Work It With Steelcase

Steelcase is a global leader in the office furniture segment and recently has introduced a range of products which will establish a new bench mark in the office furniture sector in the country. By Ahlam Rais

Steelcase recently held a press conference in Delhi to showcase their unique office furniture collections which included a variety of workspaces and designer chairs. Offering a fresh and contemporary look, Steelcase products strive to provide its consumers with superior quality and aesthetics. It has taken an initiative to engage its R&D team to create office furniture for the future, which not only is beneficial to its users but also occupies less space in the office.

Mr. Uli Gwinner, President, Steelcase Asia Pacific commented at the press conference, “We have undertaken various surveys to understand how do people in different countries work; on the basis of our research we have created these quality products.”

One of their frontrunner collections is the ‘Manifesto’ range, it is a creation suited for the ever evolving workplace. The main element of this collection is to keep objects which are used daily close at hand.Manifesto aims to optimise the use of the work space. It enables one to balance work-life with certain indispensible personal items at work. Vertical space has been made use of to make the workspace more personal and also promote  interaction.

‘Lexicon’ is another winning workspace system of the company. The workplace system makes it easy to create a variety of workplace applications for both individual and collaborative work, with simple solutions for every requirement, from benches to desks to panel configurations and tables. It supports multitasking, multimedia, and the easy integration of technology. It also balances individual ways of working with accessible storage to keep the workspace organized and tidy. It includes a private and shared storage to blend work and personal life. It can be expanded, reduced and relocated. It includes a simple cable management system which ensures easy access for power and data connectivity. Apart from the two workspace systems, the ‘Four Point Eight’ range of tables were introduced which support new ways of working in groups, enabling collaboration, sharing and communicating using a variety of media and technology.

A unique chair created by Steelcase is the ‘Node’ chair which provides multiple modes of learning.  It has reinvented the traditional classroom chair which supports multiple learning styles. The chair is mobile and flexible and is designed for quick, easy transitions from one mode to the next.Steelcase has also introduced the ‘i2i’ chair.  The i2i chair was designed to promote movement so that people could be comfortable for long periods of time. The chair supports multiple postures and is a new collaborative seating alternative that is free of adjustments, yet has a flexing back that offers both movement and support. It accommodates a variety of postures for people to remain engaged, focused and connected. The other chairs such as ‘Cobi’ and ‘Think’ are also designed with innovation and precision, keeping in mind the needs and requirements of its customers.

Steelcase also undertakes its responsibility towards the environment by selecting materials that can be recycled at the end of a product’s use and then designed in such a way that they can be easily disassembled and separated.

Mr. Gwinner adds, “Our company is a socially driven company which understands the concept of sustainability.  All the products are durable which has an eight year warranty attached to it.” To simplify the process of recycling, they have minimised the use of co-mingled components and are committed to making disassembling easy requiring the use of only common hand tools.

Steelcase began in 1912 as ‘The Metal Office Furniture Company’ in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They received their first patent in 1914 for a steel wastebasket which was a major innovation at a time when straw wastebaskets were considered an office fire hazard. They continued to produce metal desks and since then they have been innovating with various products. They changed their name to Steelcase in 1954 and became a publicly held company in 1998.

Steelcase offers an immense collection of products and has celebrated nearly 100 years in the industry by serving clients across the globe. It is a global, publicly traded company with fiscal 2009 revenue of approximately $3.2 billion, it also has a strong workforce as nearly 14,000 employees from around the world are committed to the company. Steelcase has also won innumerable awards for its exclusive and well crafted products.

ContactSteelcaseDLF Cyber City, Tower 9A,Ground Floor, Gurgaon – 122002,tel: +91 12 43077200web: www.steelcase.com