SMARTDRAW IN FACILITIES MANAGEMENT:

Restaurant Owner Cooks Up Floor Plans for Kitchen Redesign

Paul Maciel is chef and owner of Pronto Italian Restaurant in Johannesburg, South Africa. Not only is he responsible for managing the kitchen, but he runs the 120-seat restaurant and 25 staff employees. Paul decided that Pronto could benefit greatly from a new kitchen and a re-designed seating area. Although he had his hands full running the restaurant, he decided to think about the best way to move forward.

"In the past, I'd used a pencil and paper for projects like this, but it took a very long time, and my floor plans were never to scale," said Paul.

He tried a few software tools, but they were much too difficult for him to manage and operate. He found SmartDraw on the internet, and decided to give it a try.

"SmartDraw gives incredibly professional results but is amazingly easy to use," he said. "The results are accurate and polished!"

Paul found that SmartDraw automates the creation of floor plans and layouts for restaurant design, including kitchens, seating areas, and more. The program contains dozens of floor plan templates that users can modify to create their drawing, so there's never a need to start from scratch. In addition, SmartDraw features thousands of ready-made graphics for furniture, kitchen fixtures, lighting, wiring, plumbing, HVAC, plants, landscape elements, flooring and textures, countertops, and more.

Paul was able to quickly create a detailed and polished-looking floor plan of his new kitchen and dining area.

"Before SmartDraw, I would have hired a designer to try and create the floor plans," said Paul. "But your software makes it so easy that with a few measurements, I have the designs I need."

In addition, SmartDraw helps users align and arrange everything perfectly and create drawings to scale. It also allows users to work in layers to separate different elements of the drawing.

"Using layers means I can work with multiple concepts then break them down for different installations—for example, electrical, furniture, plumbing, and fire and safety," said Paul. "All the professional installers, electricians, and plumbers are all very impressed with my floor plans. The layering function allows the plans to be viewed as separate elements or viewed as a whole during our site meetings."

Paul is so impressed with SmartDraw that he continues to recommend it to others in the restaurant industry every chance he gets. Not only does SmartDraw save him time and money, but it empowers him to run his business more effectively.

"SmartDraw makes it very simple to convert my ideas into actual drawings, and there is a huge cost associated with not having to use a professional to do the job," said Paul. "But one of the biggest benefits is that the product has really empowered me to take control of an element of my business that would have traditionally left me reliant on other individuals and organizations. SmartDraw is amazing!"