FAQ / Office Furniture Terminology Explained
We all know how beneficial it is to recycle paper, aluminum cans, plastic and glass, even on the small scale encountered in the home. Imagine the benefits of recycling office furniture! Many companies around the world have realized the advantages of buying existing furniture at a fraction of the cost of new --- making economic sense and reducing the load on our land fills.
Confused by all the different terms?
Here is a handy guide to help.
Q: What is modular furniture or systems furniture?
A: Modular furniture (or systems furniture) is a great invention to give every worker their own 'private' workspace. Since the needs of an office tend to change over time, this furniture can be taken apart and reassembled like Tinker Toys --- remember those?
Q: What is a cubicle or work station?
A: Think of this as a moveable office. No, you can't take it home with you at night, but if your office requirements change, cubicles can be reconfigured to meet those new needs. Cubicles are also referred to as "workstations" or "cubes" and can be the butt of jokes about prairie dogging and cubicle fever.
Q: What is a call center station or telemarketing station?
A: These stations are often built using lower panels with a small footprint of 4' wide x 24" deep. People who use these stations are usually on the phone providing tech support or persuading you to spend your money. Give them a break --- they have a tiny office.
A: Knowing this vocabulary allows us to speak the same language as we discuss your project.
PANELS: These are the walls of your moveable office. Sometimes they are covered with fabric, sometimes with wood veneer. Fabric covered panels that can be used as tack boards are "tackable accoustic" and provide sound absorption -- something you come to appreciate in an office.
Panels that are 62” to 70” high can hold overhead bins or shelves (explained later) with task lights. Panels in the 54” high range are used for seated privacy, and panels lower than 48” allow for visibility out the windows or throughout the office -- so management can see what you’re web surfing during office hours . . .
WORKSURFACE: This is your table top, desk, or paper shuffling area - where the work gets done. These can be U-shape or L-shape, depending on how much workspace you need. They are typically 24" or 30" deep, and come in different laminates or wood veneers. The surface is not seen much once the cubicle is occupied. Paperwork, you know.
CORNER: Your monitor usually sits here, and that’s why the corner is sometimes referred to as a CRT. It can be many shapes, but the most common is a square with the corner trimmed off. This is where you sit to get your work done. Some corners have adjustable keyboard trays built-in, some have them attached below, and some leave your keyboard placement up to you.
RETURN: No, this is not where you get a refund. A "return" is the part of the worksurface that extends in either direction from the corner. (They had to call it something.)
STORAGE COMPONENTS: Self-explantory -- it's where you store your stuff. We call them:
Overheads, Binder Bins, Flippers, Shelves: These are different terms used for storage areas that hang from the panels or walls of the workstation. Overheads can have fabric covered doors, veneer, or some are covered with vinyl. Some have locks, some don't. Shelves are just like overheads, but without the doors. These items must match the width of the panel on which they hang unless they are equipped with off-modular adaptors.
Task Lights: (Not storage, but one comes with the other.) Overhead storage can cast shadows and since no one likes to work in the dark, lighting is hung under the overheads, binder bins, flippers or shelves. These lights help illuminate your tasks and therefore are called "Task lights." Brilliant! No pun intended. (Well, maybe a little.)
Pedestals: No, these are not for displaying statues or for standing on while delivering speeches. A pedestal has drawers for storage which are usually 6" deep (called a "box" drawer) or 12" deep (called a "file" drawer). Hence, a "Box/Box/File Ped" has two small drawers and a big drawer. A "File/File" has two 12" drawers. You get it. Storage. A place to put your lunch --- and files.
POWER: Panels that have wire harnesses running through them are called powered. They have different capacities, but usually come as 3 circuit/5 wire or 5 circuit/8 wire. The power can be run along the floor in a "kickplate" or behind the worksurface, which is called "beltline power." It's invisible, but you need it done right. Fires, blown fuses, flickering power and all that. Trust me.
A: Each of these categories starts with used furniture.
USED, AS-IS: Not new. This furniture has been installed and people have worked in the cubicles or offices, sometimes for a year, sometimes for five years. The furniture is "knocked down" or disassembled, moved to a new location, and reinstalled with minor touchup and cleaning during installation. This category of furniture represents the greatest savings over buying new. Even with discounts of 30 to 80% off list price, a new workstation usually costs $3,500 to $6,500. We can provide these same stations, used for just a few years, for $600 to $1,200, depending on size and configuration.
Occasionally furniture is delivered but never installed, or installed but never used -- it's still considered used. Why pay an 80% premium for the dubious honor of worrying about when that first scratch is going to happen? Get new-looking furniture the smart way -- buy used.
REFURBISHED: This category of used furniture may have some minor cosmetic changes made to customize it, but it has not been completely remanufactured. Refurbished furniture makes good economic sense, as it gives furniture another "generation" of use specific to your needs. Don't like the color of the tackboard or overhead? Refurbish it with new fabric in your own color choice!
REMANUFACTURED; If we take the furniture apart, repaint the hardware and trim, replace the fabric and make it look like new, it has been “remanufactured.” This process is often the best way to match existing furniture or to get a custom office look without paying the price of buying "new".
A: You need never lack for parts support -- there will always be associates in the office furniture industry who will be happy to help you find what you need to take care of your furniture -- and likely at wholesale prices! Is a warranty worth paying 80% more up front? You be the judge.
A: This has less to do with galaxies than with the physical organization of your office. We use CAD drawings provided by your architect or building management, or use GIZA software to draw your existing offices, then draw in the cubicles or workstations, desks, file cabinets, and other items to show how they all fit and relate to each other. Unlike software not designed for our industry, GIZA allows for the thickness of panels and the “creep” that occurs as they are connected, providing accurate layouts so there are no code violations.
Q: What is ergonomics and how important is it?
A: Ergonomics is a fancy word for the most comfortable and efficient layout – having the right things in the right place to reduce fatigue and injury as a result of repetitive motion or even inactivity, like sitting for long periods of time. At the end of the day it makes sense to have everything where it works best, because if you don’t, that's when you notice it most --- at the end of the day.
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