8:00am, Monday, two black coffees in the bag and that “go large Saturday night” is a distant memory, (your pounding head would say otherwise). You make it to your desk only to find a heap of paperwork has beaten you to it – a 10:00am Power Point presentation deadline, the cherry on top – Oh how you wish it were Saturday night!
Your desktop screen (or in most cases in SA, a tiny laptop that you are hunched over) seems a tad on the small side to effectively manage the workload. You’re now  reminded of your techie friends juggling software applications on multi screen displays. You always thought it a bit nerdy but you start to realize they were onto something and come to think of it, they were super productive!

 
Multiple screens have long been the domain of trading desk environments, however, Dual Screen Displays are fast becoming standard issue for todayʼs office bound knowledge worker. Why you ask? Quite simple really…..a notable productivity increase.

 
A plethora of Apps are fast becoming available for just about every office task. As result, itʼs very rare that youʼll have one software application open at one time. Add a second display to the setup and you instantly start to reduce clicking between the your Email, Skype, Twitter, Adobe Reader, Word, Excel and Power Point Apps. Multiple applications now sit alongside each other in full view – you effortlessly continue touching up that centre page spread and copying and pasting between apps becomes a synch!

As early as the nineties, numerous studies have been carried out which have attempted to calculate the change in productivity using multi screen displays. In some cases productivity increased by up to 50% and in 2005 The Pfeiffer Report (testing the impact of large monitors/multiple monitors) found that increased productivity resulted in a 600% ROI of several thousand dollars per user.

These studies are among many but if itʼs first hand feedback your after, try removing the second display from a friend or colleague who is fortunate enough to be sitting behind a multi screen display. Lets just say I warned you! You guessed it, heʼs gonna go down fighting.

So youʼve gone through the right channels and budgetʼs are approved, your in the market for a second screen but you realise that there are some downsides. The loss of our much coveted desk space and from an ergonomic point of view fixed screen positions in the back of our desks results in poor posture. Look no further than Humanscaleʼs M8 dual screen monitor arm. Itʼs been hiding in the wings but itʼs the answer youʼve been looking for. A flexible, dynamic arm that clears your deskspace and allows you to effortlessly move both screens in midair across your desk. Manufactured from recycled aluminium and boasting a sexy polished finish those friend requests are gonna come in thick and fast.

Multiple screen setup are no longer the domain of trading desks or geeky IT folk – they are fast becoming standard issue for any company that is serious about increasing the productivity of their knowledge workers.

 
Oh, and if you’re wondering “What do I do with my iPad or Laptop?” – well this sneak peak video of Humanscale’s new Mflex should answer your question. More on Mflex coming soon!

Our second official case study has been given the green light by yet another very satisfied client in South Africa. ARUP’s new offices (placed in the idyllic location of the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town) includes Formfunc’s full ergonomic workstation comprising bench-styled desks and an array of Humanscale seats and ergonomic tools – by all accounts the setup has been very well received.

A note of thanks goes to the teams at ARUP and Source Interior Brand Architects for their support and vision in recognizing the positive impact that our products have already had on the productivity in their new workplace.

Click on the image above to download the case study.

In this past week’s Monday Morning Quarterback (a leading contract furniture publication in the US) an article was published producing proof of the manner in which large furniture manufacturers are denying the US consumer the right to choose products that are leading innovation in the world today.

For Steelcase, Knoll and Herman Miller the documented negative sales growth since 2007 seems to be too much to bare. Design innovation at Humanscale has seen averaged double digit sales growth since the same period and the trend promises to continue with a number of exciting new ergonomic tools ready for launch on 2012.

As a consumer, ask yourself the following question; who would you rather spend your valuable pennies on when considering solutions to increase the productivity of your office? The established “Old Timer” using strong-arm tactics to deny you access to true innovation – or the little guy that continues to develop international award winning products based on high performance and simplicity. Imagine what the “Old Timer” would achieve had he spent as much energy developing his own innovations as he did trying to hide his competitions new ones?

A link to the article will be attached to the image below:

One of the more notable recognitions by the design community came in 2004 when they were named by I.D. Magazine as one of ten “best companies” worldwide that “help push design forward.”

