KPS.MAX - The future of professional design guarantees the wow effect

The company

Jürgen and Erika Platzek can look back on a long career in the kitchen industry with in-depth knowledge of consulting, design and installation and a background in office management. Footsteps that their sons, Christian and Niklas Platzek, were happy to follow and thus also set out on a targeted path into the industry.

In summer 2021, the four-person familiy-owned business will bring together all the expertise and preferences to create a comprehensive range of the entire spectrum of kitchen models and functional worlds.

The new kitchen exhibition in a beautiful old building currently presents the entire range of possibilities and the latest kitchen inspirations with 14 exhibition kitchens on 267 m². The company, which is a member of the DER KÜCHENRING association, focuses on first-class manufacturers and the highest quality for different price categories.

Project progress

The introduction of the software was well prepared. SHD had already provided the kitchen showroom with a preliminary program version before the opening. This allowed the Platzek family to thoroughly test whether the KPS.MAX kitchen design software would fulfil the studio's requirements. "SHD installed the software for us online without further ado. This allowed us to familiarise ourselves with KPS.MAX in advance, test the solution and go straight into productive operation on the day of the opening. That worked really well. We also took part in an online training course. KPS.MAX is running perfectly," says Jürgen Platzek.

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The challenge

As long-time industry insiders, the Platzek family had very specific ideas when selecting the design software. The new IT should not only be easy to use, but also future-proof and provide a "wow effect" for customers. Jürgen Platzek: "It was also particularly important to us that the solution should work quickly and without errors. If you're a carpenter like me, you know how important good tools are. All components have to be harmonised. And that's why we set out to find software and hardware that fulfils these conditions."

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Decision making

The leading planning solutions were well known to the Platzek family from their work with previous employers. " There were only two systems that came into consideration for u. I was familiar with both solutions. However, as the collaboration with SHD and its employees has always been very good, we decided in favour of KPS and made an enquiry to SHD in November 2020," explains the owner of the kitchen showroom.

Stefan Hoffmann, sales representative for the south-west region and team leader of the KPS sales team, offered the Hofheim kitchen showroom the new KPS.MAX. The Platzek family then decided in favour of it. The hardware was also sourced from SHD. "Our aim was for the software and hardware to come from the same mould. That's particularly important when it comes to performance," says Jürgen Platzek, adding: "What's more, with SHD we have a single point of contact for both the software and the hardware. One phone call is enough."

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The solution

KPS.MAX's user-friendly interface and simple design save time, deliver precise, error-free design results and allow the designer to focus more intensively on their customers. Jürgen Platzek: "Our kitchens and close contact with our customers are very important to us. For us, customer recommendations are the best form of advertising and are better than any brochure with special offers."

With its intelligent automatic functions, KPS.MAX provides excellent support for the kitchen designer and significantly simplifies the design process. In addition, errors are avoided, for example, by visualising mismatched allocations in the design. The fast and accurately positioned insertion of accessories and the automatic adjustment of the appliance niche with the corresponding panel height also saves time. In short, with KPS.MAX, the Platzek team can fully utilise its consulting skills and demonstrate its technical expertise to the customer. Jürgen Platzek appreciates these advantages: "If, for example, I plan a 60 cm sink in a 45 cm cupboard, KPS.MAX throws the sink straight out again. The automatisms in the program don't even allow for errors. That's perfect."

The Hochheim resident is also enthusiastic about the realistic lighting effects: "There are many options for integrating a wide variety of light sources and backgrounds into the design. The graphic 3D display in real time and without time delay is great. Our customers are impressed. KPS.MAX is definitely a sales booster!"

Another functionality that Jürgen Platzek praises is the auto-block evaluation. The price calculation is supported by intelligent logic. The smart auto function guarantees fast pricing for the customer at any time during the design process, thereby influencing their decision. "Thanks to the auto-block evaluation, we can always tell the customer exactly whether we are still within budget during the design stage and whether there is still additional potential. Worktops, fronts, colours, drawers etc. can be changed with just a few clicks and I can tell the customer directly what the possible change will cost. This creates transparency and trust. Another decisive criterion for Jürgen Platzek when choosing an IT solution was the company SHD and its employees: "The collaboration with SHD worked very well from the very beginning. We can submit our enquiries at any time via the SHD Kundenportal or we can give them a quick call. The support employee then connects directly to our computer and helps us to solve the problem quickly. The support is really good!"