Advances in technology have changed the way we all do business. Email has revolutionized communications. You can find almost anything you want to know by searching through Google or other online databases. The “cloud” environment provides small businesses with affordable access to sophisticated hardware and software solutions. Some companies may soon use drones to deliver packages.

But there are some things that technology can’t displace – and shouldn’t. Like the personal interaction between property owners or managers, purchasing agents, designers and manufacturers. Our years of purchasing and design experience with the products we sell put PPI in a unique position to recognize FF&E related problems in daily hotel operations and develop practical solutions.

For example, one customer noted an increase in workers’ compensation claims related to housekeepers who moved heavy guestroom wood frame sofa sleepers to vacuum and clean in their properties. After a conversation with our customer’s management team about employee safety, PPI approached a manufacturer with an idea to develop a metal day bed rugged enough to withstand years of high volume use by hotel guests. This innovative product came in at less than half the weight of the earlier models. Our customer’s employee safety records improved and, as an added benefit, their guests enjoyed extra storage space underneath the day bed – an important feature in an extended stay property.

Another example of PPI problem solving involves our recommended solution for recurring repairs and repainting to remove chair marks on guestroom walls. PPI revised our customer’s guestroom FF&E package and sourced a “wall saver” chair to address the complaint and reduce maintenance costs.

Bed bugs can wreak havoc on hotel bedding and wooden frames. Protective covers for mattresses and box springs can provide a partial solution to this pervasive problem. However, one customer experienced a recurring need for replacements of box springs and wooden frames after bed bug infestations as a result of the protective covers being compromised by friction between the box spring and frame. PPI collaborated with the customer’s purchasing director and a leading manufacturer to develop a metal bed frame that doesn’t require a box spring. The customer’s capital replacement and guestroom sanitizing costs were reduced. Affected guestrooms were back in service sooner at no sacrifice in comfort for their guests.

PPI’s goal is to guide our customers throughout the FF&E design and purchasing process, using our years of relevant experience to solve problems in ways that save time, money and hassle. It’s something we’ve been doing since we started our business in 1992 and it’s a way of doing business we have no plans to change.