What do interior designers do? The scoop on Documentation & Procurement.
“All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.”
― Rick Rubin
While the Design phase is what most people associate with our profession, the subsequent production phase is of equal importance.
PHASE 2: PRODUCTION
In our studio, production is broken down into two sub-categories — DOCUMENTATION and PROCUREMENT.
DOCUMENTATION
Documentation is the technical nitty-gritty. After we have owner buy-in on all the big ideas we get to work translating our 3D drawings into construction documentation. We generate a comprehensive set of dimensioned drawings and detailed specifications that serve as your contractor’s road map for bidding & construction. All product and material specifications are carefully recorded in our scheduling app that allows trades to access the latest and greatest information anytime, and anywhere (shoutout to Programa, we love you!).
Our goal during documentation is to communicate scope, materiality, and design intent with clarity.
PROCUREMENT
Procurement tends to be more involved than anyone expects. After receiving client approvals on all products, materials, furniture and furnishings, we start generating purchase orders and sending them to our vendors. Once purchase orders are issued, the vendor will send us an acknowledgement and an estimated product lead time. We record this data in our schedules, and start to plan our delivery and installation dates. It is not uncommon for delivery dates to change during the production period (manufacturing and shipping delays, customs hold-ups, freight damage, etc) which then has to be accounted for in the overall schedule. Our expediting team tracks production, shipping, delivery, and receipt of goods which then gets recorded in our product schedules so clients can see how production is progressing.
All FF&E is coded and catalogued in a schedule that lives online for our clients and vendors to access anytime.
While most of our processes have returned to “business as usual” in this post-pandemic world, somehow shipping woes persist. The number of freight handlers has diminished, and the quality of service has most definitely declined. Freight damages are running rampant, and the effort required to remedy these claims can be exhausting and expensive. Our commitment to making things right by our clients is unwavering, so even though it might not be our favorite task, we continue to fight the good fight of damage resolution.
After PRODUCTION comes EXECUTION, and this is where the rubber really meets the road!