Launching ‘the future of interior design efficiency’, indexPRO has launched to allow designers to collaborate in real-time on their FF&E specification, with reliable product details from renowned, design-led, International brands held on the technologically advanced cloud-based platform. Editor Hamish Kilburn checks it out…
The implementation of interior design projects often looks effortless, the grand opening eagerly presented to the awaiting press whose educated eye absorbs the perfection of the interior. Behind the scenes the extensive team of interior designers, owners, operators and procurement companies collectively breathe a sigh of relief, while their eyes are keenly fixed towards the next project. The implementation of design projects is complex. Beset on all sides with challenges, changes and sometimes even a pinch of chaos! And it is this commonly recognised complexity that led to Murad Saleh and Gail Thompson to launch indexPRO – more, we are told, than a simple FF&E scheduling tool, the cloud-based platform enables interior designers, brands, operators and procurement companies to actively collaborate within the platform on a project by project basis.
Introducing a dynamic new way of working
Whether designers are running a multi-location design firm or an individual design consultancy, indexPRO facilitates the flow of information, with all parties kept up to date with the latest details of the project: Manufacturers discontinue an item or change product specification? Procurement companies alter their supply chain? Designers tweak the design specification? With indexPRO all changes are visible to everyone on the team, in real-time.
Designers can select from either an extensive selection of pre-approved international brands or add in their own product selection. Projects can be categorised by area, such as lobby, gym or suite and team members can be customised for each area giving users complete control and reassurance of privacy. Once specified within the indexPRO platform, designers can invite project partners to participate within the project.
The consequential productivity boost for time-challenged designers using indexPRO is astounding. With access to the extensive product database, and the networks who manage them, they can effortlessly realise their design vision, reducing the time spent on specification, whether for a luxury villa or an extensive 500-room hotel, by around 80 per cent – making more time available for creativity and ingenuity whilst reducing the potential for error.
A timely evolution in the design process
The launch of indexPro comes at a time when organisations and professionals across the world have been accelerating their digital transformation, a time when it has become critical to facilitate the easy collaboration of remote teams. Historically, following the successful approval of the design concept, architects or interior designers would utilise their Computer Aided Design skills to produce drawings which can be implemented by the build team. However, the ensuing FF&E schedule, where all the products such as fabrics, washbasins, coffee tables and lamps are detailed, has sadly been neglected in any technological advancement, with designers often resorting to an Excel, Word or even Powerpoint file.
The IndexPRO platform allows the user to easily prepare the FF&E schedule, within its intuitive cloud-based structure. By utilising a Big Data Architecture Pattern, the platform can effectively handle the vast quantity of data available on each product, which can include photos and specification text, whilst Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning creates a smart, intuitive environment for designers to work.
“Our team of engineers have designed a robust, future-proof infrastructure which can operate in a dependable and efficient way, facilitating easy collaboration,” says Saleh. “As a skilled procurement professional, we’ve received over the years specifications in many different formats. Providing an up to date platform for collaboration on the FF&E schedule is something which we feel is well overdue.”
“Although exciting, fun and even considered the delicious icing on the cake, the FF&E specification schedule has a dark side; a blend of human error, unnecessary repetitive tasks and lengthy time-frames turns this job of joy into a pressure cooker of panic,” adds co-founder Gail Thomson. “Testing indexPRO on our own design projects has allowed us to develop the platform into one we know really works.”
The launch of indexPRO is the first phase of an extensive development programme. Both Thomson and Saleh are clearly passionate about the online collaboration of project partners in order to streamline the design and implementation process. Their vision? To drive the future of interior design efficiency.
Main image credit: indexPRO
