Version 6?

[Kerry Fullington]

I have been curious,

Is there going to be an eCabinets Version 6 and if so will it be a major re-write of the software? With the closing of the Member Store, how will eCabinets now handle hardware and other Vendor Items? Will we be limited to items that are already in the software or will there be a way to specify items. Will the Vendor Items that are in the software, remain in the software such as the wood items, moldings, ornaments, on-lays etc?
What became of the Furniture Network?
Is the Cooperative no more?
What is in the eCabinets pipeline for 2009 and beyond?

Kerry

[Damon Nabors]

Those are good questions Kerry. I think most of us have been wondering the same thing. Something needs to change soon. The activity level on this forum has all but stopped. Hopefully a new version will come out soon and regenerate some life back into this site. I was talking with another member yesterday and the question came up as to weather or not ecab is even going to continue. We felt it was odd that Kcdw, Cabinet Vision and others were in the Thermwood booth at IWF this year. It would almost be easy to assume that Thermwood is looking to integrate other software programs to be used with Thermwood equipment in the event Ecabinets is no longer around. Hopefully this is not the case. I am sure with the economic down turn, cash flow may not be there to invest in the software right now.

I know for me personally, I am at a point in my business plan that I need to purchase new software that will get the job done or Ecabinets is going to have to bring on some new features to the software. I am out there everyday beating the bushes and making sales calls to find new business and it is disappointing when you finally get a call from someone wanting you to cut some MDF doors or something cabinet related and you can't do it. I would think items like MDF Doors and a drawer box editor would be standard.

I personally think there ought to be two levels of Ecabinets. One level for design purposes (Non CNC users, fee based) and a second level for CNC users (free with the purchase of your Thermwood router). Non CNC users do not need mdf doors and things like that because they can be made in the parts editor. Those of us that spent $100,000.00 plus dollars to get a machine rather than just use the FREE software should be able to get a few features that may not be available to others. I am not knocking the legitimate cabinet shop but I know there are a lot of Hobbyist out there using the software that will never purchase a machine, and that has to burn up a lot of capital providing support. I am not saying that in a mean spirit so don't misunderstand. I would just like to be able to make my parts and generate sales without having to wonder how many more software programs I am going to have to purchase. I could have purchased a machine 40K or 50K cheaper and then purchased a full blown software program that would perform these functions but a lot of us did not because we were told that ecabinets is an on going work in progress and it will eventually be up to par with some of the other software programs that cost thousands of dollars, and lately I have not seen any progress. I feel like I have a vested interest in the future of Thermwood since I have piece of Thermwood equipment sitting on my shop floor with 3 1/2 more years of payments to go.

just my 2cents on this topic.

[Gary Puckett]

Hold on Damon,

I think we are all just getting a little frustrated with the way work is right now , and things are probably going to get worse before they get better. The shops that went a head and purchased a Thermwood and have that payment hanging over their head, sure it's a major concern, but that was your call. I don't think it's fair to be little the shops that can't afford a Thermwood and say they should pay for the software and all updates.

Everybody submitted their information to Thermwood to get the software and Thermwood approved. As for as the so called hobbyist I think they could care less about updates and the improvements to the software. The activity on the forum has went down terribly and hopefully it will come back. I think the original post was to try and get a responce from Thermwood on the update( at this time we have no release date). So lets just sit tight and wait, when their ready to release it they will and if there is no update then there is no update.

I have been on another forum and they happen to have a cad section and not very many shops are using eCab. they all have something else. So hang in there buddy we are all doing what ever we can to get through this

Gary

[Damon Nabors]

Gary,

Don't get your feathers ruffled.

The shops that went a head and purchased a Thermwood and have that payment hanging over their head, sure it's a major concern, but that was your call. I don't think it's fair to be little the shops that can't afford a Thermwood and say they should pay for the software and all updates.

Gary

I am not be littling the shops that can't afford it. I have always said that most of you guys can't afford to not have one. You just need to turn over every stone and find some work. I am a one man shop just like you Gary. I used to spend a month trying to get a kitchen out of the shop and was going broke doing it. After purchasing the router I am now able to do a lot more work. I cut a kitchen this past Tuesday and installed it Friday. I could have never done that before without the router. If I can do just one extra kitchen a month, that is my router payment. If you are not clearing $2,500 on a kitchen job you need to rethink what you are doing and rethink your business plan.

Routers are the back bone of the company. Without sales you generate NOTHING. I am not knocking the Hobby shop either, I was a hobby shop for 20 years before I jumped in there full time. All I am saying is, hobby shops are not likely to go out and purchase a Thermwood router unless they decide to make a move like I did. I would be curious to know how much time is spent in supporting ecabinets on a daily basis to people that call themselves a cabinet shop and are not. I have called on people on this forum thinking they were cabinet shops only to find out they are not. Some guy that works the 9 to 5 and buys his material at the local Home depot 2 or 3 sheets at a time and comes home in the evening after getting off work and slides a couple of sheets on his Craftsman table saw. There are a lot of those kind of users on this site and that is fine if that is the direction Thermwood wants to go with this software but I would venture to say that most of those guys are not going to be purchasing equipment any time soon. So what is wrong with paying a couple of hundred dollars a year to provide support to these shops. I would like to see the software get more focused on being able to create parts to get cut on a router.

