I checked the date of my most recent post. December?! That's a long time. You may ask, where've I been since December?
Many places, both literally, and figuratively.
Literally, I've been to Las Vegas for the International Builders Show in January. Then back to Las Vegas in February for the Surfaces trade show. Later, off to Dallas for a round of hospitality designer visits. Back and forth to jobsites and customers in San Francisco. And, during it all, the steady drumbeat of commuting between the factory and offices in Oxnard, and my home in the Bay Area.
Figuratively, though, I've been to even more places since December. First, we tried to create something different, and I thought pretty much fun, at Surfaces. Normally, we would have had the pleasure of paying through the nose for a booth in a dark and remote corner of the convention hall, because after all, we haven't been displaying for two lifetimes, and accordingly, we have poor space selection options. Instead, we decided to set up camp across the strip at the Mirage Resort. We took a suite on the penthouse floor, and stocked the place with food, drink, and product displays and literature. We invited suppliers, old friends, and some of the people we hoped will become new friends. Instead of standing for eight hours in an exhibit booth, we sat on couches. We snacked, sipped, and chatted - a lot - and until the wee hours. It was great! We'll do it again.
Another figurative place I've been was the experience of collaborating with the design community in Dallas. Some of our new designs are meeting enthusiastic professional acceptance. I was delighted to learn we have earned a business place at the table in the buzzing Dubai/Abu Dhabi arena, with the help of our friends immersed in the design business there. We also have been awarded a Caribbean foothold, which should lead to many more overseas resort-style projects in the coming years. Plus, we've just entered the production phase of a Dallas-designed wood floor for a nameplate hotel project.
As stimulating as these experiences have been, I'm most pleased about something else: the new and energetic expansion we have taken on for the whole company.
Strategically-speaking, Plantation is a "product-driven" enterprise. We aim to design and manufacture the best wood floor available anywhere on the planet, and sell it to whomever wants one, anywhere. Our strategy is not about certain customer groups, or certain technologies, or certain distribution channels. We're all about the Plantation product - the best wood floor we can possibly make!
And we've done pretty well at that. Our plank floor, with its high quality and fully-customizable woods, colors, and finishes, is well-received by the high-end design and contracting communities. Our handmade and prefinished parquet floor designs are popular with designers, builders, and consumers alike.
But the requirement for our company to remain relevant is tied up in innovation. Accordingly, we are engaged daily in product innovation - new colors, new finishes, new shapes, and new design ideas in wood flooring, and all under one roof. One of the joys of owning our factory is the ability to put new ideas into motion under our own strict control and timing. When we, or our customers, want to know what's going on, we simply walk around the premises, and we can see exactly what's going on.
But in additon to product innovation, we are also involved in process innovation. We are testing, upgrading, and modifying the way we produce our customized floors. We are already the specialists in making short production runs - creating for our customers the ultimate in flexibility of choice and timing for their orders.
But during our process innovation, we have discovered something more. Our acts of process innovation are leading to additional, and unexpected, product innovations. For example, one of the floor finishes we developed has led to a product innovation for commercial applications that we didn't have before. Another process innovation is reducing lead times for our customized products by half! And, a killer side-effect: a lower cost of production for these new products! When you are a product-driven company, as we are, this is truly exciting stuff!
Now, what to do about it all? Well, this is where the new and energetic expansion of the company comes in. We have developed two entire new wood floor product lines! And we have a new national sales manager, coming to us from a large and well-known national flooring company. He is busily recruiting and training our national sales force, and we're plotting thirty new markets for new products. Our first big foray into this new marketing rollout is the HD Expo in Las Vegas starting May 19. All our friends will be there, and we can't wait to show off!
So - you may ask, where have I been since December? Now you know!