International design accolades have continued to stream in and to date Humanscale have been accredited with over 100 international design awards ranging from task seating to task lighting and more recently, personal air purifiers. A list of 2011 Awards and Honors is listed below -  the highlight of which must certainly be Humanscale’s Red Dot Design Award for the second consecutive year. Following the Diffrient World Chair in 2010, the Horizon Task Light has been honored with the prestigious Red Dot Award for Product Design – selected among the category’s 4,433 entries from 60 countries, for its innovation, function and visual aesthetic.

We cant wait to see what 2012 is going to produce…

]]> http://www.formfunc.co.za/index.php/archives/2157/feed 0 http://www.formfunc.co.za/index.php/archives/2117 http://www.formfunc.co.za/index.php/archives/2117#comments Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:08:07 +0000 fazlin http://www.formfunc.co.za/?p=2117 Read the Rest >]]>

Vision Drives Posture

In Future Proofing the Modern Workplace Part 1 we outlined technological, environmental and demographic paradigm shifts that were shaping the modern office as we know it. We concluded that flexibility of the formal workstation (the simple desk) was one of the key ingredients to modernizing the workplace. So…. How do you go about turning a dumb rigid desk into a smart flexible one?

Part two in this series focuses on an ergonomic aspect that effects most desk based knowledge workers namely, our vision. Take a moment to walk around your office and count how many of your colleagues are leaning forward on the front edge of their chair hunched over their keyboard or laptop? 7, 8 possibly even 9 out of 10 of us may as well be sitting on a sawn off log from a timber yard!

The proliferation of flat screen technology is driving this common unhealthy posture. Because we cherish the retail space on our desk we all tend to push our screens way to the back of our desks. More often than not these screens find themselves balanced on reams of A4 paper or a discarded Yellow Pages in order to increase the height of the screen – sound familiar? With the screen too far away we now find ourselves hunching forward and leaning on our desk in a static position that’s placing stress on our shoulders, necks, elbows and wrists. We’re also creating pinch points in our circulatory system at our hips and knees that ultimately results in less oxygen flowing to the grey matter. There simply couldn’t be a worse position to be spending 8 hours a day in and the result is mental and physical fatigue that ultimately results in all the common musculo-skeletal injuries associated with poor posture.

The dynamic monitor arm is a simple tool that has developed into an ergonomic necessity and seems largely to  have solved this postural issue. The ability monitor arms have given users to easily adjust our screen position to levels that promote neutral, relaxed postures has completely revolutionized the workstation. Not only can we now lean back and engage the lumbar support that our ergonomic chairs were designed to provide but, the are also added benefits, namely:

1. Fixed to your desktop or desk screen the monitor arm now negates the need for those reams of A4 paper to prop up your monitor to a comfortable level. All of sudden there seems to be a shed load of more space on your desk!
2. The ability to simply twist the screen in the direction of your colleague to share information (knowledge) and collaborate ideas has been made effortless.
3. Desk sharing or higher turnover shift patterns (like call centers) are  made all the easier as  someone who is 4’2″ can comfortably be accommodated as well as a taller 6ft plus user by simply adjusting the screen position to the desired height and depth.

Next time your chiropractor suggests investing in an expensive ergonomic chair that your department head has no budget for, consider asking him his thoughts on a dynamic monitor arm. It’s going to change the way you work at your desk – forever!

Summary of Monitor Arm Benefits

Sinenjongo High School, set in the impoverished township of Joe Slovo Park outside Milnerton, Cape Town was adopted by the Rabie Property Group 5 years ago as part of their social investment programme.

Over the years Rabie have assisted the school to grow and develop their education system. As the schoolʼs requirements for intervention are more than Rabie as a company alone can sponsor, this resulted in Rabie forming an independent trust, namely the Marconi Beam Schools Trust.

The trust carries a Project Benefit Obligation (PBO) status which encourages corporates and individuals to join their quest in turning Sinenjongo into a Centre of Excellence.

Always willing to give something back to the community, Formfunc Studio stepped in and what better way to put surplus seating stock to good use than to offer to kit out the Sinenjongo Grade 12 learner classrooms.

