News

First Office Solutions Provides Chair For Chairty Auction

November 10, 2009

First Office Solutions is proud to announce we donated a Black Eco executive chair to the South Council of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce. Regularly priced at $200, the chair was auctioned off for $175. All proceeds were donated to charity. The winning bid came from Mike McCrary of Baymeadows Moving & Storage. Pictures from the event are available on the South Council website.

- Black Eco Leather High Back Executive Chair.
- Thick padded contour seat and back with built-in lumbar support to increase user comfort.
- Locking tilt control with adjustable tilt tension for ergonomic seating comfort.
- Heavy duty nylon base with dual wheel carpet casters.
- Regular sale price: $200.

Left - Michael Cochran with First Office Solutions on the right congratulates Mike McCrary of Baymeadows Moving & Storage.
Right - Raquel Crummit shows off Black Eco Leather High Back Executive Chair.

Photography by Michael G.

Flexibility key to newest office furniture trends

Posted by Julia Bauer | Chronicle News Service June 08, 2008

Steelcase Corp. Media:scape is dominated by a large, flat-panel monitor connected to the user's laptop. Steelcase Inc. design personnel look over furniture the company is preparing for the Neocon show in Chicago that runs June 9-11. The show is the largest office-furniture show in North America.

When employees show up for a meeting next year, laptop in tow, they may find an electronic partner at Steelcase Inc.'s new table called media:scape.

One side of the table is filled by a large, flat-panel monitor. Participants can toggle between laptops as they display their screens on the giant monitor, using the table's controls.

It's just one element of what Steelcase calls its "un-cubed" work spaces to be unveiled at NeoCon, North America's largest office-furniture show, that runs June 9-11 in Chicago.

West Michigan competitors Haworth Inc., Herman Miller Inc., Trendway Corp. and izzydesign also will pull back the curtain on their new designs, all with the goal of selling more desks, chairs and filing cabinets to America's employers.

The success of these introductions will be important to the economy of West Michigan, where many residents work for those companies or their suppliers and vendors.

Moving sideways

Flex furniture is a big trend this year.

When offices lose or gain employees, today's styles can be rebolted, reconfigured and renewed to cover the gaps.

Another twist is working sidesaddle, for workers who no longer recall the stern schoolmarm's warning to sit up straight. Both izzydesign and Steelcase will

For Spring Lake-based izzydesign, its Sideways from HAG has an arm-friendly flexible back and soft edges along three sides of the seat pad.

That same lounging position is accommodated by Steelcase's cobi and i2i chairs. For Bruce Smith, industrial design manager for seating for the Grand Rapids company, the cobi chair bears some human characteristics.

"The (cobi) chair morphs to your needs," Smith said. The back has "fingers" akin to bones and muscle, with a top edge that flexes like an ear's cartilage. Add a breathable skin, also known as fabric, and the chair nearly comes alive.

At c:scape, a suite of settings showed the versatility of relatively few parts.

Simplicity is key, said John Hamilton, Steelcase industrial design manager.

From mid-height storage units to desks to cabinetry, the c:scape has about 700 parts, compared with thousands for earlier systems.

Its 7-square-foot parameter covers a smaller footprint than the traditional cubicle/office zone that is 8 feet square.

Another benefit of easily configured office furniture is the rapidly shifting workforce.

A big layoff or a large hiring can create havoc with most office layouts.

This system "can redeploy, from 100 to 50 workers, or from 100 to 150 workers," Hamilton said.

Peace and comfort is at the core of Herman Miller's first patient-room chair, the Nala.

Priced at $750 to $900, it incorporates the technology of Herman Miller's most successful office chairs, including the Aeron.

"It's the first really true ergonomic seating for patient rooms," said Kent Gawart, vice president of marketing and project services.

Simple controls for a pneumatic, 30-degree reclining angle make sleeping in the up holstered, high-backed chair easier.

Trendway's Code chair.

It also has swing-away arms for easy access.

On the office front, Zeeland-based Herman Miller is observing the "Year of Filing and Storage," acknowledging a paperless society is just not happening.

"Most people still have so much stuff to store," said Niki Ainsworth, product manager for the new line of Teneo cabinets and drawer units.

"The walls are coming down, and the space is getting smaller," Ainsworth said of the typical office.

"Mote" is Herman Miller's high-tech way of measuring just how much office space a business needs.

"This is a seismic measure that detects when someone is sitting in a chair," said Todd Thompson, advanced development manager, holding up a small, black sensor.

For three weeks, the devices are attached under office chairs to register occupancy rates, sending a signal every 10 minutes to a remote receiver.

The overview can show which areas are most heavily used, to help facilities managers better use a company's indoor "real estate."

