Over the past week I have observed numerous postings which touched on the topic of Picture Framing Software. As a supplier to the Picture Framing Industry I have several comments which I would like to share with all of you, both to set the record straight, and to perhaps help those of you who may be considering (or re-considering) such a purchase.
Comment #1
My company, Raphael’s, provides every software vendor known to us with complete product pricing information and we update our information as often as we have pricing changes. (October of 2001 was the latest update we sent out). We do not charge for this information and we provide it on an absolutely equal basis to every Vendor. At least until just recently, I believe we were the only provider of fabrics and liners which had done the work required to be included in ALL of them. Our Pricing information is given to each company in the manner they request it , with the info presented on the basis they request (for example, pricing in terms of Cost Per United Inch or Cost Per Square Inch), and delivered to them via the method they prefer (via e-mail or on a disk). We do this entirely for the sake of our customer’s convenience. We believe, perhaps mistakenly, that every program out there has at least one of our Customers using it.
Comment #2
There has been some mention of fees charged Industry Suppliers by one or more Software providers for the privilege of having their information included in the program. While Raphael’s has paid such fees, and would continue to do so, again for the sake of our Customers, if I were a Framer I would have a couple of problems with Software providers who adopt this policy. First of all, as a Framer using one of these programs, I wouldn’t want to think there was ANYTHING which might keep any one of my suppliers from having their information included in the program. As has been mentioned in some of the postings, some suppliers may not be willing or able to justify the payment of such a toll, especially one which appears to be increasing each year. Looking a little further down the road however, I would not want to be faced with the possibility that my software vendor might choose to take advantage of their position as gatekeeper to limit or bar access participation for ANY purpose which might conflict with my desire to see the program be all inclusive. Even the thought of there being anything but the most cooperative relationship between the suppliers of the product information and the software vendors who in essence re-sell me the information in a more useable form, would greatly diminish my willingness to rely on such a program. On the other hand, if I am assured by my software vendor that all Suppliers who are willing to provide their information in the appropriate form will be included in the program, then I will no longer have to be the victim of software vendor and industry supplier blaming each other for a problem which mostly seems to hurt me, the Framer.
I have seen quite a few postings where Framers pass along comments made
by both sides of such a dispute and unfortunately they frequently just muddy up the water when it comes to the truth. Let me tell you how you can shake the truth out for yourself. If you have Suppliers at this point, who, after being given several years to prepare, have not at least provided their product information to those Software Vendors such as Specialty Soft, Frame Ready, Lifesaver, or others, who are ready, willing and able to assist them in doing so and which DO NOT charge for the inclusion of their information, I would be inclined to discount their claims of hardship. Likewise, if you have a Supplier whose information is not available in your particular software program and your Software Provider claims the problem lies with the Industry Supplier, see if that Supplier’s information is available in other Software programs. Most of the Software companies list the Suppliers included in their programs at their web sites. It would be a rare case that one of your Suppliers provides this information to one of the Software companies and then chooses not to get some more mileage out of all the work they did to put it all together. With about 15,000 products priced out in Raphael’s electronic price list, perhaps it was more of a burden for us to get everything set up, but we know the benefits to Customers easily justify this cost. This leads me to my third and final comment.
Comment #3
There is a great deal of difference between the various companies providing Picture framing software when it comes to what they do with the information provided them by Suppliers. The same can also be said for how they deal with customer suggestions for additional functionality. All of these companies charge fees in one form or another for keeping supplier information current and complete, for support beyond a basic amount, and for what I would describe as ‘Continuing Improvement’ of their programs. They should charge these fees, and you should be happy to pay them, with one proviso. Does the program continue to improve? Computers are machines, software is people. These days almost any new computer will have enough capability (speed / storage) to meet your needs for the foreseeable future. Looking at software on the other hand, almost no program out there will meet all of your needs today. The question is, will it be capable of growing with you, improving over time, learning from experience, or will it be a handicap you simply learn to live with. In an industry which has so much innovation occurring at such a non-stop pace, the people behind the software make all the difference. I am not just referring to the people who answer the support hot lines, though they are also important, I am primarily speaking about the people run the company. Does future development always remain in the future? Have new features been developed and integrated into the program or is your ‘wish’ list the only place you see much growth. When most of the currently available Programs came out they were filled with ‘one size fits all ‘ or even worse, the dreaded ‘lowest common denominator’ approach to handling various tasks. My personal pet peeve among these was the business of pricing everything in terms of ‘Cost per United Inch.’ Sure this had a kind of universal simplicity to it, kind of like counting on your fingers and toes, everyone can use ‘em, right? But while United Inches might be a great way to price Moulding, or Glass or even Matboard, so long as you’re also given the size limitations of each, when it comes to pricing things where orientation is involved, like on a Fabric-Wrapped Mat for example, it is useless. Without my getting too detailed here, think about doing a 24 X 30 mat on which you wish to have the grain run horizontally. If your mat is for a vertical piece you will need an inch or two more than 30" of fabric, if it is a horizontal piece you can get by with an inch or two over 24". Both mats have a United Inches total of 54. One will be incorrectly costed in programs using the CPUI approach.
To get back to my point though, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard a Customer tell me “This program has every feature I could ever imagine and I was able to begin using it the same day I bought it.” As a relatively new specialty being developed for a relatively small industry, much of this software could be considered ‘a work in progress.’ Since understanding the workings of computers and their software is very much also ‘a work in progress’ for most of us as well, it takes us a while to become comfortable with almost any program. As you become more aware of the program’s many features and capable of using them, do you see the company continuing to add useful features? If you’ve been using a framing software program for a year or more, here’s a good question to ask yourself. Which of these two attitudes seems to characterize your software provider: 1)” We are constantly working to make our program the most comprehensive yet friendly program available and our commitment to this goal can be seen in the quality of our support personnel as well as in the addition of all these new capabilities over the past 18 months.” OR 2) “Our program is used by more frame shops than any other and has all the features that framers really need. We’re planning to raise the cost of support again this year to cover the cost of having to answer all the stupid questions people keep bugging us with.” One of these companies is working to continue to earn your business, the other is banking on the fact that most people have to make such an emotional, intellectual and, of course, financial investment, in their software that they will do almost anything to avoid having to go through it again. Additional questions to consider might be “What sort of Framing Experience has the development team had” or “Where does ACME Framing Software try out potential changes or enhancements.” Do you really have time to try and explain framing to their support person or be a crash test dummy? While I will not give you a recommendation of a single program or company (Raphael’s intends to do our best to provide all of these companies with as much information and support as they request) , I can tell you without a doubt that there is a great deal of difference between our Industry’s providers of software in each of these areas. If you’d like to get so more input on which company is right for you, there’s one more thing you can do. Take a look back through comments posted at the Hitchhiker site or here at “the Grumble”. There’s a fairly noticeable pattern in the comments posted by your fellow Framers about the various Software providers which might help you see the light.
Scott Brummitt
Raphael’s Inc.