The Integration of Technology into Office Furniture

Staying ahead in business often means staying ahead in technology. In today’s business world, the latest technology trends are not just affecting your digital equipment. Office furniture manufacturers are making strides in technology as well. The most important strides are those that integrate digital office equipment into mobile office furniture solutions fitting in with today’s changing work environment. Furniture manufacturers are doing a great job of staying up with the times, even with the challenge of integrating fast-changing equipment technology into more long-term furniture solutions.
Dealing with Change
For many companies, gone are the days when each person had their own desk, with a desktop computer that they would use day after day. Today’s corporations are much more mobile. Employees and executives take their mobile computing systems with them and may be in different workstations on different days. Companies frequently reconfigure office settings, and many have gone to modular type furniture solutions which can be disassembled and moved about in record time. As office furniture companies have adapted to this change, some winning solutions have been developed.
Integrated Power Solutions
According to the Holland Sentinel (1), companies such as Haworth and Sparkeology (a division of Worden Co.) are focusing on bringing power solutions into existing furniture design, rather coming up with revolutionary design changes. These companies, as well as Steelchase and other major manufacturers, are recognizing the need to have access to power, company data networks, and iPod docks easily accessible in lounge chairs, modular desks, and other office furniture.
While early solutions focused on proprietary cables and connections, current furniture trends are much more universal, allowing companies to plug different components into each other, utilizing existing equipment rather than requiring a complete makeover.
Office Furniture Trends
Office furniture is not just about technology; there are a number of other criteria ranking on businesses’ furniture requirements. The offices of today often require at least several of the following aspects:

• Ergonomics and Sustainability – two key factors in office furniture choices are the need to be easy on users as well as easy on the environment. Furniture that auto adjusts to individual users is becoming more popular, while furniture solutions that can be recycled and are made from recycled products are on the top of the radar for many companies.
• Collaborative Ease - as work styles have evolved into a more team-oriented workforce, office solutions have also evolved. Many companies now offer pod-type workstations that allow co-workers their own space with easy access to their teammates. After all, face to face collaboration still has advantages over virtual, screen-time meetings.
• Free-Address Solutions – having workstations that can be used by multiple users has become more of a priority. Being able to plug mobile computing solutions into the network rather than logging onto a stationary computer has become the norm. When certain staff is out of office, someone else can plug into their station and continue seamless productivity.  Cubicles are now designed with a variety of technological features integrated into their frameworks, avoiding the complications of a lot of manual connections.

Making Adaptations
Under the current economic conditions, many companies are tightening their belts when it comes to new purchases and expenses. And, since many “dot.com” businesses have bottomed out lots of used modular furniture is available on the market. The result? Companies such as Pan-Way, Siemon Company, and Chatsworth Products are creating adaptable data channeling solutions that can be installed in used modular furniture (2). This has terrific advantages for companies that need to upgrade their data and power availability, but do not want to purchase a completely new line of office furniture.

1. hollandsentinel.com/news/x2067831958/New-furniture-offerings-help-manage-electric-devices-keep-costs-down
2. cablinginstall.com/index/display/article-display.articles.cabling-installation-maintenance.volume-13.issue-6.contents.technology.integrating-technology-into-in-furniture-cabling-systems.html

David Ching works with a Milpitas, CA office furniture company that ships nationwide from two locations in the USA.   Whether your needs are new or refurbished pieces for your office, EQA Office Furniture has everything from lobby furnishings to cubicles with integrated technology built in.