Mountboard Range

[vitalframer]

Hi all - even though I am a new framer I spent a lot of time, during set-up, deciding on suppliers and materials that suited me. I decided to use only Britannia W/C mountboard as it had 70 colours and I can get single sheets from Wessex when I need them. I have now found that Britannia have cut this range to only 40 colours and I am concerned that this is a tad restrictive. I have also built up my stock levels so that I have at least a single sheet of each of the original 70 colours, 30 of which are not useless (apart from using as gash).

The question is - do I continue with Britannia with a restricted range of colours to offer? Switch to another supplier - which one? Arqadia, Daler? This will no doubt be an expensive issue for a small business like mine.

Do other framers stick to a single mountboard supplier? If so, which one is preferred?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Bob

[Graysalchemy]

Depends how you wish to buy, from a wholeseller or direct from arqadia. A lot of bespoke framers find it easier to use a wholeseller as orders can be lower and you can get everything you need.

With regards to 40 colours being restrictive, I disagree you are better off with a smaller range as as you have forund you probably have £100 worth of mounts which you are not going to use also you end up with a lot of half sheets which again never get used. Better have a smaller range which you can control and reduce your wastage. I just have three colours in my range White Black and good old hayseed, in two thicknesses which I buy by the palette, But ignore that one I am a commercial framer but the principle is the same.

You can also extend this to moulding as well the more you offer the more wastage you have and and after a few years you will have a lot of fire wood believe me.

[prospero]

Shame about the Britannia range. I've used quite a bit of this in the past and it's good stuff with some nice subtle colours.

You don't happen to know which ones are disco'd? I'll order a shedload just to wind them up.

[vitalframer]

Thanks for replies guys. I am trying to work out which ones are discontinued. To confuse matters even more, they have renamed some of the existing colours (i.e. Brickwork is now Mulberry!!).

[Not your average framer]

I try not to tie myself to just one supplier and if I have to order an unusual colour for a particular customer anything left over after the job is likely to be used up for undermounts, etc.

My pricing allows for this possibility, so I can afford to do this. My main suppliers for mountboard are Arqadia and Colourmount, but I still can choose from other suppliers if the need arises.

[Keith Hewitt]

I know a very successful framer who has managed (for 30 + years) very well with just 40 colours

[stcstc]

i keep 6, and any other i tell people to wait etc

[Jonny2morsos]

I have never stocked the full range of anyone's mountboard as the majority of jobs are done using a small percentage of the range(s). Wessex deliver weekly so you are never more than 7 days away from getting special colours if you need one.

The fact Brittania have almost halved their range would suggest they are not selling much of the thirty they have dropped. Also with Brittania their conservation range is another complete range of colours which complicates matters further.

If you use Arqadia or Colourmount then a fair percentage are conservation without having to pick from another colour chart.

With Coloumount they have sensibly divided their selector into two sections (conservation and whitecore) so when dealing with customers you can easily show the customer which ranges they need to select from. Arqadia mount board selector is not so user friendly but does offer a wider range of colours, however, minimum of 5 sheets is a bit of a pain unless you can shift plenty of the chosen colour. I like Daler board as well and the range has some useful colours plus I can get it quickly single sheet.

[vitalframer]

Thanks again guys for your help and advice.

Bob

[Roboframer]

I show the full range of Nielsen-Bainbridge artcare - alphamat and alpharag - don't ask me how many colours/finishes/thicknesses that is - a couple or three hundred I suppose. About two thirds of that is in stock in varying quantities but less of the more expensive boards such as 'tatami silks' which are almost £15 a sheet.

In addition to that I show all the Arqadia suedettes, all the artcare bevelled accents plus as many again of my own (where I have bevelled artcare foam board and wrapped it with artcare surface paper) plus fabric-wrapped deep bevels - all of that is in stock. Then there's about 20 washline samples (not so much for colour of board or lines but for arrangement of lines), some inlaid samples and a few embossed line samples.

If someone wants an 'off white' I reckon I can give them a choice of about 15, or if you include ultra thick, coloured core, solid core and cotton, probably more like 40.

Under the counter, just in case, I have the Colourmount, Arqadia and Crescent colour charts but I've rarely had to use them.

Some colours move faster than others and with those, if they're getting low, I'll include a pack of 5 sheets with an order even if I have no orders for them at the time

People like choice and I know that because I'm people I also know it from our craft side.

People like to match their decor as well as compliment/enhance the art - ever seen the Dulux/Crown/etc paint shade charts?

[Gesso&Bole]

It depends what you want to achieve.

Most customers would think 40 was quite a big choice . . . . . . . until they wanted to match the white exactly

My advice would be to have a range of 40 that you show people, as this will be plenty for 80-95% of the time, and it will keep you more profitable to have a smaller range. Then have another range under the counter, that you can purchase one sheet at a time from your wholesaler to deal with the more tricky situations.

[Roboframer]

I dunno - I think over time you develop a good eye for colour and tone; customers have faith in your eye, and if 40 colours suit for 80-95% of the time, especially after years and years, then that's a very restricted eye, screw it, it's just boring!

How can you develop that eye if you restrict what it sees just because it simplifies your stock and fits in with your budget - problems passed on to the customer that result in maybe (very probably) nothing like the best choice.

