3D Home Plans

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to spend a day in the yard raking up the last of my fall leaves. Not wanting to lose my belt-clipped cell phone during the process, I removed it, placed it on the counter and did my best to corral the leaves that ultimately would fill 23 yard bags.

After completing my chore, I went to retrieve my phone, but instead of finding it on the counter where I had left it, I found it submerged in the dog’s water dish at my feet. It seems that the vibrating ring tone gave my cell phone just enough mobility to walk to the edge of the counter and take the plunge into the drink.

Replacing the phone involved a sales procedure I’m sure all marketers would like to mimic, but very few can. It involved me setting an appointment with a sales consultant, who actually understood the various cell phones being offered and the service plans that were available- a 45-minute visit with the sales consultant and me walking out the door not only with a new phone and higher-priced service plan, but also an entirely new commitment to a broadband wireless Internet service via the mobile phone network.

Compare my experience to another high-tech consumer shopping experience that will be repeated over and over this holiday season: shoppers seeking an HDTV from Santa. Many walk into an electronics store after seeing an ad in the newspaper or a commercial on television convinced that they want the high-def viewing experience but fuzzy on the details. They engage in a conversation with a sales associate who may be selling HDTVs one day, computer peripherals the next and maybe even a kitchen range the next. Customers ask questions, sales associates do their best to answer, but things get murky -so much so that as many as 30 percent of HDTV owners don’t sign up to receive an HD signal via cable or satellite, according to a recent article in USA Today.

Oh how the Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung and other HDTV manufacturers must pine to create a sales experience involving their products like the one I had buying my new cell phone!

Consider this: In 2006, total spending on advertising in the United States will exceed $150 billion, according to an article from Metrics 2.0. Yet once an ad runs in a newspaper or magazine or a commercial is played back on television, the amount of control a marketer can exert on messaging, consumer education, and influencing a purchasing decision dissipates rapidly. How many marketers get a little queasy thinking about the money they’ve spent on an ad that motivates a consumer to go to a store to buy their product, only to have those shoppers redirected by a sales associate into buying a competitor’s product? Compare that to my friendly sales associate who educated and influenced my cell phone purchase in an environment that the cellular service provider controlled.

While it’s not practical for all the HDTV manufacturers or those of other products to offer their products in their own stores where they control the sales process as thoroughly as my cell phone salesman, it is important that marketers begin to see retail stores as a communications medium, according to a recent MediaPost.com article.

In “In-Store Media Significant Influence on Purchase Decisions,” author Jack Loechner quotes Joe Pilotta, vice president of research for BIGresearch, as saying that “the store is a medium of communications” and “media has relevance and influence on a purchase decision.”

That’s where digital signage can stand in for a knowledgeable sales consultant like the one I encountered. Digital signage can carry through the marketing message transmitted in newsprint or on TV to the point of purchase, relieving to a large degree, the nausea that strikes marketers who wonder what happens when they’re ads are no longer present to influence events.The Bigresearch study quoted in the article found that in-store TV influenced or greatly influenced 10 percent of adults 18 years old and up in making purchasing decisions. The tie between in-store TV and digital signage is obvious. What might not be as obvious is that digital signage can play a strategic role for marketers and retailers when it comes to shelf coupons and special displays, which influenced or greatly influenced shoppers 39.5 percent and 35.5 percent of shoppers, respectively. Digital signage plays in this space particularly in terms of shelf coupons when set up with the right software and hardware to do double duty as an interactive kiosk.

What’s needed to pull off this carry though in marketing messages to the store floor is deep sixing old attitudes and concepts about marketing and planning ways to use digital signage strategically to re-enforce and expand upon the print and broadcast ads that currently command the biggest share of the marketing budget. Doing so may soon mean the difference between success and failure.

David Little
http://www.articlesbase.com/multimedia-articles/success-depends-on-carrying-over-your-marketing-message-to-the-retail-floor-79346.html

Designing the layout of a future home ranges from a very simple process to an extremely complex endeavor based upon the resources and vision of those who within will ultimately reside. Despite the level of intricacy, however, kitchens, bathroom, bedrooms, and family gathering areas are characteristic of all plans while functionality and comfort are the overriding goals. Prized is the finished product conducive to living, laughter, and the making of lasting memories. Although functionality often lies in the basic structure, comfort truly goes beyond in details both visible and hidden. Amidst the wealth of available comforts is a revolutionary system of electric floor heat that boasts an array of desirable applications. Whether modest or expansive, kitchens and bathrooms are ideal settings for the unseen luxury of electric floor heat.

