| CSI
Contract Specialties,
Inc.
your link to
workplace news
February
2010 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
"A doctor can bury his mistakes
but an architect can only advise his clients to plant
vines." - Frank Lloyd Wright (1868-1959)
|
| in the
know |
What's Next:
Workplace
Baby boomers are marching into
their sixties and seventies; and soon-faster than you
can say "Fiber One"-we'll have the oldest workforce in
the history of work. What does that mean for workplace
design? "Companies will want older people because
they've got knowledge and experience, so there is going
to be a big emphasis on creating the right settings for
them," says Jeremy Myerson, director of the Helen Hamlyn
Centre at the Royal College of Art, which is currently
engaged in research on work environments for older
employees. These spaces favor concentration over messy
collaboration, and relaxation over hypercaffeination,
and might feature advanced telecom that eliminates the
need for business trips halfway around the world. He
says the best of these innovations will redound to the
benefit of any working stiff, whether age 75 or 25.
COMBATING NOISE "The
number-one bugbear for older workers is noise. People
think that knowledge, work, innovation, and creativity
are all about brainstorming and teamwork. They are to a
point, but, actually, the majority of people's work has
to do with solo, private concentration. So I would
expect to see innovations like sound-transformation
technologies. We have been experimenting with a few in
London where you have a sound system and some speakers
that are listening to ambient sound around you and
changing it. It will take horrible background noise in
the office-people shouting, scraping chairs-and turn it
into chorale or whale music."
| | |
|
| news @
CSI |
| Adjustable Shelving (a
division of Karp Industries) on the move in
2010
Whether it is architectural and design
driven furniture grade library shelving or simply back room
storage products, shelving and storage products are required
on almost all projects. Often designers and dealers
alike overlook a lot of the products Adjustable has developed
a reputation delivering. While 2009 dealt most of
the office furniture industry a severe blow, Adjustable
Shelving had a very acceptable year. Established in
1927, the Adjustable Shelving Brand provides premier shelving
products for the contract furniture industry including
innovative, economical and effective storage solutions
for:
Libraries
File Rooms
Conference Rooms
Storage Rooms
Part of Adjustable's success in 2009 was
their diversity, serving several market segments.
Another part of their success was their attention to customer
needs, service oriented personnel and great pricing.
Unlike most of the filing and shelving manufacturers out
there, Adjustable has created a business model that relies on
the A & D community to recommend their product and
the office furniture dealer to be a partner, not a
competitor. Adjustable has elected to serve the market
in this manner teaming with office furniture dealers, not
filing dealers or direct sales forces. The scenario
works, A & D firms and furniture dealers across the
country have begun to rely on Adjustable for filing solutions
to meet their customer's needs. Armed with a terrific
estimating department and CADD drawing capability, the
designer or dealer need only provide Adjustable with the job's
requirements and a drawing (or sketch) of the area, and
Adjustable provides a detailed quote and product layout
drawing (if needed).
Fueled by the success in
2009, Adjustable is expanding their offering in two areas
this year. The first is the addition of
an electrical assist high density filing system to
complement their already hugely successful mechanical assist
high density system product line.
The new electrical assist product
offers:
Advanced touchpad design providing oversize touch areas.
Electo-static touch pads allow for "Hands full" operation.
Simple plug in the wall power.
Some of the Safety / Security features of the
new offering are:
Infrared
Safety Sweep extends the length of the system, and if infrared
beam is broken, system will halt.
Passive safety aisle protection
Advance Motor Current Monitoring System detects people/objects
in the aisle, and if it's path is blocked will put
a spike down in the system.
UL certified under the 1950 code requirements.
Convenience / Reliability
features
Transponder programming easily sets up proprietary functions
The system recognizes weight load changes and adjusts carriage
operation automatically to reduce system wear
and tear.
The system can interact with outside systems such as file
tracking systems, building alarm systems, etc,
The second product line addition in 2010
is cantilever shelving. Adjustable Shelving has entered
into a strategic alliance with a manufacture of cantilever
shelving. This expands their capability in the
storage/filing marketplace and allows them to compete for
projects requiring "budget priced" shelving. Please keep
in mind that Adjustable still markets and manufactures their
LR and LF series library shelving , AC Clip and Nut & Bolt
backroom storage products. This new addition to the
Adjustable product lineup offers dealers and designers
tremendous flexibility when a cantilever shelving solution is
needed.
|
| Textile
Talk |
| 2010, A new
decade, a new decadence - Great
Launch
If you run in
décor circles, you've probably noticed every year around this
time savvy designers growing kind of restless. Heaven knows,
in this industry it's not bored-restless. No, it's more
eagerness -- to get a glimpse of what Joseph Noble has been up
to for the last 11 months. Equally telling, their
über-discerning style cronies -- interior designers,
architects, editors, demanding clients -- are also standing by
on straight pins and upholstery needles, anticipating that
whatever he's been doing will have been worth the
wait. Fortunately for all, the 2010 Joseph Noble Collection
is just that. "I loved doing it," Mr. Noble says, shrugging
as if it were effortless. "Pulling off the combinations of
colors, weaves and finishes took some behind-the-scenes
diplomacy. But with some calculated coddling, everyone ended
up getting along famously." As for the overall
impact of the collection, you really have to give Mr. Noble a
supple hand. The unexpected-yet-long-awaited touchability of
each engineered product clearly demonstrates -- like a
sentimental old cigarette campaign -- they've "come a long
way, baby." And color? This year's color palette is so
progressive, he describes it as off the charts.
