the already widely used PHPS Kitchen and Bathroom Catalogue.
This new catalogue has a new name - ECP Kitchen and Bathroom - and as well as containing all the items first included in the PHPS version it now has a host of added items, namely;

- A new range of wooden door styles as well as Vinyl wrap versions of the same doors. These include spindle and trellis patterns as well as most of those currently available from major door manufacturers such as PWS. Burbidge and William Ball, and some framed doors.

- A number of new canopies have been added

- Some new base corner units have also been included to give more flexibility in planning the corners

- There are also now some new Island 'Ceiling Planters'

- Two types of Frame system have also been included for those of you who use items such as the PWS Cargo units. (Note: the feet have been removed from the cabinet drawings to accommodate these).

- A new range of Pilasters for both floor and Plinth mounting have been added.

- We have extended the range of shelving available to include external shelves in both carcass and door colours. One of these is a shelf to take a worktop which can be used to ensure that worktops can be placed automatically on free standing appliances.

- The range of 'decorative units' has been extended to include a variety of wine and plate racks, wicker baskets and tambour units. We have also added a 'round' corner unit and cutting board top.

- There is now a double oven for some of the appliance housings, and also one which can be placed manually in an empty carcass along with door and drawer fronts to create your own combination.

Bedroom Catalogue:

During the next couple of weeks we will also be launching a new Generic Bedroom catalogue for those of you who have requested one. Watch your e-mail for release date.

Door and Carcass Catalogue:

We are currently finishing off a totally new catalogue system which will allow users who use separate carcass and door manufacturers to plan mixing and matching carcass and door manufacturers catalogues.
The first to be released will be a Frontline Carcass catalogue and the Burbidge and PWS door catalogues. Shortly after that we will be releasing further manufacturers catalogues. Again, watch your e-mail for details.

Manufacturers Catalogues:

As well as the above, we have been producing a number of Kitchen Manufacturers catalogues, including pricing. The first will be available during February, so watch your e-mail for details.

New Support Facilities:

On our web site you will find two new links added to increase the already available support.

The first is on the Home Page - the Live Help link at the bottom of the left hand column. This is not yet fully operational, but when officially launched will allow users to contact a member of the support team 'live' in order to have a conversation regarding any issues surrounding KitchenDraw. This will help us to provide a much more effective support facility than the current telephone support. Support staff will be able to converse with more that one user at a time, and will save the frustration of ringing us to find the line is engaged.

The second support facility uses a small programme which you can download from the support page on our web site (see here ). Once installed on your computer, members of the support team will be able to 'take over' your computer over the Internet and help you overcome any problems you have with KitchenDraw, as well as be able to 'demonstrate how' to use the programme.

Training Courses:

We are currently putting together a schedule of dates and venues for training courses for 2003.
If you are interested in training, please let us know, telling us where you are located. This will help us with our planning.

The cost of training is £185 +VAT for the day, which includes 50 free hours for KitchenDraw.

KitchenDraw Charges:

A number of users have raised questions regarding the method of charging for KitchenDraw. Just to clarify this issue - KitchenDraw is based on an hourly charge for time used. The amount of time available to the user is shown on the clock in the top right hand corner of the programme window. This clock reduces the time remaining in 5 minute blocks but only when planning - ie when you are placing catalogue items in the planning window. Time is not reduced if the programme is open and being used to show the different perspectives or using the catalogue editing facility 'Mobiscript'. An average kitchen should consume no more that 30-40 minutes of planning time for a proficient KitchenDraw user. The free 30 hours given when KitchenDraw is first installed should be sufficient for an average computer user to become proficient at planning with the programme.

Another point which must be mentioned is that the charging for KitchenDraw is not 'open ended'. Once a user has purchased 330 hours (approx cost £580) in any twelve month period (January to January), any hours required during the balance of the year are free. So the maximum annual cost of using KitchenDraw is capped at approx £580 per year, with no annual maintenance or upgrade costs or catalogue fees. This is not much more than the annual fees for other systems, but with no capital outlay up front.

Future Developments:

As well as the forthcoming releases mentioned above, the next version of KitchenDraw, due out shortly, will incorporate some major new features. These include the facility to produce component lists and the integration with other software for board optimisation (such as Linkwood and Magicut). It will also be possible to link catalogue items to web pages on the Internet or a local machine to display detailed specification sheets - including photographs - of both cabinets and appliances. So your own or a manufacturers catalogue could be held electronically on your computer or one on the Internet to replace or supplement the paper catalogue.

We are also integrating into the existing catalogue editing programme 'Mobiscript' a facility for users to create their own drawings for their catalogues, including door styles.

Watch your e-mail for details as they become available.

Your Views:

We always appreciate hearing from our users, and welcome contact by telephone (although telephone support will become a chargeable event in the not too distant future).

Please let us have your views, comments and suggestions by e-mail, or post them on the user forum on our web site and make them public.
The forum is also there for you to obtain technical support or advice.

We would particularly welcome contact from any user who feels that they would like to become involved with us as either an accredited KitchenDraw trainer, a catalogue partner (who can earn revenue by producing manufacturer catalogues) or a demonstration site for KitchenDraw.

Ok, so that's about it for this the first newsletter of 2003. A lot to read, but there has been a lot going on, and more to come.

Happy planning, and don't forget - if you need us, we are here to help.

Peter West
Easycadplus
Tel: 01278 653726