Design Lighting’s 60% time-saving estimating success with Countfire

Design Lighting has built a strong reputation and is a trusted name in the lighting industry, providing high-quality solutions for multi-family construction projects across Canada. Based in BC’s Fraser Valley, the company operates from a sprawling 25,000 square foot warehouse and showroom, with a dedicated team of 16 professionals who have been delivering exceptional products and service for nearly 25 years. 

As this milestone anniversary approaches Sales Administrator, Andres Arrieta, credits their lasting success to a “whatever it takes” mindset – ensuring every project meets the highest standards. “Our caring approach has helped us stay strong for 25 years and maintain exceptional customer satisfaction,” Andres explains. 

To support their commitment to quality and efficiency, Design Lighting has adopted Countfire’s automated estimating solution. We spoke with Andres to learn how it’s helping them save hours of time and delivering groundbreaking results. 

The challenge with inconsistent estimating processes 

Before Countfire, Design Lighting’s estimating process was a patchwork of different methods. Their salespeople would use different tools and techniques – some turned to Bluebeam, while others counted manually with printed drawings and markers. This lack of standardisation created inefficiencies and added unnecessary time to the workflow, leaving the team frustrated.

When Andres joined Design Lighting, improving the estimating process was one of his top priorities. Reflecting on some of the other software solutions, he admits “I’m not too fond of software programs like Bluebeam – I don’t find it very user-friendly and I’ve always struggled with it." 

Recognising the limitations of their previous methods, Andres set out to find a more efficient, fully automated solution and soon discovered Countfire. After a week-long trial, the benefits were clear: Countfire’s intuitive, user-friendly design made it the obvious choice. “After spending a week using Countfire I told my team ‘I cannot go back to Bluebeam!’”

Getting results with Countfire 

Since adopting Countfire, Design Lighting has seen a remarkable transformation in their estimating workflow. The software has dramatically reduced the time required for takeoffs, delivering significant efficiency across the board. Andres shares an example:

"A very big project that took me 10 hours to count before, such as a 56-storey development, now takes me merely four hours of work at most. Honestly, Countfire has changed how people do things around here and helped me streamline the entire process."

Thanks to these time savings, Design Lighting has surpassed its original goal of saving 100 hours per year through automation in non-customer facing areas, and provided the team with more capacity to take on additional projects and improve overall productivity.

Ongoing innovation

One of the standout aspects of Countfire for Design Lighting has been its exceptional customer support. During the initial trial, Andres was impressed by the proactive assistance from Countfire’s team who, despite the time-difference between Canada and the UK, often “resolved issues within 15 minutes.” 

Additionally, Andres mentioned how he appreciates Countfire’s commitment to continuous improvement and really values the ability to suggest new features, vote on customer-driven enhancements, and see regular updates that improve functionality. Andres explains, “it feels like a sense of community. It’s not like we are only Countfire customers, but it’s more like we’re part of this big community that everybody is contributing to – that’s fantastic.” 

Closing thoughts from Andres 

Countfire has become a cornerstone of Design Lighting’s operations, completely transforming their estimating process and helping them to achieve their goals of saving 100+ hours through automation. 

If you’re looking for an automated electrical estimating solution, Andres sums it up perfectly: “I can just assure you that it would be the right choice to go with Countfire – 100%.”

Take a cue from Design Lighting’s success story and give Countfire a try today to experience the dramatic reduction in estimating time for yourself.