Sinenjongo has come along way in a short period of time. Although the school is housed in prefabricated classrooms, has no sports field, no hall, no library, no resource centre or staff room it has a very big heart. Thanks to itʼs dedicated staff and corporate intervention Sinenjongo learners are able to excel and achieve their goals. Proof of this is evident in the 2011 school highlights:

• 88.5% of the 87 learners passed matric – thatʼs 77 out of 87!
• The school achieved 14 subject Aʼs, 66 subject Bʼs, 111 subject Cʼs and 114 Subject Dʼs – a huge improvement on 2010 where the majority of results were below 50%
• Top student Lukhanyo Velelo has enrolled in a B SC in Actuarial Science at the University of the Witwatersrand thanks to a Metropolitan Life bursary.
• Top Student Thembisa Monki secured a bursary and has gone on to study a B SC in Medical Bioscience at the University of the Western Cape.

Itʼs been an incredibly rewarding experience and we are proud to be associated with Sinenjongo High School. We wish the grade 12 learners all the success for the year ahead and will be monitoring their progress closely.

If you would like to be involved in assisting the school, we will be happy to point you in the right direction.

Software developers in SA are starting to pick up on the SCRUM or AGILE workplace strategy that represents a radically new approach for planning and managing software based projects. For 22seven it was important to find a furniture solution that would support AGILE working and collaboration. By all accounts the holistic solution they found at Formfunc is going down pretty well with the staff at their Long street offices in Cape Town.

Our first official South African case study attached below demonstrates the impact Humanscale products are having on dynamic workplace environments in South Africa – we’re confident it will make interesting reading….click on image below to download the PDF.

Over the next few posts we will attempt to shed some light on how to future proof the modern office but, firstly, we need to clarify the reasons why the modern workplace is evolving at such an alarming rate. A basic understanding of the key drivers behind our ever-changing workspaces is outlined below – some of you may find these concepts familiar  – however, one or two may surprise you.

So firstly, lets briefly cover the drivers we are aware of. The Technological Paradigm Shift that we all experienced in the 90′s brought with it fax machines, copiers, computers and of course, the internet. It created momentum into open plan workstations where bureaucracy, hierarchy and to some extent even diplomacy started dissolving. Linear, repetitive tasks made way for collaboration, sharing of ideas and exchanging knowledge and hence the “Knowledge Worker” was born. Employees of the world’s developed economies ditched process driven thinking and began applying the theory of sharing ideas to solve problems in the workplace.

Today, a second technological paradigm shift is emerging. Significant advances in wireless data transfer and products such as smartphones and tablets  are driving the workplace evolution even further (see Apple Sells More iPhones in a Day Than People Make Babies). The freedom and Mobility afforded to the knowledge worker due to the explosion of mobile devices is a new visible key driver influencing the workplace and the linear rows of workstations flooding our open plan floors are now being challenged as “boring, repetitive” and even inhibiting career opportunities for promotion.

A previous post on Green Ergonomics covers the third driver that will shape our future workplace. For years, ergonomics, particularly in South Africa, has not been seen as a necessity (that’s of course, until the user ends up on the chiro’s table!) This WILL change in the near future due to the climate change phenomenon. Sound strange? As the movement towards sustainable building grows, large corporates will be exposed to the concept of Sustainable Ergonomics. In a nutshell, if Prof. Allan Hedge’s research has any merit then the following statement speaks volumes as to how an effective ergonomics program can influence a companies bottom line. He says that, “…..increasing productivity of users by just 1% is, in a typical office building, equal to 100% of the energy cost of the building.”  Think about what the energy costs of the entire lifespan of a typical office building could be? It sort of puts into perspective what Rand and Cents savings ergonomics represents!!

The fourth determinant of the evolving workplace is equally not as visible and as such not many organisations are planning for it. The 1st person to live to 150 years of age has already been born (trust me, Google it if you have doubts). Advances in Science & Medicine suggest that in 10-15 years time (if not sooner) doctors will simply replace “broken” parts of our anatomy by cloning cells from other parts of our body. How will this effect the workplace you may ask? Well, here is a thought…

The current average retirement age across developed economies is a little over 65 and our savings are probably projected for us to live comfortably till 85-90 (maybe even longer, depending on how ambitious you are!). For 40 plus years we save furiously for the day that we can kickback, relax, spoil grandchildren, travel and play loads of golf. What happens if you start to live long past 90? Perhaps even 150?? Robbing a bank is a short term solution that may not prove popular with your children. So the sensible solution is going back to work – or never having left. It is therefore inevitable that the range of population demographics in our offices is going to change and the future our workplace will demand accommodation for 20 year olds as well as 70, 80 and even ninety years olds!!

