Custom Brand Design System
- Token-based four-color palette with light and dark themes
- Editorial serif, sans-serif, and monospace type system
- Blueprint visual language nodding to CAD heritage
Case Study • Architectural Millwork & Manufacturing
Ellis-Reid Millwork + Specialties: A Custom Digital Platform for an Architectural Millwork Manufacturer
How Kompani turned a CAD archive, scattered inquiries, and social-only photography into one platform — a public website, a searchable digital trim catalog, an AI concierge, and a full sales and operations back office for a Carolinas millwork and custom cabinetry company.
Custom Website
Digital Product Catalog
AI Chat Assistant
Sales CRM
Local SEO
Operations Dashboard
The Challenge
A regional architectural millwork and custom cabinetry manufacturer needed one platform that could serve homeowners, architects, and builders; turn CAD data into a browsable, specifiable catalog; capture and qualify leads; and give the team a clean back office.
The solution: a single-codebase React application on managed serverless infrastructure with built-in authentication, database, file storage, email, and payments — no WordPress, plugins, or separate hosting to maintain.
- Two businesses under one brand: a custom millwork shop and a transactional stock trim catalog.
- Product data locked in a large archive of CAD (.dwg) files no customer could browse.
- The best project photography lived only on social media.
- Inquiries arrived through scattered channels with no qualification or tracking.
Public Site Showcase
What Visitors See
The live site at ellis-reid.com pairs a refined millwork brand with practical tools for homeowners, architects, and builders.
Homepage — "Where Architecture Becomes Tangible"
A warm, editorial homepage with full-bleed project photography, clear paths into the Trim Library and quote requests, and the "Ask Ellis-Reid" AI concierge always one click away.
Trim Library — A Specification Workspace
The digital moulding catalog explains how it works (browse, build by room, share a spec sheet, send for pricing) and includes an AI Profile Finder that matches a description, sketch, photo, or PDF to the closest profiles.
Product Detail with Interactive 3D Profile
Each profile is extruded live in 3D from its CAD drawing, with species swatches, stock lengths, and stick math that converts pieces into full-stick lineal footage before adding to selections.
Role-Based Contact & Inquiry Flow
A three-step inquiry that tailors its questions to architects, builders, or homeowners, alongside service-area details and a dedicated trade and wholesale path.
Front End
The Public Website
A search-optimized marketing site and digital catalog built for three audiences: homeowners who explore, architects who specify, and builders who price and order.
Trim Library Digital Catalog
- Searchable catalog across 16 moulding categories
- Custom part numbers, dimensions, stock lengths, and species
- Profile Finder, side-by-side comparison, and species landing pages
- Interactive 3D profile viewer that extrudes each profile
- On-demand PDF catalog generation
Project Tray & Spec Tools
- Save profiles by room with notes and waste percentage
- Stick math converts lineal feet into full-stick quantities
- Species swap re-specifies a whole selection
- Shareable read-only spec sheets with optional hidden pricing
- Quote requests with drawing and photo attachments
Gallery & Project Portfolio
- Filters by scope, room, and species with infinite scroll
- Shareable gallery sets for spouses, designers, and builders
- Project pages named by town and scope for client privacy
AI Concierge — "Ask Ellis-Reid"
- Public chat assistant trained on scope, process, and service area
- Searches the live catalog and cites real part numbers
- Captures qualified leads directly into the CRM
- Guardrails against prompt injection, abuse, and data leaks
Lead Capture & Accounts
- Multi-step inquiry form with grouped capability clusters
- Universal confirmation with reference code and next steps
- Branded auto-reply emails
- Customer accounts with quote history, saved projects, and trade tier
Local SEO & AI-Search Readiness
- Location pages for every core market in NC and SC
- Structured data for business, products, projects, articles, FAQs, and service areas
- Dynamic sitemap, robots file, and AI-crawler summary file
- AI-written image descriptions plus an image text audit
Content, Careers & Services
- Insights hub with news, white papers, and case studies
- Careers with shareable job links and resume upload
- Profile matching, materials, workshop, and about pages
Behind the Login
Admin & Operations Platform
Every admin area is role-restricted and secured with record-level access rules, giving the team a clean back office for sales, catalog, content, media, and hiring.
