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Introducing Procurement Hub

Helping designers stay on top of their deadlines, payments and deliveries.
Programa
Programa
Updated: 03 July 2024
Our mission is to make life easier for interior designers and architects, and being able to manage multiple tasks at once is a core skill needed in running a successful studio. One of the most challenging parts of any project is sourcing, quoting, purchasing and facilitating the delivery of products on behalf of clients.

Challenges Faced by Designers in Procurement

A designer can easily be speaking with 30+ brands at any one time. That’s 30+ different sales reps, payment terms, purchasing terms, deliveries, and orders, across multiple projects, clients and deadlines. On the other side of the process are brands, who are dealing with dozens of designers, all with deadlines, receiving information in various formats of schedules, purchase orders, and spec sheets – and everything is urgent!

At the moment designers manage this process with spreadsheets, emails, to-do lists, Post-it Notes, and pure, white-knuckled determination. One mistake can easily cost the client (and possibly the designer) thousands of dollars.

There’s no easy way to share procurement details with clients. The current process involves sending them a schedule and a tracking spreadsheet containing purchase orders and invoice numbers which they have to manually cross reference. This spreadsheet is almost always out of date the minute we send it to the client

There are so many data points to track, it can be difficult to easily identify what’s late, what’s on-time, who needs to be chased-up, and it’s really easy to miss something.

Spreadsheets have no reminder functionality – it’s easy to miss order deadlines or forget to follow up on certain product orders. This causes costly project delays and unhappy clients

Consolidating emails, phone calls, faxes and messages into spreadsheets is incredibly time-consuming and tedious

At Programa, we’re working hard to make this process smoother for both designers and brands. Today, we’re releasing Procurement Hub, which is the first of several tools we’re building that will streamline the procurement process for designers. Procurement Hub allows designers to easily manage the procurement process from within their schedules, with important information available at a glance.

How designers can use Procurement Hub

  • Never miss another deadline – keeping track of your deadlines is hard, and our Procurement Hub allows designers to see all of their procurement deadlines, from all of their projects, in one place, sorted by urgency.
  • Easily mark deadlines as completed – no more hunting for data to edit in multiple spreadsheets, simply mark deadlines as completed directly from the Hub.
  • Manage your files – Easily attach your relevant quotes, purchase orders, and invoices directly to your products within your Schedules. These can also be easily viewed and downloaded from online shared versions of your Schedules.
  • Procurement will continue to get easier – we’ll be adding automation, with synchronised quote requests, purchase orders and more.

