March 27/April 3, 2017: Volume 31, Issue 21
By Lindsay Baillie
Pro Material Solutions (ProMat) was created as a way for commercial contractors, designers and architects to manage product data for any given project. “We are simply a database for the industry,” said Jerry Freeman, IIDA, president of ProMat.
The company provides users with a plethora of tools including a project binder, a specification download button, a palette builder and a sample ordering tool—to name a few. By using these solutions, users can save time and money when looking for product specifications or manuals and when ordering samples.
According to Freeman, most of the contractor’s time is spent searching for product documents and ordering all of the samples. With ProMat, the company’s administrators search for and upload new products, along with specs, maintenance manuals and any other available information to the ProMat database. Once in the system, the product is available to all users and can be searched based on application, price, color, manufacturer and product type. Ordering a sample or requesting documents is as easy as clicking a button, the company stated.
Boasting the “world’s largest digital database of architectural products and materials,” ProMat is constantly being updated. “We have products for about 860 [flooring] manufacturers in our database,” Freeman said. “We can add an entire company within an hour.”
This efficiency is also seen in ProMat’s ability to create documents for a submitted project that include product specs, maintenance manuals, close-out reports, etc. While most documents are created within five minutes to an hour, the company guarantees 48 hours or less. “I don’t think any job has taken us more than six hours,” Freeman stated.
While there is no cost to join ProMat, only qualified commercial/residential interior designers and architects can request samples. In addition to membership, users are able to access the program’s multiple tools free of charge. According to Freeman, ProMat generates its revenue by charging a $30 flat fee for each project submitted by a user.
On the horizon
ProMat plans to launch Material Annex, a new platform to help manufacturers sell their overstock and discontinued products. The new program will also allow subcontractors to sell excess inventory from their warehouses. “We’re basically creating a web exchange,” Freeman explained.
Also in development is an app called Specifix, which uses a phone or tablet camera to show product in an actual room. Designed to interface with ProMat and Material Annex, the app uses the camera to scan a desired room and collect the room’s measurements. Then, in “paint-by-number” fashion, the desired flooring product is filled in to show what the room will look like.
Material Annex should be available to users by the end of the year. Specifix’s beta launch is scheduled for May 1 with a subsequent rollout on June 1.
For more information visit promatsolutions.com.