Gioia Sails started out as a sail making company in New York in 1966, but quickly expanded to make all things canvas for power boats, a new market back then. Today Gioia Sails is still looking for new market opportunities. They make all sorts of things canvas and upholstery for both boats and buildings on land: boat covers, awnings, deck enclosures for restaurants, and just about everything else made out of fabric or canvas.
Donnie Gioia, Senior Digital Design Engineer, has been with Gioia Sails since 1985, when he started working for his father, Gioia Sails’ founder, sweeping floors. “If you can sew it, we can do it,” he said. “From the carpet to the carpentry to window trimmings to bedding to throw pillows.”
Gioia Sails Saves Space – and Time – with PatternSmith
Gioia Sails runs two Autometrix fabric cutting tables to create standard and custom products for wholesaler and retail customers. The cutting machines are integral to Gioia Sails’ business, but it’s the software that is the real time (and space) saver. They do all of their digitizing and editing in PatternSmith (even quilt patterns!). “We pattern the boat from covers to enclosures and store it all in a directory on our computer,” said Gioia. “We save all of our patterns, even if it’s a one-off. Any customer who needs a cover for that boat – we have it stored. We have thousands of patterns – we’d need a whole warehouse if they were actual patterns instead of digital patterns.”
Customer Service is Everything
“Customer service is everything, and Autometrix has it,” he said. “They answer their phone. They answer their email. They even answer texts – not every tech support person is going to give you his cell phone. They are accessible.” – Donnie Gioia
Gioia has been working with Autometrix since the 1990s, when they purchased their first Autometrix cutting machine. To put that in perspective, their first version of PatternSmith was on a floppy disk. They are in the process of buying a new cutting machine. Gioia is confident that the transaction will be easy because of his experience with Autometrix customer service. “Customer service is everything, and Autometrix has it,” he said. “They answer their phone. They answer their email. They even answer texts – not every tech support person is going to give you his cell phone. They are accessible.”
Gioia knows a thing or two about good customer service – it’s one reason Gioia Sails has been successful for so many years. Autometrix wishes Gioia Sails great success for the next 50 years! Want to learn more about PatternSmith or an Autometrix Cutting Table? Call us or schedule a demo!