The prototype is a test, not a showroom
Pilots exist to answer questions a sample room cannot: how the finish takes a commercial cleaner, what guests break first, whether the seat line survives a Saturday.
- Pieces signed
- One per line
- Pilot window
- 90 days
- Changes allowed
- At wave boundaries
- Record kept
- 7 years
01What the pilot is for
Ninety days of use tells you more than a finish board ever will. Foam takes compression readings at the seat front, edge banding meets the bus cart, and the cleaning chemical list meets whatever was agreed in a meeting room rather than what the floor actually uses.
Two changes usually come out of it: foam density up one grade, and a scuff-resistant edge where the carts hit, both cheap to make at the pilot and expensive to retrofit at store twenty. Both are cheap at this stage and expensive at store twenty.
02Three records of one piece
One piece per line. Signed on the underside, photographed on a grey card under daylight, measured and written onto the sheet. Three records of the same object, because a photograph alone cannot be measured and a measurement alone cannot show a colour.
From that point the sheet is frozen. Changes happen at wave boundaries, in writing, with the date and the stores affected.
03Ninety days proves one batch, not two
It does not prove a second production batch. The sample in the archive covers that, and wave two is compared against it before loading.
It also does not prove a different format. Two plans, not one: a 120 m² unit and a 320 m² unit, and the second needs its own seat count.
?Questions
How long does a prototype take?
Three to four weeks from signed sheet to delivered piece, for standard finishes. The pilot install itself is your contractor's schedule.
Can the pilot pieces go into a live store?
Yes, they are production pieces, not mock-ups. Most chains install the pilot and leave it running.
What if the brand wants a change after the pilot?
It goes on the sheet as a revision with a date. Stores already cut keep the old line; the next wave carries the new one.
Send the plan for the next twelve openings
Store count, opening dates and the floor plan are enough to start. What comes back is a wave schedule, a quantity per unit and one sheet with every line on it.