Although widely diverse in dimension and layout, color and texture, functionality and style, and personal finishing touches, kitchens across America are universally built upon floor coverings resistant to the perils of spilled foods, pet tracks, and shoe marks that signify a thriving home and the activities of everyday life. Types of flooring made to endure such heavy traffic, however, are cold and uncomfortable to the touch of bare feet and fail to emanate the feeling of warmth that should characterize all that is associated with a kitchen space. Electric floor heat offers an innovative solution to chilly tile or nippy hardwood through the installment of radiant heat products above the subfloor and below the surface covering. In addition to being compatible with tile and hardwood, electric floor heat also works effectively with granite, marble and other stone varieties as well as with vinyl. Imagine the coziness of early morning breakfasts, enhanced enjoyment of creative cooking, the soothing warmth of midnight snacks, and meaningful conversations with family and friends lingering in contentment. Allow radiant electric floor heat transform such appealing visions into a luxurious reality.

The blare of radio music or consistent buzzing of a morning alarm signifies a wakeup call to meet challenges and pleasures of the day ahead. Despite the overwhelming desire to remain curled up in cozy blankets, avoid cold bathroom floors, and fulfill so often unmet needs for rest, the demands of life beckon and the willful mind overcomes instinctual desires. Installation of electric floor heat in bathroom areas can play a soothing role in the sometimes unpleasant nature of this daily routine. With radiant heat, the shock of frigid floors can be avoided when Mother Nature calls in the middle of the night. After a long, rejuvenating soak in a jetted tub, step down onto a surface radiating invisible warmth to maintain the level of relaxation reached. For children who love to turn bath time into a session of play and fun, sliding, splashing, and wet bathroom floors present no hazards associated with electric floor heat. Rather, this trustworthy product only makes departure cozier to tiny, withered toes. The radiant heat elements used in transmitting ideal temperatures through an assortment of flooring varieties operate at a low-voltage rate, making electric floor heat an extremely safe yet appealing alternative to chilly encounters upon first touch. Incorporating radiant heat into bathroom surfaces can transform daily routines into spa like experiences.

Ideal in any setting, but especially pleasurable in kitchen and bathroom environments, electric floor heat elevates the quality of life of all who enjoy tossing restrictive shoes and moving about barefoot within the privacy of home. Indulge the feet and soothe the emotions with radiant elements created to effect a lasting sense of encircling warmth and wellbeing.

George Finnerin
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/electric-floor-heat-an-unseen-comfort-133737.html

Industry Week recently ran an article titled “The ‘Soft Side’ of Lean” that suggested: “Companies may be losing half their potential savings from lean programs when they overlook the need for leaders who are capable of implementing continuous-improvement plans.” Based on a McKinsey Quarterly report published in November, “From lean to lasting: Making operational improvements stick,” the article went on to point out, “that many companies focus on the ‘hard’ operational tools, such as just-in-time production, but often ignore the ‘softer side,’ characterized as the development leaders who can ‘link and align the boardroom with the shop floor.’”

One of the “characteristics of leaders the McKinsey authors say are critical to gain buy-in from employees and attain maximum results,” the “six habits of lean leaders” if you will, is “a focus on operating processes. Senior managers should demonstrate the importance of the process using visible activities and make standardization a habit. As an example, a chief operating officer may conduct regular shop floor visits and quality assurance checks to review milling-machine operating processes and reinforce standards with workers.”

Indeed, a real-time data collection system that provides job tracking and shop floor control can help companies maximize their savings from lean programs. That’s because shop floor management software can help management bridge the divide between the boardroom and the shop floor.

Indeed, such an outcome is key to improving a company’s floor performance, customer responsiveness, and, ultimately, its bottom line.

How can such shop floor management technology be leveraged to implement and derive full benefit from lean manufacturing? Lean manufacturing “strives to reduce inventory through better communication about production processes and their inherent problems and by tapping into the knowledge of [shop] floor personnel to make them part of the solution,” THE FABRICATOR reported a few years back.