[Gesso&Bole]

As I say above . . . . . it depends what you want to achieve

If you want the most profitable, streamlined, efficient business, where you can keep your range in stock all the time, then 40 mount colours will be loads (after all Britannia will only be dumping the very slow sellers).

On the other hand, if you want to offer a specialised service, with 100s of different colours and textures, then 40 will be nowhere near enough. But you really do have to make sure you are charging enough to cover the true cost of offering that choice.

Know this though. The 80/20 rule is alive and well. 80% (at least) of your customers would find the choice difficult enough with 40 to choose from. So the huge choice route (a perfectly legitimate route for a business to take) is a niche business, appealing to a minority who would find a small range restrictive, and would travel miles for the right choice.

So the answer to the original question about how many mount colours to stock, is all about what sort of business you want to run.

[prospero]

I think you have to be careful. It's all too easy to get samples from every range and plonk them on your counter and say to customers "I can do 1000 different boards". Sounds impressive. Even if you don't actually stock many, you only have to pick the phone up and order when needed.

In practice you can be making a rod for your own back. Mountboard ranges are extensive any manufacturers chop and change regularly. Keeping abreast of what's available (or not) will waste a lot of time. 99% of the samples you will never use. Also, too many choices will confuse customers and waste more time.

The logistics of ordering can be problematic. Sure suppliers will sell single sheets, but ordering a single sheet to be delivered by carrier is a no-brainer. So you add a few more things to make up a decent order. Bad for cash flow if you don't actually need the extra stuff in the immediate future.

The best way IMHO is to establish a core stock of the more useful boards. As you go along you will find that this will weigh in at <40. I had a brief count up and most of the time I use less than 10 on a regular basis. Keep extra charts/samples by all means, but keep them in reserve.

[Graysalchemy]

If your mount board range is going to be so extensive then what is your moulding range going to be like? If you decide to offer anything out of a catalogue then you are going to get minimum orders, also some suppliers if you order 10ft (or the rep puts down 10ft ) and they only have 9ft they will send you 2 x 9ft. Now you will end up with hundreds of lengths of moulding gathering dust getting, damaged and most of the time lost so you end up ordering it again.

My advice is keep it simple and limit yourself to no more than 40 mountboards then have a look at what mouldings you are going to offer.

[vitalframer]

Please find attached a spreadsheet showing the changes to the Britannia WC range.

Hope this helps.....Bob

[Not your average framer]

"I started with nothing and still have most if left!"

Hi Bob,

What a great signature line!

[Roboframer]

If your mount board range is going to be so extensive then what is your moulding range going to be like?

I show over a thousand with about 400 in stock (again in varying quantities - from up to 30m for plainwoods to one or two lengths of more expensive stuff and maybe not complete lengths either, but anything that won't make up a fulll length isn't counted. I'm not happy about or proud of that, it's just how it is after years of not being able to resist a bargain here and there - and other reasons!

But that display does not (generally) make for a difficult choice as long as you stay in control and quickly narrow the selection down to what suits the artwork and/or the customers' thoughts. In most cases at least 95% of the display is instantly dismissed (not the same 95% each time of course) and out of the remaining 50 or so, many will be the wrong size/shape/whatever, so you're quickly down to less than 10.

With mounts I agree 40 could make for a difficult choice but you're not going to offer up all 40 colours at once. If you only offer up two or four at a time it doesn't matter if they've come from a selection of 40 or 400.

This came in today, a very colourful batik, the samples shown were as far as I got before the customer decided and I wouldn't have cared if any were in stock or not, as it happened the final choice was, and so was the moulding (that's what the green dot means). If six mounts out of only 40 were shown the diffrence in colours would have been much greater, two of them look almost the same, but one's metallic.

BATIK 001.JPG

What I want to achieve, or think I have achieved, is the ability to enhance/complement/etc anything that comes through the door, and as I don't restrict what comes through the door, I don't restrict myself to a limited colour palette - that's like dancing in a room with a low ceiling.

The mount is usually the biggest visible single-coloured area of a finished piece, sometimes an even larger area than the artwork itself, and I think it's important to get it right and sometimes that can be done with ever-so-subtle differences in colour between mounts instead of big contrasts, or by selecting a charcoal instead of black - etc and you don't have to stock 200 out of 300 colours shown; you don't have to stock any at all really, unless you can only buy in packs of five, in which case if you wanted to show and stock 40 colours, that actually would be up to 200 sheets in stock.

[stcstc]

i suppose it depends how you approach this

if you can cover 90% of your work with a small cross section of mouldings and mounts, and most customers can be sold one of the combinations

then this makes very good commercial sense

BUT, it does depend or your circumstances as to which approach works

i mean tescos for example wont have all lines in all shops. there will be products that sell in some shops and not others, because of the nature of the surroundings

so what they do is not have the full range everywhere, and from experience, put in each store the right and required products

[Roboframer]

I like that comparison - will be telling my customers that many framers are like a Tesco Express, but not me, I'm the real deal

And hey, I'm not trying to convert anyone - being different is what I like - and strangely enough most customers like it too

(BTW - photo is reduced to 800x600 pixels and uploads dead fast - the server may automatically re-size files but when it has to it takes forever)

(BTW again - hands up anyone who would mount the above with an off-white or magnolia with maybe a dark green/blue inner mount)?