Focus: Office furniture remanufacturing--Everything old is new again

Office World News, Oct 1999 by Ellis, Alicia A

Recycle, remanufacture, refurbish, reuse-these terms are used often by the office furniture industry, but they are frequently confused, misused, or intermingled.

In November 1998, the Business Products Industry Association's (BPIA) Office Furniture Recyclers Forum (OFRF), after discussions with the Environmental Protection Agency, sought to define recycling terminology to be consistent with the entire recycling industry. Thus, recycled office furniture is a term that is used for any post-consumer office furniture that has been diverted out of the solidwaste stream and back into the market, with or without repairs. From here, all other forms of office furniture recycling can be described.

Reused office furniture describes office furniture that has been returned to the market for sale without repair or improvement to its appearance. This type of furniture is often referred to as "used" or "as-is" and is bought at the buyer's discretion without warranty as to the condition.

The terms refurbished and remanufactured tended to cause some confusion among the office furniture industry and, until OFRF stepped in with their definitions, the two were often used interchangeably even though they are vastly different.

Refurbished office furniture describes recycled office furniture that has had value added to the product by being "touched-up" or cosmetically improved and then returned to the market for sale.

Remanufactured office furniture describes the process by which recycled office furniture is completely disassembled to its parts, inspected and cleaned, repaired or replaced, reassembled, and refinished to "like new" conditions before being returned to the market.

A GROWING MARKET

Remanufacturing as a whole has been around since the 1920s when, during the Depression, the automotive industry began remanufacturing as a way of reducing production costs. During World War II, with many natural resources going to the war effort, remanufacturing continued to prosper by providing recycled products as an economical alternative to new products.

Office furniture remanufacturing began to emerge during the early 80s. This can be attributed to many factors, including the downsizing of larger companies, increase of small businesses, increase in the public's environmental awareness, and the maturity of the market. According to a recent survey conducted by OFRF; the recycling of office furniture has grown to a $1.2 billion industry, representing an estimated nine percent of the $13.6 billion commercial furniture industry.

Companies like Haworth, Herman Miller, and Steelcase had manufactured office systems of such high quality that by the late 70s to early 80s, many pieces of office furniture were not "worn out" but simply "out of date," with colors and patterns that were no longer appealing to companies.

With a stable, usable framework, office furniture visionaries, many of whom worked with new office furniture, became enlightened to the opportunities presented them. A new industry had begun and continues today to change the way companies think and feel about their options when purchasing office furnishings.

"For many years, cubicles were in a state of upgrade, improving to the point at which changes became cosmetic, not structural. Thus, when companies moved or downsized, quality products became available in the aftermarket and, from an operational standpoint, served the purpose," said Susan McCloskey, chairperson of the OFRF and president of Office Plan, a St. Paul, MN-based new and remanufactured furniture company.

McCloskey, whose company Office Plan just celebrated its eighth year in business, noticed a slowdown in the sale of new office furniture and the need for more services including design and installation advice. Needing to maintain company assets, McCloskey started Office Plan primarily to provide design and installation services with procurement of office furniture when necessary. "We started remanufacturing office systems when needed, just small things at first," she said. "The company grew by fits and starts. Today, we have about 40 employees with 65 percent of sales being remanufactured furniture, 25 percent new furniture sales, and 10 percent design and installation services."

"We take a product that's built to last, and completely remanufacture it so that it has all the function of a new, but at a fraction of the cost," said Art Hasse, president of Kentwood Office Furniture, a Grand Rapids, Ml-based U.S. Office Products company which offers new and used office furniture systems, yet specializes in the remanufacture of office furnishings including panel systems and casegoods.

With showrooms in Grand Rapids and Detroit, Kentwood offers over 45,000 sq. ft. of new, used, and remanufactured products from hundreds of manufacturers.

"Kentwood also offers a unique range of options," said Hasse. "In addition to new products, we inventory large quantities of used furniture that we can sell as-is or custom remanufacture for a company. We can also remanufacture a client's existing furniture. Everything is done exactly to the customer's specifications; both in terms of meeting their budget requirements and creating the function and style they desire. All this, plus design service, efficient delivery and installation, and programs for rental and loaner furniture, and savings of up to 80 percent keep Kentwood in the forefront of the remanufacturing industry."