To effect such an atmosphere within the organization, implementation of an electronic floor system can successfully move a company toward lean manufacturing. “A floor information system can help manufacturers move forward with lean concepts of identifying problems, following the flow of parts, and measuring changeover times,” THE FABRICATOR pointed out.

That article went on to report that in order “to truly contribute to lean manufacturing, [shop] floor information systems should provide the following” features:

1. A shop floor management solution should be accessible to everyone involved in the organization. “All [shop] floor employees have access to the system and are empowered to identify problem situations.”

2. A shop floor management solution should employ a just-in-time (JIT) approach. “A just-in-time production approach is dynamic and reactive to customer and [shop] floor demands.”

3. A shop floor management solution should afford tracking capabilities. “Changeover times can be tracked to specific assets and employees.”

4. A shop floor management solution should offer process improvement. “Opportunities for process improvement are identified and recorded.”

5. A shop floor management solution should exact better communication. Shop “floor personnel have access to communications such as e-mail when appropriate.”

6. A shop floor management solution should reveal useful and relevant data. “Operators can access data through electronic, paperless display of electronic image and video documents.”

7. A shop floor management solution should encompass quality checks. “Quality checks are captured electronically in real time so that employees can be alerted to nonconformance conditions.”

Carmen Fontana
http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/leveraging-shop-floor-management-technology-to-make-the-most-of-lean-manufacturing-732110.html

The first time you see a bathroom floor plan, you may think you are easy to create. There must be a space for a shower or bath, or maybe even both, and a sink and a toilet. The rest of the room is simply decoration, right?

This is not necessarily true. Whenever a new bathroom is being designed, it will be worthwhile to spend time on making many bathroom floor plans and deciding which one will work the best in your bathroom. You can make changes easily when the fittings and fixtures are just drawings on paper, but it will be very different when they are already there in the bathroom, and you discover that there is not enough room for the large bathtub you had planned.

What are Your Needs?

Think about the ways in which you use your current bathroom layout when deciding from among the many ideas available for your bathroom floor plans. What parts of the bathroom do you like? Which aspects of your bathroom have been irritating? In an ideal bathroom floor plan, what would you like to have?

If we assume that your budget is fixed, there will likely be some compromises that occur with your bathroom floor plans. But remembering this, it is important to attempt to keep the compromises confined to style and not on the bathroom’s practical aspects. You will be using your bathroom each day, so it is important to thoroughly think about the space available before choosing the specific fittings.

Planning Your Bathroom

When making your floorplans, design it to scale on your paper. Decide in advance what scale you will find easy to use and figure out the exact measurements for the bathroom you desire. When the room itself is being drawn, include the doors, windows, fittings and radiators that will have an effect on your bathroom design.

Also remember that if the plumbing will have to be moved, you will have to account for that cost. It is much easier to move your picture of the toilet then it would be to move the toilet in real life, not to mention the expense involved. Attempt to keep your toilet in the same spot if possible.

The same advice goes for your shower. If you want to turn your shower into a bathtub with shower, it’s not difficult from the plumbing point of view. Of course adding a bathtub adds to the project’s cost, and a jetted tub is only a few hundred dollars extra. Then you add in some great looking tile around the whole tub instead of just a shower, and your project now has a significantly larger price tag.

It can be a lot of fun to design bathroom floor plans, but you will have to keep your reality in mind when you are designing them. You will have to remember the cost of what you design, and end up with a design for a bathroom that you will be able to enjoy each day.

Gerry Bentz
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/how-to-create-bathroom-floor-plans-261050.html

im trying to help my mom look for floor plans and we are looking for a 3 to 4 bedroom house with 2 master bedrooms that both include there own bathroom. preferably on one floor and we cannot seem to find any. anyone know any good sites?

This company will do a custom redesign if you want or if they do not have what you are looking for.

http://www.the-homestore.com/floorplans/index.html

dimensions i need but i jsut wanted to browse and heopfully find something that i like and can work with.

Try DIYONLINE.COM It’s great for this type of thing and alot of others, planning a garden, remodeling a kitchen, bathroom etc. You can design a 3-d layout using your deminsions on PLAN.3D.COM.
I’ve used them both and think they’re great.