This article was originally emailed as our monthly Workplace Design & Management newsletter at 11:00 on 17/11/2016. You can view older newsletters here and register to receive them monthly.
ORGATEC 2016
New Visions of Work
I have attended every biennial Orgatec since 1994 and the most obvious difference between then and now is how much smaller the exhibition has become. Conspicuously, the fact that only 8 halls were in use meant that the piazza and some of the central boulevard were closed. As a result, walking from the South to North Entrances involved some rather circuitous routes through halls, reminding me of Las Vegas casino design. My visit this year was somewhat disrupted by a cancelled flight and resultant delay arriving. However, with dogged determination, I managed to visit all 8 halls, covering about 35,000 steps and nearly 24 km according to my FitBit! My thoughts and observations are summarised here.
HÅG SoFi MESH
Latest family member
Incorporating the proven HÅG Balanced Movement MechanismTM, the SoFi chair range is well established. Recent research at the Karolinska Institutet has demonstrated that users of the SoFi can outperform the body movement of both those sitting in traditional office chairs and even those standing at their desk. The SoFi Mesh chair is a logical and successful addition to the portfolio, demonstrating contemporary aesthetics for the design-led office without compromising all the key features and ergonomics of the existing range. Contact us for a demonstration.
ADVERTISING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Extending the brand message
Volume 23.6 of Government Business magazine includes an article by BIFM about the current outlook for the FM industry (pages 19-23). We saw this as an ideal opportunity to reflect our growing activities beyond the traditional furniture sector in key areas such as wellbeing and training (page 22 of the article or here).
CLERKENWELL SHOWROOMS
Growing portfolio of partner premises
Our key partners have showrooms in Clerkenwell and this gives us the perfect opportunity to demonstrate a broad range of concepts and designs within a small geographical area. Conversations are often more about how people work than about specific products. As a result, clients always leave with new ideas. Whether you have specific needs in mind or you are just looking for inspiration, we are happy to show you around. Contact us for further information.
Posted by Guy Osmond 
I have attended every biennial Orgatec since 1994 and the most obvious difference between then and now is how much smaller the exhibition has become. Conspicuously, the fact that only 8 halls were in use meant that the Piazza and parts of the Central Boulevard were closed. As a result, walking between the South and North Entrances involved some rather circuitous routes through halls, reminding me of 
Sit-stand
A wide variety of 
Moving away from workstation furniture, designs for soft seating and other breakout areas were well represented but most ideas here seem to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. A key factor is the integration of acoustic benefits into the larger pieces. The importance of reducing noise distraction to improve productivity is now well recognised and many manufacturers reference this. One of the more interesting concepts was the Team Up Study which offered easily movable breakout seating with magnetically linking side panels.
Also in evidence were many examples of multi-function chairs. Commonly, these are based around a single seat and back moulding with multiple leg and upholstery options. This creates a single family that suits breakout, canteen, training, breakfast bar, meeting room and other applications.
Continuing the acoustics theme, pod manufacturers continue to explore the ‘office within the office’ concept with units varying from single telephone boxes to pop-up boardrooms. This office-meets-study-meets-garden-shed concept particularly appealed to me as a short-term breakout area.
Providing bespoke chairs for individuals with musculoskeletal problems continues to be a core part of our business but, as our larger scale project business evolves, we have been working with clients for greater integration of standard and bespoke offerings. This is particularly important when budgets are constrained.
October was a busy month for system reviews. Both our ISO9001/14001 Integrated Management System and our Investors in People Gold status were due for two-day inspections and renewal. The ISO IMS was renewed without any non-conformances, or even any advisories, and the IiP inspection scored us even higher than 3 years ago (as we hoped!). For us, these are not just ‘plaques on the wall’ but external validation of our organisational DNA, reflecting the hard work and commitment of our excellent team.
Our portfolio of medical, healthcare and industrial seating products has been extended significantly in recent months and our new PDF catalogue can now be 
My Orgatec visit this year was somewhat disrupted by a cancelled flight and resultant delay on the way out. However, I did get round all the halls with more than 32,000 steps recorded on my FitBit! Sit-stand furniture is now (finally) mainstream and only the Chinese frame manufacturers were really making it an issue. Of our existing supply partners, the 
We offer many high quality chairs with excellent ergonomics and comfort. However, we believe that the 
Historically, we have always recommended Scandinavian or Dutch chairs for control room and heavy duty use. In the past, we have been unable to find a UK product that met the quality, comfort, durability and ergonomics standards we demand. Although we continue to promote those legacy products, we are delighted to be able to add a chair from a UK manufacturer to our portfolio for this demanding sector.