The Collection
Historical
references abound in all five signature patterns. But
don't be fooled -- these are not your Granny Gert's
fabrics.
 Take for instance DAMN
CHIC. The tiny cubes of cut velvet are positively playful.
Against a backdrop of what looks like micro-petit point,
they're arranged like a variegated 3-D checkerboard waiting
only for the addition of some tiny gold-plated checkers.
Added bonus: DC wears like a whip and nets out at less than 40
bucks a yard, signifying that it's also a damn bargain. (DAMN
CHIC, $39.50)
 Another cut velvet beauty,
not-so-coincidentally named BEAUTY, is also making its debut.
Interpreted in an engaging Japanese palette of limes and
pinks, at first glance it feels a bit superficial. But go a
little deeper and you'll see behind every burst of color a
fair amount of engineering. "Every workhorse has a
bit of showhorse in him, ready to strut its stuff," Mr. Noble
says. "Here it is." And while it's true, BEAUTY
couldn't have been executed without technology, let's not
forget to give credit where it's due: pure design and color.
(BEAUTY, $79.50)
 The aptly-named solid AMAZING is a subtle twill with a loose,
enchanting hand. As if it needed an endorsement beyond
its moniker, Mr. Noble just incorporated AMAZING into his recently renovated New
York apartment, using it on all the window treatments, then
matching the walls in the same color. "It's almost
mono-dull. But at the same time quite multifarious," he
says. "It makes the perfect backdrop for some kickass
art." Finished with the most up-to-the-nanosecond
nanotechnology, AMAZING continues to earn its name by
exceeding 100,000 double rubs, and more importantly, does so
while wholesaling at less than $25 a yard. Not sure what
else he could have called it. (AMAZING $24.50)
 Rounding out the calm, cool
Collection are two new Technology Leathers, SOFT
and FRANKENSTEIN. Both of them are non-PVC
alternatives that could fool even a seasoned saddle maker.
What used to be called vinyl has now sobered up to be a
responsible product all on its own. SOFT
is, well, pretty self-explanatory. FRANKENSTEIN is a nod to Mary Shelley,
Austrian machine embroidery and, just for fun, aggressive
European plastic surgery. "Our Technology Leathers
continue to be a 'right place, right time, right price, right
look' product. They're not for everyone -- either you like
them or you don't," he says with no trace of arrogance or hard
feelings. (SOFT, $29.50 and FRANKENSTEIN, $39.50) 
Standing here looking back over the Collection's
evolution, you can see Mr. Noble has been busy working outside
of categories such as "contemporary," "modern" and "classic."
Yet still staying focused in this amusing industry of "dry
goods," as he likes to call them. He also refuses to be
burdened with the past. "We're still being
over-patterned by the mature textiles houses," he says. "It's
not surprising then that young designers are shying away from
serious interiors that get awfully soggy awfully fast."
"I design and sell product that is a component
item," he concludes, "so I am constantly obligated to think
like a craftsman. You know, how it works." In this
case, we do know. But only because he shows us.
|
| tips
& tools |
10 Signs Time to
Quit
How many times a day do you say to
yourself, "I like what I do, but not where I work?" Or the
opposite, "I like where I work, but not what I do?" The
current economy has kept many employees stationed for the past
couple of years, not because they love what they do - but
because they are too scared to pursue other opportunities.
But, according to a recent Gallup Poll, 71 percent of
employees feel disengaged from their jobs. So what should you
do? Continue to stay in a job where you are unhappy? Or start
looking for somewhere where you'll be happier? People quit
their jobs for many reasons. Maybe you don't like your
co-workers or your boss drives you crazy. Maybe there's
nowhere for you to move up in the company. Maybe you're
overworked and underpaid. Maybe you're all of the
above. While the choice to move on to greener pastures is
up to you, here are 10 signs that should tell you if it's time
to start thinking about moving on: 1. Your
co-workers drive you crazy. Co-workers can be a
curse or a blessing in the workplace. When you work with
people you love, it's one thing. But how are you supposed to
get any work done when your colleagues are irritating you,
offending you, distracting you, coming in late, leaving early,
talking loudly on the phone, procrastinating or coming to your
desk to gossip? If you find that you want to tear your hair
out at the end of each day because of your colleagues, it
might be time to look for more tolerable people. 2.
You hate going to work. When Sunday night rolls
around, are you dreading going into the office the next
morning? As soon as you arrive on Monday morning, are you
already thinking about Friday at 5 p.m.? I think all of us
have had to go to job that we hate at least once, and if you
haven't - you're the exception, not the rule (not to mention
extremely lucky). When you're spending 40+ hours at work, the
last thing you want is to hate every second you're there. If
you do, it might be time to start thinking about your next
career move.
| |
|
Bill Meyer Contract
Specialties, Inc. (CSI)
phone: 904-220-0221 or
800-808-8274
| |
| |