"I have a passion for real building materials like wood – it's hard to beat with new technology"

XL Bygg Palms Byggvaror in Tyresö is a solid building supply store with a rich history. We had a chat with Fredrik Palm, who today runs the company together with his brother. Naturally, they use Geometra to help their customers who want a quote for their construction project!

Palms Byggvaror was founded by Fredrik's grandfather in 1945, originally as a carpentry workshop. That laid the foundation for the company, which has been a lumberyard and building supply store since 1985.

"We have kept a small part of the old carpentry workshop, which today consists of a planing mill. It is mainly used to plane profiles, many of which are turn-of-the-century products. We come from the construction industry and love wood in all its forms," says Fredrik.

Palms Byggvaror is strategically well-located and offers a large selection in its spacious store. The majority of customers are professionals, but some private individuals also find their way there.

From Drawing to Quote – How Palms Byggvaror Helps Its Customers

"Many customers come in with drawings and want a quote for the entire build. Of course, we help with the quantity takeoff. We calculate and measure the materials in Geometra and export the data we get. Then we manually enter the quantities into our business system where the quotes are generated. It is very important that we get the numbers right."

Right now, Fredrik and his colleagues are working on integrating Geometra with their business system. When the work is done, it will make things easier as the manual work between the systems will be eliminated.

"We want to create a connection where Geometra sends the quantities directly to the business system and into a quote, where they are matched with the correct article numbers and prices. We hope to solve this with an API connection between the programs. Then we can link the articles with the quantities quickly. Geometra is very well-developed and enables these kinds of technical solutions, which we greatly appreciate."

Geometra is mainly used to measure drawings and extract quantities, something that saves a lot of time on large projects.

"We recently had to calculate a high-rise with a thousand windows – it was smooth to get the measurements in Geometra," says Fredrik.

Culturally Historic Building in Tyresö

Customer requests vary, but the process is often the same. It can be about a large villa, extensions, or office adaptations.

"Right now, we have delivered materials for an exciting project in Tyresö. They have demolished the entire house inside and out, only keeping the frame. The building is of cultural and historical value, which means you must use old materials and follow specific rules during the renovation."

XL Bygg – Community and Commitment

The franchisor for the XL Bygg brand is Mestergruppen AS in Norway. Almost all XL Bygg stores are run by independent building merchants, and they all have something in common: a strong commitment and a high sense of service. That is something that sets them apart from larger building supply chains.

3 Quick Questions for Fredrik:

What is the most impressive material invention you think deserves more attention?
The most impressive thing is probably going back to real building materials, like wood. It is hard to beat with new technology like 3D printers. It is environmentally sustainable and gives a completely different lifespan to houses renovated with real building materials.

If you could only sell one building product for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Pinewood, without a doubt. That was what people built with in the past. It is also something we refine in our planing mill.

What is the most creative way you’ve seen someone use a building product?
Anything imaginable you can do with wood. When it comes to this, there is a lot of fun to look at on social media.