Operations Dashboard
- Open pricing requests, inquiries, lineal feet, and win rate
- Demand and footage charts, pipeline panel, top-requested profiles
Lead Board
- Hot/warm/cold plus a 0–100 qualification score with breakdown
- New → Contacted → Qualified → Converted workflow
- Attachments, internal notes, and archiving
Quote Inbox
- Line items with part numbers, species, stick counts, and lineal feet
- New → In Review → Quoted → Won / Lost workflow
Sales Notifications
- Branded HTML alerts sent through the client's Microsoft 365 mailbox
- Urgency color-coding and deep links into the admin
Product Editor & Media Library
- Full profile editing with bulk-apply tools
- Central asset store with part-number linking and approval step
Gallery Manager
- Bulk upload with automatic resizing
- Duplicate detection via image fingerprints
- AI-generated alt text, captions, and tags
Featured Image Placements
- Swap any site photo from a gallery picker — no code
- Rotation pools and five-image rollback history
Trade Accounts & Client Catalogs
- Tiered trade pricing applied automatically
- Private curated catalogs with view tracking
Careers Administration
- Job posting manager with filled and paused states
- Applicant inbox with hiring workflow and resumes
Team, Access & QA
- Invites, roles, and email or domain allowlists
- Record-level permissions on every data type
- Built-in QA checklist used for client acceptance
Inside the Back Office
Screens from the secure admin platform the Ellis-Reid team uses every day (demo data shown).
Back-Office Admin Dashboard
Role-restricted admin hub with live counts for catalog profiles, pricing requests, project inquiries, and hot leads.
Performance Dashboard
Quote pipeline, lead flow, lineal feet requested, inbound volume, and who's inquiring — in one operational view.
Gallery Manager with AI Image Descriptions
Batch upload with auto-resizing, credits, tags, and AI-written alt text, captions, and search keywords.
Sales, Catalog & Content Tools
Quote inbox, lead board, trade accounts, product data, drawings and assets, project gallery, and featured image placements.
Hiring, Team Access & Permissions
Job postings, applicant inbox, image SEO audit, insights articles, and a three-tier access model.
Key Design Principles
CAD-First Data
The catalog comes from real engineering files, so what gets specified is what gets milled.
Privacy by Default
Projects are named by town and scope; client names are stripped from public content.
One Confirmation Experience
Every form ends with a reference code, response time, and next steps.
Owned, Not Rented
The client controls its domain, email, and content — social drives traffic to the site.
Built for Three Audiences
Homeowners explore, architects specify, builders price and order.
Results Delivered
- One platform replacing a static site, scattered inboxes, and manual catalog handling
- Qualified, scored leads with automatic routing and customer confirmations
- A searchable, printable, shareable trim catalog built from the client's own CAD data
- Content and photos the team manages themselves — no developer needed
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Kompani build for Ellis-Reid Millwork + Specialties?
A single digital platform combining a public marketing website, a searchable digital trim catalog built from CAD files, project specification tools, an AI concierge chat assistant, a sales CRM with lead scoring, media management, and an internal operations dashboard.
How was the CAD data turned into an online catalog?
The client's CAD (.dwg) moulding profiles were converted and organized into 16 categories with custom part numbers, dimensions, species, and stock lengths, then published as a searchable Trim Library with a 3D profile viewer and on-demand PDF catalog.
Does the website use WordPress or plugins?
No. It is a single-codebase React application on managed serverless infrastructure with built-in authentication, database, file storage, email, and payments — nothing extra to host, patch, or maintain.
How does the AI concierge help generate leads?
The "Ask Ellis-Reid" assistant answers visitor questions, searches the live catalog for real part numbers, and captures qualified leads directly into the CRM, with guardrails against off-topic use and prompt injection.
Can Kompani build a similar platform for a manufacturer or contractor?
Yes. Kompani builds custom websites, catalogs, CRMs, and AI tools for manufacturers, millwork shops, contractors, and distributors across North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, and California.
Need a platform like this for your business?
Custom websites, catalogs, CRMs, and AI tools for manufacturers, contractors, and distributors.