This broad demographic in the office will result in an even broader set of determinants for a functional workplace. Diverse work settings from beanbag filled wireless hotspots to formal workstations will be the norm and the increased mobility will make DESK SHARING common place. The flexibility of the common workstation now becomes critical as it has a requirement to accommodate the strong senses and muscular mobility of a 20 year old and severely weakened vision (for example) of a 90 year old?

The by-product of these rapid changes requires the workstation to be ultra flexible. A simple desk slab should customize itself to the user and not the user to the desk. Parts 2 – 5 will follow in the coming weeks and will cover specific ergonomic tools that, in there own right will contribute to future-proofing the modern workstation. The need for dynamic monitor arms, energy efficient task lights, height adjustable workstation and ergonomic seating is no longer a nice to have – it should be considered a neccessity if we are serious about competing to 1st world standards.

Seasons greetings to all.

2011 is all but a distant memory and the year ahead is already in full swing (well, for most of us anyway).

Once again we have had fantastic support from the crew at Humanscale International and Elite which has culminated in another year of sales growth for Formfunc. In a turbulent year for the global economy we’ve managed to increase our client base and we’ve also forged some excellent relationships with a section of the specifiers market that have agreed to our policy of complete transparency. Some notable installations and new relationships include:

1. Vodacom Innovation Centre and Executive Boardrooms
2. New Aurecon head offices in Pretoria and Cape Town
3. Refurbished Dimension Data Customer Experience Centre
4. New ARUP office in the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
5. 22Seven – Software Engineers into cloud computing (it’s all very secretive still – ssshhhh!)

In the coming weeks we’ll be releasing official case studies for these projects that (with our client’s participation) will provide more detail, suffice to say that the response we’ve had to our product line has been heart-warming and we’re looking forward to long and rewarding partnerships.

2011 saw Formfunc move into new premises in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. The dreary factory floor from which we operated in 2010 was not exactly the most presentable space, however, our small new offices in the Old Castle Breweries and the Design Quarter have now provided the perfect “front of office space” for us to present our wares and also from which to service new and existing clients. Feel free to pop your head in the door anytime from 8am to 5pm!

Our annual presence as exhibitors and co-sponsors of the Green Building Council Conference grows stronger every year. In 2011 we exhibited in a larger space that literally lit up the Exhibition Hall (see Humanscale Lights Up GBCSA). It marked the introduction to South Africa of Humanscale’s pioneering LED task lighting range. In many ways the LED task lights outshone the other ergonomic products on display and the response has us confident that the concept of Dual Source Lighting will start to find it’s way into many offices in the years to come. Once again, a great big thank you to the team at the GBCSA who are making great strides in creating awareness for sustainable design in South Africa.

We continue to work with the staff and students at BHC School of Design. In March 2011 we sponsored a trip to the Milan Furniture Fair for a BHC student (Tarquin van der Westhuisen) and Formfunc’s young designer (Fazlin Hoosain). For Tarquin, the trip was just reward for the excellent work she produced as a second year student in conceptualizing a potential showroom space for Formfunc. There is to our minds no better training than exploring what the 1st world designers have to offer – and Milan is as good a place as any to absorb world class design. We’re confident both ladies took sufficient inspiration from their trip.

From a social responsibility point of view Formfunc’s efforts have been rewarded in the the most humbling manner possible. In October 2011 our verification agency issued our 1st BBBEE certificate. In recognition of our commitment to empowering South Africans in our industry, Formfunc was accredited with a Level 1 rating, the highest accreditation afforded to a contract furniture supply entity in South Africa. Hard work lies ahead to maintain the benchmark we have set ourselves.

Finally, 2012 has been confirmed as the year of the arrival of the Diffrient World Chair! The simplest, smartest and most sustainable high performance ergonomic office chair starts shipping to SA in the 1st quarter of this year. Also look out for the ZON personal air purifier and the Horizon LED task light – both products are set to make their appearances in trade shows in SA throughout the coming year.

2012 promises to be a year of fantastic new product releases, surprising affordability and year full of potential new relationships with integrity and transparency at their core.

Good luck to all.

The Formfunc Team