Fully-automated software platform with 3D freeform configurator for design and production of individual and affordable furniture

Project Information

3DConfigurator

Grant agreement ID: 858373

DOI

10.3030/858373

Project closed

EC signature date 24 April 2019

Start date 1 May 2019

End date 30 April 2021

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 2 702 500,00

EU contribution

€ 1 891 750,00

Coordinated by

OKINLAB GMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - 3DConfigurator (Fully-automated software platform with 3D freeform configurator for design and production of individual and affordable furniture)

Reporting period: 2020-05-01 to 2021-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Problem addressed:
Mass customization is finding its way into innumerable areas of daily life, e.g. textiles, shoes, as consumer strive for individuality. Currently there is no solution for affordable individualized furniture representing a tremendous unexploited market. FORMBAR allows the design of individualized freeform furniture. The design is sent to a local carpenter where the furniture is produced. The whole process – from design to production – is automized with this project. Only by full-automation the mass production of individual furniture becomes economic on the grand scale.
Importance for society:
Furniture nowadays is mass produced. Individual furniture tailor-made by a carpenter is expensive and rather the exception. That’s why many identical pieces of furniture can be found in millions of households. The key to allow for lot size 1 production of affordable furniture is a fully automated platform allowing for the design of individual furniture and starting the manufacturing process at a local carpenter. FORMBAR enabling mass production of individual furniture offers customers affordable furniture and brings back value creating to Europe supporting local carpenters.
Overall objectives:
Overall project objective is the 100% automation of the FORMBAR platform. In addition, new features are implemented such as that the customer designs are represented as photo-realistically rendered 3D models and the customer constantly is able to inspect his created piece of furniture visually with regard to the selected materiality and colour. By directly integrating the machine specifications into the design process, the self-generated 3D piece of furniture is automatically converted into an optimized cutting pattern and produced cost-effectively using state-of-the-art CNC milling machines. The generated milling data are sent to several out of the pool of carpenters of OKINLAB in close vicinity to the customer. Furniture is checked automatically for producibility. For the first time FORMBAR covers the entire furniture manufacturing process 100% automated, from design to production, in a single application. Hence, at project end FORMBAR will have reached series readiness.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The configurator has been adapted for mobile devices and a step-wise process leading through the configuration on small screens has been developed. Auto-suggestions have been developed to assist the creation process. In addition, the spatial resolution has been implemented in a 3D environment. Furthermore, the connection between product and carpenter was further developed. The carpenters now receive orders from Okinlab partially automated. For this purpose, a geolocation was implemented. New templates have been implemented allowing for a configuration process in well under 5 minutes. Okinlab developed a show-brochure with products. With a novel AR app, the brochure can be viewed in a 3D showroom effect. Even self-created 3D furniture can be visualised with rendering programs in different situations.
An entry mask was implemented to automatically convert designs into CNC production data. In addition, the real-time producibility check algorithms has been developed. Another novelty which has been developed is the availability check of carpenters in real-time. Okinlab developed an aggregation algorithm for the case, that one customer buys several pieces of furniture in one order. In these cases, the algorithm integrates these orders and optimizes material usage. With this nesting type procedure, material is saved. Savings are used to offer customers a better pricing.
The patent strategy has been adapted as already describe in the mid-term report. The new strategy is secrecy over patenting. The reason for this was that we would have to reveal too much of the programming-code. Instead we now strive for a non-disclosure strategy keeping all algorithms and software code secret. We developed a protection strategy: increasing the awareness of the form.bar brand, binding of the carpenters to the platform and the highest possible security of the software code. This has been implemented by only showing the software code encrypted as a safety measure.
Exploitation plan: A dedicated PR area was developed to continuously inform target group and stakeholders (end customers, carpenters, multipliers). In addition, contacts to further stakeholders were established. Further responsibilities in the company defined (responsibility in customer support, development of frontend backend, marketing). Procedures and tools were developed in accordance with the goals and objectives, and KPIs and tools were created to control them.
The SEM strategy has been optimised. Due to the lack of trade fairs, more means have been invested in SEM than initially planned. form.bar appeals to customers online. Therefore, it will be possible to benefit greatly from this in the future. Tracking options were implemented on page to better understand user behaviour. Based on this, the online marketing channels have been optimized and the conversion rate will improve in the long term. Due to the increased online marketing measures, the number of visitors could be increased significantly from 2018 with 50,000 visits (before project start) to 2019 (76,000 visits per month) and now reached 145,000 visits per month (visits at the end of the project).
form.bar has been awarded with several renowned prizes: Germany’s best online shop 2020 (NTV), Designer of the Year 2020 (Build 2020 Architecture Awards), Germany’s best online dealer (Handelsblatt), Product champion 2020 (Die Welt).

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

One novelty is that Okinlab developed an aggregation algorithm for the case, that one customer buys several pieces of furniture in one order. In these cases, the novel algorithm integrates these orders and optimizes material usage. With this nesting type procedure, material is saved.
The direct sales approach of regular customers has been performed by online marketing measures, newsletters, and editorial contributions in magazines in the field of design, furniture, architecture, manufacturing industry, sustainability etc.
A Romanian natural stone manufacturer in the kitchen sector who wanted to acquire a license opening the market for stone furniture, not just wood, showed interest in form.bar. The novelty of offering stone furniture combined with the improvement of round shapes allows customers to design even their own design products opening up a new market. The intended cooperation now has been established and the contract with the natural stone manufacturer has been signed.
Additional carpenters have been won in Great Britain, Romania, Slovakia, South Africa, Nigeria, Brazil. In addition to the talks mentioned in the mid-term report talks are underway with carpenters from Sweden, Norway, Poland, Argentina, Chile, and the US. Okinlab furthermore received more than 100 requests from carpenters in the EU and from non-EU states to be part of the form.bar network.
The bounce rate could partly be reduced to below 30% for direct accesses and the average visit duration for direct accesses has been increased to over 5 minutes. These values can be subject to greater variations, but are continuously monitored by means of tracking and optimized through appropriate measures and channel adjustments.

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