October 2016 sees the return of this biennial exhibition which started over 60 years ago. In particular, I expect to find lots of sit-stand furniture and ideas for agile working. Acoustics is another ‘hot’ topic and has had its own zone in recent years. This is due to greater recognition and understanding of open plan office environments and the 4Cs (collaboration, communication, contemplation and concentration). The main theme for the event this year recognises how the work environment can impact creativity and productivity so I am looking out for lots of interesting and a few ‘off the wall’ ideas! I shall be writing a full report of my findings by the middle of November but, if you use Twitter, the 
In addition to the expert partners we use for larger installations, we continue to provide a national installation service for small projects, one-offs and specials with our own trained personnel and vehicles. Each van in the current fleet has an ‘ergo’ number – ER60 NOM, ER60 NOW, ER60 VAN, ER60 YES – but we are running out of options. I have no idea what number we shall be able to find for the next vehicle. I have now trawled the entire list of available choices on the DVLA web site (that’s how sad I am!) and there are no meaningful words remaining. We have no immediate need so this is something to ponder on but 
As I write this, we are coming to the end of 
After many years of success with the original Advantage, we are delighted to introduce the new Advantage 2 which maintains the proven Contoured keyboardTM design with low force mechanical keyswitches for proven comfort and reduced musculo-skeletal load. New to this model is the SmartSetTM programming engine which provides powerful keyboard configuration tools to boost productivity. The old rubber function keys have also been replaced with high quality tactile mechanical keyswitches, further enhancing the product of choice for software engineers, programmers and intensive users the world over. Download the U.S. brochure 
We are very proud of our advanced use of technology in all its forms and (nearly all of the time!) we are completely in control of all our processes. In the last month, however, two separate events occurred unexpectedly. First, our eBulletin provider experienced a cyber attack which resulted in our April Fools’ Day
For the ergonomist in your life, the perfect present will be available just before Christmas! 
It is nearly twenty years since we sold our first sit-stand desk but the real growth in interest amongst UK employers has arisen since early in 2014. Initially driven by publicity about the potential health impacts of sedentary behaviour, employers were bombarded with news, statistics, research and plenty of online ‘noise’ predicting dire consequences if there was not a rapid and immediate transition from traditional office environments to workplaces populated with ‘standing desks’. 
I have been using an aircharge sleeve on my iPhone 6s for several months and, as well as protecting the phone, it is much more desirable than fiddling around with a Lightning connector cable when I need to recharge the battery. We offer aircharge facilities for staff in the office and I find it in a growing number of hotels, coffee shops and hospitality environments. Of course, in Clerkenwell, you can find aircharge in almost every showroom! For organisations wanting to offer this facility to their own personnel and visitors, there is a choice of options. The most common version – the surface charger – fits an 80mm diameter hole so it can be retrofitted to a standard desk grommet. Others can be incorporated into monitor arms and task lamps. See some of the variants 
We originally set up the seatingexperts.uk web site alongside 
EnergiseYou helps innovative organisations to thrive by:
Although we repeat many of our 
At our August Training Day, we were shown the new
I know that I keep raising this topic but I attended the official launch at BSI on September 1st and I really believe this is an opportunity to put ergonomics and human factors at the centre of organisational strategy. It was interesting to attend an event with such a diversity of interests (including delegates with responsibility for user experience, quality, technology, design, wellbeing, compliance, risk and occupational health, as well as ergonomics, human factors, health and safety). A LinkedIn discussion has started 
Bakker Elkhuizen, another of our close partners, has just launched a new online 
Many people have already taken advantage of the new instant Chat facility on 
It is nearly twenty years since we sold our first sit-stand desk but the real growth in interest amongst UK employers has arisen since early in 2014.
Despite being one of the largest furniture manufacturers in the world (2015 turnover > £1.2bn), Okamura products are a comparatively well-kept secret in the UK. With models to compete head-on with iconic office chairs in terms of style, quality and ergonomics, we are delighted to include them in our portfolio. From the 
Agile Working is a ‘hot topic’ at the moment and we hear many stories about how brilliantly employers have implemented an Agile Working Programme (AWP). Such accounts demonstrate how that success has positively impacted productivity, personnel satisfaction, wellbeing and engagement. We hear rather fewer stories about what happens when it fails but I fear that proper investigation would show that the failures outnumber the successes. [
We have just booked our space for 
The commercial and productivity arguments for good staff health and wellbeing are now manifest and dynamic employers have this at the centre of their business thinking. This new 
Optima-life works with organisations that want to help their employees achieve more, both at and away from work. Their salutogenic approach aims to keep people energised and resilient, as they seek to engage and educate people. Using a blend of technology, coaching/training and support tools, the team provides bespoke offerings tailored to an organisation’s needs. The result is a culture where performance and purpose are increased and the risks of organisational stress, fatigue, and burnout are reduced.
Osmond Ergonomics 