Open Style Workstation Design.

Concentrating on collaboration and open workstation panel designs is important during the office furniture design process. We feel that it is important during the design process that workstations be designed to allow contact and communication between coworkers as a function of their work. This is accomplished by the following:

Panel Heights: Varying the panel heights allow different levels of privacy. By lowering panel heights at strategic locations in the workstation or in groupings of workstations allows employees to see and communicate with each other as well as providing an open environment in the office area. Adding glass panels in the workstations will further allow visual contact as well as to allow an open feeling in the workstation area. Lowering or adding glass to panels the are near windows would also allow natural light to travel deeper in the office space.

Workstation Layouts: The component design of panel systems office furniture is in the modularity, which allows workstations or grouping of workstations to be designed both around the tasks and equipment of the employee or to be able to design around groups or groupings of workstations. Designing a teaming concept in the workstation design would facilitate more employee communication. Creating a bullpen environments and incorporating teaming worksurfaces between stations would allow informal meeting areas, thus further allowing a more efficient workspace design.

Evaluating Computer Chairs.

The process of evaluating computer chairs can be confusing.. You can start to look for chairs at the local office supply superstore. The next move was to contact your local furniture dealers and go through showroom visits and evaluate their offering of computer chairs. The computer chairs should start with the decision to specify adjustable arms. This is important to support the shoulders and upper body. The computer chair's mechanism requires the most attention. There are two basic controls to choose from. The chair control would be referred an active type control, which normally has adjustment to the back height and back angle which may be set by the user. The other chair adjustments include seat depth, seat height, seat pan angle and tilt tension adjustments. The active type control is the most ergonomic, but requires the user to understand the chair's mechanism and set it up to best fit. Most people, unless trained, will not set up the chair properly. So, if you purchase an active ergonomic computer chair, make sure that your employees are trained to set it up properly. The other type of chair would be a more passive chair control. This chair is available with adjustable arms, but the control has less adjustments and requires only tilt tension and chair height controls. Chair back height adjustments may be available. In conclusion, take time in selecting the right computer chair. If ergonomics are necessary, especially in intensive or long term computer use, consider the active control computer chair. If this is not the situation, a passive computer chair might be the answer.

Executive Desk Chair Design.

Working with many desk chairs over the years as a facility has prompted me to share some conversations and experiences that we had over the years and to advise on the level of chair we have selected to use over the past few years. Desk chairs we started to purchase five years ago were very basic and did not offer the ergonomic and quality of the ones we purchase today. The desk chair that we started with was very basic, with a simple tilt mechanism that did not give the user proper back support when leaning forward to work on the computer or whatever. The chair's arms were fabric and did not wear well do to rubbing against the desk as well as getting dirty from the hands. We were paying around $350 for these chairs at that time. The desk chairs that we finally ended up getting that we have standardized the office with are much more ergonomic and wear better. We decided on Sit On It Glove chair that was only around 75 more in cost. The Glove chair model we selected had a mechanism that allowed the back to follow the user forward when on the computer to give better back support. We also specified adjustable arms and an adjustable back support, which further enhanced the ergonomic nature of the desk chair. Great chair for the price. Check it out at Slt On It Glove Series Ergonomic Desk Chair ----- Happy seating!!!!