An estimated 15 employees in the information technology department developed the system, expected to cost in the "10s of thousands" per three-week analysis.

Waves of the future

Haworth is bringing its global designs to the U.S. market, including its Italian Mumbai executive desk, created by Doriana and Massimiliano Fuksas.

A stackable "Very" chair for large groups offers styles from basic to upholstered, and will be available this fall.

On the bookcase front, in-house designer Nicolai Czumaj-Bront will unveil Resonance, an undulating version of the traditional storage unit.

"We have a huge opportunity to create places where people feel more comfortable, reduce the impact on the environment in a lot of ways, and in the meantime, have a lot of fun," Chairman Dick Haworth said.

For Trendway Corp., also in Holland, the future is all about service. Although it has a new line of Code chairs and tables, the company that promised "on time or it's free" last year is heating up its focus with "Excellence Brand Makeover."

"We had a facilities vice president tell us 'Office furniture is 7 percent of my budget, and it takes 80 percent of my time.' We're winning business with him because we're taking care of it," Trendway President Bill Bundy said.

Its new logo? The mathematical symbol.

"Trendway is all about peace of mind," Bundy said. "It's greater than you think."

Innovation In The Office: Tools For Collaboration

By creating an interactive workspace that encourages innovation, furniture may contribute directly to productivity and bottom line success.
By Brian Kraemer

Office furniture is an early clue for prospective employees to see how a business operates. Old, rundown furniture paints as acute an image of the organization as sprawling private offices complete with massive desks and mahogany bookshelves. Both portray a picture of how an employee is treated and what is valued in a given company.

As retaining talent becomes a priority for business, facility managers are often given the task of creating a space that welcomes both innovative ideas and a comfortable working environment. With the shrinking size of the office footprint already well discussed, it's time for employers and facility managers to channel smaller spaces into bigger ideas and employee comfort.

By creating space where employees can come together to exchange ideas outside the confines of cubicle walls, facility managers can relax the atmosphere of the office. This conducive environment will help fuse employees into a cohesive team which may have a positive impact on the bottom line.

Finding The We Space

In the past, offices have been comprised of cubicles with little privacy that encourage heads down work and awkward employee interaction. While this type of work environment may have been successful in the past, a shift is occurring in workplace dynamics.

"Attracting and retaining younger talent has recently regained prominence," says Jan Fasse, research analyst for Muscatine, IA-based Allsteel. "The burden has fallen on the employer to attract top talent, and the workplace obviously has an impact on that."

Oftentimes, top level employees preach this to potential recruits. However, the difference between what is said and the reality of what is done can be incongruous.

"The physical location says a lot about the organization," Fasse continues. "Many times, organizations say, 'yes, we're very team oriented, highly collaborative, and creative.' But the reality is when that future employee walks in and sees the same height beige panels with no areas for collaboration, a different image of the company is portrayed by the furniture."

And who should a prospective employee believe? The people doing the hiring or the furniture that conveys its own message without spin? Chances are good that in a sterile, stereotypical office, talent that is in high demand will usually choose a different venue for employment.

The onus of conveying the philosophy of the company falls squarely on the shoulders of the facility manager. By entering into conversations with C-level executives, the manager can express the need to have office space match the ideals that the company holds. And in creating a space that honestly reflects the desire for innovation and creativity, the facility manager helps nurture ideas and contribute to the overall productivity of a business.

Randy Iles, vice president and general manager of Jasper, IN-based Kimball Office, agrees. "Creating an effective space for collaboration can improve worker productivity and yield high performance business results."

In this particular case, the job of the facility manager is to revitalize office space after the economic downturn partially credited to 9/11. Iles continues, "Before the downturn, the office environment had become an essential ingredient in expressing a corporate culture and a brand. After the rapid and steep downturn in the economy, the needs of employees seemed to have been lost in the shuffle. Lowest cost of acquisition, particularly initial acquisition, became the driver. The employees' needs were secondary considerations."

But now that the recovery may be ramping up, that has changed. Employees have once again become the focal point of the office, and taking care of their creature comforts is being valued. Office furniture, Iles reiterates, is a great way to cater to those needs. "Furniture is one of the least expensive investments a corporation can make to protect and nurture its most expensive and important investment-its people."

Building We Space

The concept of we space may be something new to facility managers. We space is a part of the office where co-workers can come together to work outside of individual offices or cubicles. It is important to note, however, that I space, or individual space, is not going away. [For more information, see Communing With Nature by Heidi Schwartz on page 32.]

"The difference between I and we space is the space itself," says James Ludwig, director of design for Grand Rapids, MI-based Steelcase. "The I space is the individual's space. It is arranged and personalized by the individual working there. And it is still the main driver of most work that is done in the office.

"We space is something that has to be physically moved to. It's not your permanent residence. The employee takes his or her work and moves there."