It kind of reminds me of Government Jobs. The government doesn't manufacture anything for resale. So therefore they have no way of generating income. They go out and create all these jobs and have no way of paying for it, so they tax those of us that do sell something and generate income.



Kerry,

Sorry for Hijacking your thread.

[Gary Puckett]

Damon,

I could comment further on the software, and we can play ping pong with it but I think we need to let the post go back to Kerry's question and try a get a responce from Thermwood.

Gary

[Kerry Fullington]

Hey Guys,

I am not trying to start a "Run on the Bank" here. I am simply curious as to where Thermwood is headed with eCabinets. I am anxious for the program to grow. I felt for a long time that eCabinets was the "Leader of the Pack" in cabinet design and manufacturing software and I hate to see that slip. This is easy for me to request but it is Thermwood that is stuck with the bill for my free software.
I was going to say in this post that I hoped Thermwood knew that it's members would do anything to keep the program going but that simply isn't true. We had our chance to support the effort through the Member Store and we failed to do so.
eCabinets is phenomenal software. I am amazed at what it can do each time I design a job. It is sad that Thermwood only hears from me when I have problems with the software. It is my wish for this experiment to continue and I also hope that the software can continue to be the leader in innovation.

Kerry

[Dean Fehribach]

<<snip>>It is sad that Thermwood only hears from me when I have problems with the software. It is my wish for this experiment to continue and I also hope that the software can continue to be the leader in innovation

It's only natural for users to post in order to complain; it's rare for someone to post on a very regular basis, "Great job, guys!" or "Everything's going great here!" or "No complaints today!"

Keep the faith, guys.

[Gary Puckett]

Dean,

Back to the post, can you tell us the answer to the questions?

Gary

[Jason Susnjara]

Hi Gary and others posting or watching,

I know you are all getting ancy (sp?), and I am going to put a posting on this site today that will hopefully cover most if not all of your questions.

thanks,

[Damon Nabors]

Thanks Jason and Dean. All is GREAT here today. Just got back to the office with two deposits for kitchens that were demonstrated on ECabinets Systems software. Thanks once again for everything you guys do to help our companies survive.

One observation though. Are you guys holding out for another Pizza day?

[Will Williamson]

Damon is absolutely correct the software requirements of owners is different from non owners .

The way I understand this E Cabinet is part of the marketing department , and it has been sucessful in attracting buyers for thier equiptment. I am close to the end of my second year as a owner and I am very satisfied with the service and quality of this machine.

I am in the Architectual Millwork Buisness specializing in Church furnishings I have a ton of work in front of me not all cnc work but just the same I am busy. But non of this came from Ecabinets it is due to my own agressive going out knocking on doors and dragging this work back home . Keep in mind I am located in Michigan and most of my friends and neighbors are out of work . Cabinet shops around here are going out of buisness everyday . And in reallity my life is much more stressful I've worked 7 days a week sometimes 24 hours straight and a lot of those hours were spent not cutting parts but trying to figure out to get this machine to do what I needed to with the pitiful software I had to start with . And still I set here every day wandering how I will ever come up with the ten or fifteen thousand dollars for the advanced softwareI need to make the next step.

When I first got into the lumber and millwork buisness I bought lumber from a local wholesale lumber distributor they had good service and a good price . Oneday I recieved a package of lumber that it was obvious had not been broke open the quality was twice as good as what I had been buying . That is when I realized that this dristributor was also in the millwork buisness and all the privious packages had been picked over before it was sold to me . At that point I stopped buying from that distributor because not only were they picking over the lumber berfore it got to me but they were also competing against me for millwork buisness. I realized there was no way I could compete against this company and make any money.

Speaking for myself. To me it is obvious Thermwood is investing time and money into thier own cabinet and furniture making buisness to meet the demand of the existing non owner E Cabinet members . In essence they are now competing for the same buisness we owners are . I may some day figure out a way to use this to my advantage but not at this point

I will apologize today to anyone who takes this the wrong way but this have been my feelings for a long time.

[Gary Puckett]

My hats off to all that have made the purchase of a Thermwood especially the one man shops. Damon I apologize for sounding rude I have worked with you before and hope to work with you in the future your good people and I have the greatest respect.

The software is one of a kind and I just want to see it get better. My dream is to one day have a Thermwood and I do understand that the updates for the software mean more to the owners of the routers than those of us just using the program for drawing. But on the other hand we need those updates also to be able to send jobs to the owners of the routers. I hope and pray that this slump were in diminishes soon and we all make a lot of money and there's a Thermwood in every shop.

Thanks
Gary

[Damon Nabors]

My hats off to all that have made the purchase of a Thermwood especially the one man shops.

Well I had to make a choice. Put a $100,000 sports car in the garage or 100K router. I figured I would get a better return on my investment with the router.

Damon I apologize for sounding rude I have worked with you before and hope to work with you in the future your good people and I have the greatest respect.

Gary, No problem on my end of the world. I just want to keep on making saw dust and I need to know that I have the best and most up to date support program behind me so that I can achieve my goals.