For manufacturing companies like Lixil, a company with over 50,000 employees, producing products used by more than a billion people every day, creative assets are vital to bringing products to life.
These assets, whether photography, graphic design, video or renderings are what ultimately allow customers to visualize products in their own homes.
With designers, managers, and teams spread across the world, collaborative and efficient proofing is mission-critical.
And with 1000s of assets delivered using ReviewStudio, there’s a lot to gain from a faster review and approval process.
We spoke with Nick Cruz, brand asset coordinator at the storied American Standard (a Lixil company) to discuss how they use ReviewStudio to collaborate more efficiently.
Daniela: Can you tell us a little about the work you do at American Standard/Lixil?
Nick: Our company manufactures bathroom products. Toilets, pedestals, kitchen faucets, sinks, and more. We sell to Home Depot, Lowes, and other retailers and distributors who showcase our products.
Our role on the brand asset team is to bring these products to life early on, managing the design of the product and getting it ready for market. We also create renderings or do photoshoots to show the product in realistic spaces so people can envision their lives in that environment.
We then coordinate the delivery of the images as well as any other relevant assets, including literature, to our distributors and retailers.
What brought you and your team to ReviewStudio?
We have a team in China that does CGI work. We were previously using another program for proofing, but it didn’t work well in China. It was taking too long for them to upload, download, and review assets. That’s when we decided to look into ReviewStudio.
We looked into a few platforms, but with ReviewStudio, we found that we were able to execute everything we needed to do very efficiently.
It became so much easier to review and make comments on creative.
So, from there, we said, why don’t we bring in the brand team who need to review things? One thing led to another, and we expanded across the wider organization with half the company (at American Standard) now using it.
You mentioned you looked at other solutions, is there a specific reason you thought ReviewStudio worked out better?
We needed a solution that really addressed a range of media efficiently because we were reviewing video, images, and pdf content. We also create literature assets and sell sheets.
And we appreciated the ability to have specific tools and markup functionality that worked with the specific media. The ability to highlight specific areas and draw the changes required has had a big impact on our creative workflows.
Documenting, though, was the most crucial part for us, because we were having internal conflicts, where people wouldn’t remember what changes they would request. We needed a system where everyone was held accountable for what they were saying and requesting.
And ReviewStudio provides us that.
There are times when I’ll have to go through the history and the feedback and say, “Here’s what you said 6 weeks ago”. It just makes it that much easier for everyone. You’re able to catch up in real time – which we Iove.
Can you describe your typical project and your team’s collaborative process?
When there’s a new product launch, the brand team is responsible for providing us with the key shots required. For example, we’ll need renderings of the products in an environment, silhouetted images on a white background, and so on.
We put together a design board for the team to create. When the team is creating this, sometimes they’ll have questions, and they can document this in ReviewStudio. It makes it efficient for us to work through.
Then they create the design and environment. Typically, there are multiple rounds of revisions. There might be an element that didn’t work well or looked too busy. Again, it is very easy to get clarity with the precise tools that ReviewStudio provides.
We can easily share it with brand and product managers, by adding them into the Review at that time. They will come in, comment if they don’t like something, or they will approve.
You mentioned that you started using ReviewStudio with one department then expanded into other parts of the company. Can you speak about how that happened?
We found that when we were setting up calls with the product teams to review assets, they wanted to digest it a bit more. It became more of “Can you send me the Review?”, rather than the images, so they could add comments.
Or, sometimes to get further clarity on product features, we would send the links to engineers to review, too. When the engineers found out about the platform, they asked if they could jump in and start utilizing it. They thought it would save them time when developing the sell sheets or other literature pieces.
So, it kind of happened organically – and made a lot of sense for us.
With over 50,000 employees across Lixil, tools must play an essential role in your creative collaborations. What is your philosophy when adopting a new tool?
You can’t launch a product without the brand shots – but it’s a small component of the greater picture.
The needs we have as a business unit can have upstream impacts at a company level. And it seems that across the company we were trying a different platform every week to compensate for different needs where other platforms fall short.
Along with these needs, silos build from department to department, and certainly across continents.
The critical focus is on trying to have some synergy and have the tools work together, versus against each other. Because when you’re working in a silo, you’re looking out for your internal team, and you’re just passing off the work instead of curating it onto the next department.
Would you say, for your department at least, ReviewStudio has helped to reduce that siloed process?
ReviewStudio has definitely helped to increase efficiency in our asset review process. The ability to centralize feedback and track revisions in real-time has significantly reduced turnaround times and increased our overall productivity.
One of the top benefits would be that we’re dealing with fewer emails. Everyone can get the notifications they want when they want them. We’re not only reducing the number of emails we receive but the amount we need to send out.
A second point, with a CGI team in China and a 12-hour difference, the ability to have quick responses has become critical. We can’t always do a call. The ability to have async communication and feedback is a key benefit.
Overall, ReviewStudio has helped streamline our workflows, allowing for more efficient collaboration across teams and stakeholders.
Are there any other specifics on how ReviewStudio has contributed to your team’s productivity?
ReviewStudio has significantly boosted our team’s productivity by reducing the number of revision rounds by 35-45% (about 3 to 5 fewer versions needed). It has also been beneficial for streamlining version control, saving us countless hours in the process.
The centralized comment and feedback options have enhanced collaborations, ensuring quicker approvals and more efficient project completion. We’ve been able to reduce meetings related to the review process by up to 7 per week, saving our teams a lot of time.
What’s your best piece of advice for someone starting to implement ReviewStudio?
On a basic level, start by thoroughly training your team on the platform. Ensure everyone understands its features they will need and the benefits they will see. We encourage consistent use by integrating ReviewStudio into our daily workflows and conversations. Set expectations by establishing clear guidelines for providing and managing feedback to ensure efficiency and great collaboration.