The challenge for a facility manager now becomes determining what employees require and what they want in these group spaces.

"One central element to creating an effective we space is harboring the feeling of collaboration," continues Ludwig. "These collaborative experiences have become more desired and are starting to drive planning."

This could mean creating we space by designating empty corners and pairing comfortable, library style chairs with a table to set up a laptop. This kind of area will begin to facilitate the process of bringing employees out of their individual offices or cubes to share notes or compare ideas.

"This sort of space is of key interest," says Fasse. "It's not just teaming space meaning specific project rooms. It's also informal teaming areas. You have to have spaces that foster both formal and informal collaboration in order to take advantage of the creative thoughts coming out of those sessions."

Ludwig agrees and adds, "It's about two people coming together. There's a lot of subtle planning things in there, like how people work together around office furniture. We try to create the feeling of what we call 'talking over the back fence.'"

The concept of talking over the back fence is a solid goal for a facility manager. Dave Burdakin, president of the HON Company, based in Muscatine, IA, agrees. "Investing in versatile office furniture that initiates face to face communication enables workers to streamline their workflow and interface with colleagues more effectively."

These creative collaborations in the office have the ability to make immediate impact. Anything from new ideas to money saving strategies can be culled when two employees can get together and share strategies.

Working In My Space

Even though we spaces are beginning to emerge as an important factor in facility and furniture designs, the need for a comfortable private space will never disappear. It is just as crucial for an employee to shut out the rest of the office in order to get work done. After all, the majority of work will still be done in private offices or at individual desks.

And with office sizes constantly shrinking, facility managers have to come up with new ways to make smaller spaces feel more comfortable. One way a facility manager can foster individual work, just like collaborative work, is to make the space more amenable to getting the job done.

"Panel systems today offer a lot more than 'Dilbert-like' cubicles. They are more sophisticated than they've ever been," says Burdakin. "There are more aesthetic features like decorative glass and metal top-tiers. All of these things afford greater customization and a work environment that looks and functions as well as a traditional office."

Aesthetic features aside, customization of the personal workspace is taking on more importance in the life of the employee.

"What's key is providing individual customization and control," says Fasse. "That's something workers really crave. That means you could have a workstation, accessories, and chairs that appropriately fit the worker. Or if they don't fit the employee, give them accessories that can automatically be adjusted without having to bother the facility manager."

Burdakin continues, saying, "No question-office space has shrunk. We've continued to meet the needs of the market by creating and expanding space saving flexible office furniture solutions that can be easily integrated into the system."

Cycle Time

Compatible designs are beginning to make the life of the facility manager much easier. Instead of having to worry whether or not a particular article of office furniture will work in a space, the rise in multi-platform production is just beginning to take hold. And will change the way facility managers view furniture.

Fasse notes that by creating products with an eye toward cross pollination, manufacturers may be able to give facility managers even more flexibility.

"The fewer parts you have to move around, the easier it's going to be. If a facility manager has furniture sitting around-either on the floor or in storage-wouldn't it be great to put together a comfortable office out of existing parts?"

Those existing parts play a role not only in private offices, but in general office productivity. "Who isn't affected by cycle time," asks Fasse. "It's not that churn rates are increasing, but churn is happening all the time. Corporations are making organizational structure changes in good times because of changes in strategy. And when the strategy changes, facility managers have to be ready to make the changes nearly instantaneously."

With constant pressure being applied on facility managers to speed along reorganizations, furniture manufacturers have the opportunity to go to bat for facility managers.

"Historically, you'd design a discreet system and launch it," says Ludwig. "Then there would be a recognized difference or need that would drive a new design. Those two systems would stand next to one another with very little shared amongst them."

However, the thought of being able to mix and match parts to form functional office systems has to be appealing to facility managers. Instead of working in vacuums depending on which furniture system was installed on a particular floor, facility managers may be able to start reducing cycle time by creating hybrid systems.

"We look at fewer parts," says Fasse. "Compatibility. Look at some of our current products, they are, or will soon be, compatible with multiple panel systems."

Office furniture is a visible and recognizable vehicle for facility managers to have an impact on their company's corporate climate.

Ludwig continues, "Collaboration becomes a prerequisite to remaining competitive. When the facility manager is seen as a strategic partner in helping an organization stay fit and competitive by keeping people effective at work, I think the adoption rate of new insights around the office will push the nature of work in new directions."

By creating an effective office environment composed of both we and I spaces, a facility manager takes an active role in the company culture of innovation and creativity. "People will see the provider of an effective environment and the facility manager as the driver of how corporate culture meets the world of furniture," Ludwig concludes. "That will be a real powerful advantage to the companies who get it." And in order to understand, all they have to do is listen to their facility manager.