CASE STUDY No. 9641
KEY WORDS OFFICE FURNITURE, RECYCLABILITY; TRANSPORT PACKAGING
Herman Miller, Inc.
MS 0120
855 E. Main Avenue
P.O. Box 302
Zeeland, MI 49464-0302
Contact: Julie Garrison. Tel: 616-772-8494.
Summary
The Avian chair from Herman Miller illustrates how a company can build the abstract concept of "lowest possible ecological impact" into a tangible, complex, and very attractive piece of office furniture.
Action
Herman Miller believes that longer-lived products translate into better stewardship of the earth's resources. In addition, the company believes that more durable products are easier to refurbish for extended use.
In 1994, the company formed Earth Friendly Design Task Force and assigned it to infuse the company's design process with environmental values. Life-cycle analysis has become a major focus of the task force. Such an analysis considers all the materials that go into a product in light of recycled content and recyclability. The task force also examines new products to determine how they can be designed for disassembly, facilitating reuse and recycling at the end of the product's life.
The Avian chair illustrates all the foregoing. For example, gas-assist injection molding is used to manufacture a hollow frame (like the bones of a bird, hence the chair's name). This design feature preserves structural strength while reducing materials and weight. The frame requires no paint or other finish, conserving materials. All components are recyclable and none are ozone depleting. The chair is shipped partially assembled, reducing unit packing size, increasing cube utilization, and requiring less transport energy per given quantity of chairs. A schematic, modeled after work done by the American Society of Testing Materials, is imbedded on the bottom side of the seat (see illustration) to identify all parts by kind of material.
Payback
Herman Miller requires any system change to pay for itself in less than a year.
Although the company has not released any cost information about the Avian chair, it is
assumed this project met guidelines; certainly the project will influence other Herman
Miller product development processes.