Stone Grid Software

[muttin]

As far as the cost in a different industry we use a similar software all cloud based and i really love the way they base their cost you pay per ordered entered with a cap on the overall cost. I think that is a great way helps with smaller companies and also helps when busy and slower times not paying a huge amount every month when things slow down.

I just had a meeting with that other software company and they said it is working great and gaining a on of business because there is no big upfront expense and monthly burden. I run a small shop and could not justify spending hundreds a month for something especially when comes to january and things are very slow around here.

the software i mentioned has base package at like $2.50 per order and then has add ons want barcode a little more want to use the app on your phone another $.50/ each order
so when i looked at it was not ever a thought its just do it so if you enter 50 orders a month into the system its $125.00 if you enter 10 orders its $25.00

i'm not saying that is what it needs to be but saying for small and large shops i like that pricing structure you know exactly what is costs add it into the cost but hard to add $600 into lets say 1-2 projects

[RB Design]

Thanks Caleb for your response! I also agree with you. What is the current status of the software and is it possible to get a demo of it. We will also be at the show in Vegas in January.

[Caleb]

Stone Grid is now a Guardian Sponsor! Feel free to ask away in this thread and I can answer questions more directly! Thanks!

[RB Design]

Good Morning Caleb,

Thanks for your time and the demo this week! You mentioned the time frame when it will be officially rolled out as Las Vegas in January. Is that still the target date? What is happening before that? I understand it is still in 'beta' mode until then. Are there any benefits to signing on early? Can you tell us again what the cost structure will be?

[RB Design]

Are there any benefits to signing on early? Can you tell us again what the cost structure will be?
[

I went back and read the cost structure from past posts. These were taken down a few days ago so I couldn't see them but now are back.

[Caleb]

Good Morning Caleb,

Thanks for your time and the demo this week! You mentioned the time frame when it will be officially rolled out as Las Vegas in January. Is that still the target date? What is happening before that? I understand it is still in 'beta' mode until then. Are there any benefits to signing on early? Can you tell us again what the cost structure will be?
[

The benifits are that you can make suggestions on improvements while development is being completed (on screen take off is a good suggestion) you also get the introductory pricing which should be around a little while but will be going up at some point in the not to distant future. (you are locked into this price)

[RB Design]

Will be hosted on a offsite server?

Yes, 3rd party
[

Caleb, Who is hosting the service? Is it encrypted up and down, meaning data going to the server and data coming from the server? As far as data backup, how will it be backed up? Say I delete something that I shouldn't have, will there be a way to recover that data? Is there a plan for clients exiting/cancelling the subscription? Once that happens, what happens to the data - how would we recover our data. I wouldn't anticipate this happening but have to know what would happen if it did.

[RB Design]

you also get the introductory pricing which should be around a little while but will be going up at some point in the not to distant future. (you are locked into this price)
[

meaning that we would pay that monthly amount for what length of time? Also, if we grew, would we be on that current rate schedule for additional items?

[Caleb]

Will be hosted on a offsite server?

Yes, 3rd party
[

Caleb, Who is hosting the service? Is it encrypted up and down, meaning data going to the server and data coming from the server? As far as data backup, how will it be backed up? Say I delete something that I shouldn't have, will there be a way to recover that data? Is there a plan for clients exiting/cancelling the subscription? Once that happens, what happens to the data - how would we recover our data. I wouldn't anticipate this happening but have to know what would happen if it did.
[

I don't know all the ins and outs of the data transfer - I do know its a 3rd party server, which I'm sure comes with its own protections - and I know its HTTP which also has its own protections.
Technical support has recalled several quotes for us that we accidently deleted, so that is possible as well
Through the reports center you can send a lot of the data to an excel sheet - so you have control of that data. From my understanding it costs a lot more to send and recall data than to actually store it - so I wouldn't imagine a canceled customers data would be deleted.

I asked for clarification on these points and will update when I get that info

[Caleb]

you also get the introductory pricing which should be around a little while but will be going up at some point in the not to distant future. (you are locked into this price)
[

meaning that we would pay that monthly amount for what length of time? Also, if we grew, would we be on that current rate schedule for additional items?
[

If market conditions change (data/storage becomes more expense etc) then there could be a 'cost of living' increase at some point... but, as a beta user with beta pricing, the idea is that you would be locked into the pricing for as long as you're using the software.

[RB Design]

Thanks Caleb, look forward to getting your reply in more detail. Can you tell me the name of the 3rd party host?

[Alex DiPietro]

As an FYI the inventory also syncs to slabsmith. So all your slabsmith pictures (if you photograph inventory) show up in the software, automatically, accessible from anywhere. Same for remnants, these automatically show up as well when you generate a slabsmith remnant. Also, when you consume a slab in slabsmith, it consumes the slab in stone app.

[Caleb]

Screenshot_20171116-071431.jpg (192.11KiB)Viewed 1999 times

[Miles]

Just FYI- This product was developed partially at our facility over a 2 plus year period. I was originally contacted by Prem when he was selling Focus software. We tried to work with them for about a year. The software never really worked for us the way we were told it was going to. They actually told me they wanted us to be a beta site so they could work out the bugs in the system. Then Prem and Veeru had some type of dispute and we decided to go back to Moraware because we didn't feel comfortable with the dispute that was going on.

Veeru then approached me and said he was working on developing another product called Stone Grid. We let him use our facility for about two years. We gave them an office in our facility at no charge. The developer who they sent actually lived with my mother for about a year (he's a great guy). Then, for some reason, maybe something to do with a legal dispute, Veeru then told us that he was no longer involved.

I started getting contacted by a guy named Ravi who said he now owned the software. He wanted us to start paying. I told him the software didn't work (at least not the way we were told it was going to work). We had a lot of problems where it was misfiguring the amounts entered. The inventory was very inaccurate. The software sometimes got the tax amounts wrong. They told us it was user error and some of it may have been or all of it could have been. But I told them I wasn't going to pay for something that didn't work.

I am just sharing my experience for what it's worth. I personally look at it as one of the biggest mistakes I've made in the stone business. Maybe they've gotten it all worked out. I think there's still some question about ownership of the product, at least in my mind there is.

I see some things in the screenshots and information being shown here that looks very familiar. I hope they are not using any of our data publicly. That would be wrong. And a mistake.

[Alex DiPietro]

Miles, they really have worked out all the kinks that used to exist. I have zero fiscal interest in the software, I am entirely busy with my stone businesses. Just want to put that out there. But I would love to see the software really succeed, because it is helping us a lot. It is light years beyond what is was. The major milestones have been during the past 6-8 months.

There was a time, where I contemplated switching platforms. I had looked at stone profits but someone our size, I couldn't justify the initial expense. I am glad that I stayed, we don't have any problems any more. It certainly took a long time, and some headaches to get to where it is now, but those frustrations are in the past.

I think anyone switching to any software will have speed bumps in the beginning, but the core problems we used to have with stone app are no more.

[luke getz]

so, are stone app and stone grid the same thing?

[StoneGrid]

Great question! StoneApp is the software created by StoneGrid. Think of it like “App” is the thing that can go on a computer, tablet, or phone. Let us know if you have any additional questions, would be glad to clarify anything we can!