Set to impress: pool builders use high-tech tools to improve efficiency and wow their customers

It pays to embrace technology, as many builders will tell you. Even smaller companies should integrate technology into their businesses.

"Sometimes new technologies are cumbersome, or there is a learning curve. But they eventually work to aid the efficiency and effectiveness of our employees and to better serve our clients," says Don Gwiz, vice president of Lewis Aquatech Pools in Chantilly, Va.

Many builders have invested in general technologies--computer-aided design systems, comprehensive database programs, digital cameras and the like--and tailored them to work in the pool construction environment. The technologies improve internal operations and help entice clients.

"Technology is a good way to handle basic paper flow," says Jim Just, internal new pools sales/operations manager at Shasta Industries, a Pool & Spa News Top Builder in Phoenix. "The technology allows us to use our overhead in other parts of the company to better service our customers."

Integrating technology

A self-proclaimed technophile, Bruce Holmes, CEO of Pools of Fun, a Pool & Spa News Top Builder in Plainfield, Ind., has introduced dozens of high-tech tools at his business. Most staffers use personal digital assistants. Designers draw pools using a CAD program. And potential customers are given interactive, business-card-size CDs that feature the company's history, testimonials, photos and a link to the firm's Web site.

"I thrive on finding ways to make business more efficient," Holmes says. "It's a great challenge."

To impress their high-end customers, Lewis Aquatech's designers use a combination of CAD programs (Adobe Photoshop and VectorWorks, a 3-D modeling program) to design pools. These systems create lifelike models of the proposed aquascapes.

"We can do it in an extremely realistic format, and in better presentation quality than off-the-shelf pool programs," Gwiz says. "Our clients want the perception that we have worked countless hours to design a master plan for them."

While some firms purchase established technological tools, Shasta has a knack for inventing its own systems to serve its specific needs. Company heads often take their wish lists to the Information Technology Department, where the systems are created.

Such was the case with "ShastaCAD," a pool-specific computer-aided design program developed for internal use at Shasta in the mid 1990s. Today, "ShastaCAD" is a copyrighted and trademarked pool design program used by builders nationwide.

In another use of technology, Shasta superintendents armed with digital cameras shoot unique site situations for training or documentation purposes. With 30 seconds of streaming video from these cameras, they can provide proof of a difficult dig to absent homeowners as well. "Customers can see the teeth [of the tractor] scraping and the dust flying," Just says. The digital images become part of the project's electronic file.

For pool builders just beginning to add high-tech tools, Just suggests a realistic starting point. "Small builders should automate their pricing systems," he recommends. "Start with an Excel spreadsheet and someone who knows the program very well to develop a pricing system."

Automating the drafting process would be second. "If you can design and price electronically, just think of the savings in time and accuracy," he continues. "You really reduce human error."

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