Built by and for designers

By launching Procurement Hub we’re taking our first meaningful step towards reducing the complexity of procurement for designers, and helping reduce cognitive load, and anxiety, reducing errors and saving time. You could even consider Programa’s Procurement Hub as an extra team member, someone who’s always there to help ensure you never miss a never deadline.
Table of contents
  1. What’s New?
  2. Why Change?
  3. Key Enhancements
  4. Interior Design Software For Professional Interior Designers
  5. Support for ASID (American Society for Interior Design) members
    1. 31 October 2024
    2. 30 October 2024
    3. 29 October 2024
    4. 24 October 2024
    5. 23 October 2024
    6. 22 October 2024
    7. 17 October 2024
    8. 15 October 2024
    9. How are you using Programa?
    10. What challenges did the platform help overcome in a recent project?
    11. Designed for Designers
    12. Dedicated In-House Design Team
    13. A Commitment to Progress and Trust
    14. Discover the New Outdoor Range
    15. Start Sourcing GlobeWest Today
    16. Streamlining Complexities and Enhancing Collaboration
    17. Managing Multiple Projects with Conflicting Deadlines and Resourcing Needs
    18. Communicating with Clients, Contractors, and Suppliers
    19. Sourcing Materials and Products
    20. Resolving Conflicts and Addressing Challenges
    21. Streamlining Project Management with Programa’s Studio WIP: A Cross-Project Management Solution
    22. Enhancing Communication and Collaboration with Programa’s Client Dashboard
    23. Leveraging Programa’s Cloud-Based Specifications for Efficient Material and Product Sourcing
    24. Take Control of Your Studio Today
    25. Interior Design & Architecture Software For Professional Interior Designers & Architects
    26. 30 September 2024
    27. 25 September 2024
    28. 20 September 2024
    29. 19 September 2024
    30. 17 September 2024
    31. Welcome Back!
    32. 06 January 2025
    33. Overview of Each Platform
    34. Why Use Interior Design Client Proposal Templates?
    35. Key Components of an Interior Design Presentation Template
    36. Conclusion
    37. Master your time, profits, and creative vision with Programa
    38. Why attend this US focused Programa webinar?
    39. Template mastery: your secret weapon for scalability
    40. How to create your project management ecosystem
    41. Packaged design service: Transform how clients see your value
    42. The power of a Product Library
    43. Project template showcase: the design package
    44. Programa: Powerful tools
    45. Studio WIP
    46. What else is new?
    47. What’s coming in February?
    48. Why Don’t Spreadsheets Suit The Needs Of Interior Designers?
    49. Enter Programa
    50. Clear and Precise Presentations
    51. Easier Management of Data
    52. Exports That Work The Way You Do
  6. Offering Virtual Consultations and Collaborating with Others in the Industry
  7. Showcasing a Diverse Portfolio and Staying Ahead with Future Trends in Client Engagement Strategies
  8. Embracing the Evolution of Marketing for Interior Designers in 2025 and Beyond!
    1. 26 June 2024
    2. 19 June 2024
    3. 18 June 2024
    4. 17 June 2024
      1. Getting Started with Shared Invoices
      2. Real-World Applications for Designers and Architects
      3. Key Benefits of the Shared Invoices Update
    5. Product Approvals are engineered to streamline designer-client collaboration.
    6. Main Benefits Of Product Approvals
    7. Creating & Submitting Approval Requests
    8. Client Approval Process
    9. Tracking Approval Statuses and Feedback
  9. The future of sales and marketing for A&D brands
    1. What sets Programa apart?
  10. What’s in Trade Portal 2.0?
    1. Sleek new interface
    2. Advanced search and filters
    3. Showcase product collections by category
    4. Curated recommendations
    5. What's unique for brands?
      1. Support
      2. Programa Interior Design Software: A Comprehensive Project Management and Collaboration Solution for Architects and Interior Designers
      3. User-friendly Interface and Tools for Seamless Project Management
    6. What is a Spec Sheet?
    7. The Power of Programa
    8. Flexible Design Features
    9. Ease of Use
    10. Cost Savings
    11. Increased Productivity
    12. A Collaborative Journey
    13. Movement & Aesthetic
    14.  
    15. About Coco Flip
      1. Features
      2. Integrations & Sharing
      3. Upgrades
      4. We interviewed Associates Callie van der Merwe, Calvin Janse van Vuuren & Roberto Zambri from COOOP, about their latest project, the Vogue Cafe.
      5. Why AKI chose Programa
      6. Why the Trade Portal matters
      7. A streamlined process, from inspiration to installation
      8. Start sourcing on the <a href="https://app.programa.design/trade_portal/main" target="_blank">Trade Portal</a>
      9. What does it do?
      10. How to use product deeplinks
      11. Why use product deeplinks?
    16. Q3 Product Update
    17. The world’s best scheduling software gets even better.
    18. The All-new Web Clipper
    19. Other Improvements
    20. What’s next?
    21. 2022
    22. 2023
    23. Purchase Orders
    24. Client Dashboard
    25. 13 June 2024
    26. 07 June 2024
    27. 06 June 2024
    28. 04 June 2024
    29. Task Management: Keeping Every Detail in Check
    30. Phases: Breaking Down Your Projects
    31. Combining Studio & Task Management for Optimal Workflow
    32. Getting Started: Setting Up Your Tasks & Phases
    33. Bringing it all together.
    34. Challenges Faced by Designers in Procurement
    35. How designers can use Procurement Hub
    36. Built by and for designers
Reading: Introducing Procurement Hub, Helping designers stay on top of their deadlines, payments and deliveries.
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Introducing Programa's Procurement Hub: Simplifying Procurement for Designers

At Programa, our mission is to make life easier for interior designers and architects. Managing multiple tasks simultaneously is a core skill required in running a successful studio. One of the most challenging aspects of any project is sourcing, quoting, purchasing, and facilitating the delivery of products on behalf of clients.

Challenges Faced by Designers in Procurement

Designers often find themselves communicating with over 30 brands simultaneously, each with different sales reps, payment terms, purchasing terms, and delivery schedules. Managing this process across multiple projects, clients, and deadlines can be overwhelming and prone to errors.

The current process of managing procurement involves spreadsheets, emails, to-do lists, and manual tracking, which can lead to costly mistakes and project delays. There's no easy way to share procurement details with clients, leading to confusion and inefficiency.

Introducing Procurement Hub

Today, we're excited to announce the launch of Procurement Hub, the first of several tools designed to streamline the procurement process for designers. Procurement Hub allows designers to manage procurement tasks directly within their schedules, providing important information at a glance.

How Designers Can Use Procurement Hub

Never miss another deadline: Keep track of all procurement deadlines from all projects in one place, sorted by urgency. Easily mark deadlines as completed: Mark deadlines as completed directly from the Hub, eliminating the need for manual data editing. Manage files: Attach relevant quotes, purchase orders, and invoices directly to products within schedules for easy access and sharing. Future Enhancements

Procurement Hub will continue to evolve with added automation, including synchronized quote requests, purchase orders, and more, further simplifying the procurement process for designers.

Built by and for designers

By launching Procurement Hub, we're taking a significant step towards reducing the complexity of procurement for designers. This tool helps reduce cognitive load, anxiety, errors, and saves time. Consider Programa’s Procurement Hub as an additional team member, always there to ensure you never miss a deadline.

Experience the benefits of Procurement Hub today and streamline your procurement processes with ease. Explore Programa’s Procurement Hub and revolutionize the way you manage procurement tasks.