Can the same custom kitchen really cost three times as much from one shop as another? The answer is a resounding yes, based on project bids submitted for the 2016 FDMC Pricing Survey.
| Hear Will Sampson present results of the latest FDMC Pricing Survey at Cabinets & Closets 2017 on April 11. Learn more>> |
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But while one might think more competitive bidding would bring more competitive pricing, that just isn’t the case. For both projects the high bids were about three times higher than the low bids. This is akin to a customer taking the same bidding specifications to three different shops and getting bids ranging from under $12,000 to nearly $40,000 for the frameless job and from nearly $25,000 to almost $70,000 for the face-frame project.
The Project: This paint grade kitchen (soft maple and MDF panels) features beaded face frames (1/4-in. bead) with flush inset doors and drawers. Cabinet interiors are ¾-in. pre-finished maple plywood with ¼-in. prefinished maple plywood backs, except for the glass door section of the hutch cabinet, which has a custom painted interior. Lots of details add to the cost, and a glazed finish tops it off.
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Analysis: The most popular project this year, this kitchen had 19 bidders, but that didn’t mean the numbers were close. The original bidder was the highest bid turned in at $67,438, nearly three times the low bid of $24,850. Probably most remarkable are the wide variations in construction hours. The original and highest bidder actually posted one of the lowest hours numbers, while other bidders estimated hours at as much as four times what the original bid reported.
Why is this?We'll see if we can answer that question as I present results for these and other projects from the latest FDMC Pricing Survey at the Cabinets & Closets Conference & Expo 2017, April 11 at the Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel & Conference Center near Chicago.
I have visited hundreds of shops across the country, studying and reporting on successful business practices, including pricing methods. The FDMC Pricing Survey is the industry’s only tool designed to compare pricing for custom woodworking projects. Over the 15 years since we launched it, this survey has compared hundreds of bids on scores of projects to give a fluid picture of the dynamic factors affecting pricing in the woodworking industry.
During my session, I will give you some of the insights I have distilled from studying pricing in the custom woodworking industry for more than two decades, along with the results of the latest FDMC Pricing Survey, and our plans for the 2017 edition of the study, which launches right after the show. I'll focus on some of the key reasons pricing varies so much in this industry even between established, experienced shops. I'll talk about how shops leave money on the table or sacrifice profits to bad estimating.
My presentation will be part of the Cabinet Conference Track at the 2017 Cabinets & Closets Conference and Expo, running April 11-13. Three separate education tracks include the Closets Conference, the Cabinet Conference, and for the first time, a Lean Management Conference.
The full day April 11 Conference Program will open with a keynote presentation by Chris Stevens, the business development spark plug who turned the Keurig coffee machine into a $17 billion globally recognized brand, and concludes with a plant tour sponsored by Stiles Machinery, departing at 3:00 p.m. for Inter Ocean Cabinet Company.
The full-day conference program is followed by the two-day Cabinets & Closets Expo 2017. Nearly 100 exhibitors are expected, including top major CNC manufacturers running panel processing machinery on the floor.
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