ASSMANN FURNITURE FOR THE FUTURE

When Heinrich Ahsmann took over the village carpenters’ shop in Melle, Germany in 1939 the foundation for the ASSMANN furniture empire was forged. These days, the company is still owned and run by the same family and still produces office furniture from Melle, though on a far larger scale. Arron Claydon, the Managing Director for the UK, explained to Hannah Barnett how ASSMANN stays innovative.

The office furnishing market is under going a dynamic change. This is because the way people work is evolving and becoming more flexible. From height-adjustable desks, innovative storage systems, functional office kitchens, stylish lounge and seating furniture and ergonomic office swivel chairs, to furnishing solutions for reception, waiting, communication and lounge areas, ASSMANN offers more than might be expected from a suite of office furniture.

Managing Director for the UK Arron Claydon summarised ASSMAN’s ‘New Work’ ethos: “When I started, we were predominantly known for desks and storage. In 2018, we rebranded and expanded our portfolio.” After this evolution, the company is running several exciting projects that reflect the demands of the modern workplace.

New Work

There is no universal formula for the offices of tomorrow. Office areas will always be individually designed around the company and the people who work there, not the other way round. What is important is to design the office environment space precisely around the demands of tomorrow.

With ASSMANN 4ROOMS, this excellent service covers an extensive consultation process, plus the furnishing and realisation of modern working environments. The aim is to assist customers in developing a personalised furnishing scheme conducive to the ‘New Work’ ethos. This involves “planning, use of available space, emotion, function and services to generate individual, inspiring places where people are happy to work and feel at ease,” according to Mr Claydon.

“If a dealer, an intermediary or a partner doesn't have the facilities to do the space-planning and the design work, we can help. In line with the modernisation of the workplace, that’s one of the really big changes we have devel oped since 2018.

“We’ve also integrated smart technology, because the digital workplace is progressing at a mind-boggling rate, especially since Covid. That exacerbated the working from home and flexible- space culture.”

This is where ASSMANN SMART comes in another exciting new offering on the company’s roster, the project offers a multitude of ways to transform an office into a smart office, be it sensor-supported booking or intelligent, software-controlled electronic locker systems.

“The move into smart technology is important and a natural progression for us,” Mr Claydon said. “Our intelligent smart office solutions allow for more flexible working, both spatially and temporally, which improves internal processes and work structures.”

The company

ASSMANN has been running for 84 years, has 13 showrooms throughout Europe, and made €138 million in sales in 2021. But it has only one manufacturing site, located in Melle, Germany, where it pro duces a staggering 2,500 pieces of furniture daily. This is largely thanks to the efficiency of its automated process

“We rely heavily on automation and robotics,” Mr Claydon explained. “That’s enables us to maintain productivity, without decreasing staff. In fact, it’s increased. We've got over 400 employees now. The state-of-the-art facility guarantees the highest quality and up to the minute timing. As a servicel ed company, timings are important and automation helps with that. With the amount of completed furniture we produce a day, it's quite an impressive site.

“The quality of our products is on-par with a lot of our competitors in Germany. The way we stand out is our flexibility, our holistic approach. We have more multifunctional solutions. And the fact that we are a family-run business, owned by Dirk Assmann: that encompasses the way we work; it trickles down through the company. There’s no board of directors.”

For the factory to operate so smoothly, a strong supply chain is vital.

“We manufacture 120,000 sit-stand workstations a year,” Mr Claydon said.

“That's a lot of EGGER board; they are our laminates and board supplier. We are a financially robust customer, we've won awards for our financial robustness, and it works well for a strong supply chain.

“Alongside that, it’s the age relationships; some of our suppliers we’ve worked with for decades. We procure locally. Melle is in Lower Saxony which is the region that produces a lot of high-end German kitchens. The companies that do the hinges, fixings and fittings are all fairly local.”

Mr Claydon acknowledged that with costs rising and the risk of supply chain delays, it has been a turbulent few years. “We have been tested,” he said. “We’ve had customers in the UK saying other manufacturers lead times have gone anywhere from eight to 14 weeks, but we still maintained our standard lead time despite the shortage of materials. Our purchasing and management departments that look after the supply chain have a good relationship with our sup pliers and that has really paid dividends over the last 12 months.”

A sustainable future

ASSMANN is committed to its sustainability and is the 26th most sustainable medium-sized business in Germany. In its sustainability mission statement, the company acknowledges its economical, ecological and social responsibility.

It had top placement in the German Sustainability Awards in 2020. And its 2022 sustainability report was ranked the best in the country in the SME category by the Institute for Ecological Economy Research.

Mr Claydon said: “Since 1996, ASSMANN has published an annual detailed environmental statement and a voluntary sustainability report. The company deals openly with progress but also with challenges and has regularly communicated these since 2011.”

The company reflects its commitment to sustainability in its project range too.

“We have electric height adjustable tables,” said Mr Claydon. “They are part of our Pontis Hypa range with a rechargeable battery, so it doesn’t need to be plugged into the grid. We’re also looking at options to potentially power laptops and PCs from that same source.”

Mr Claydon was reflective about how t he workspace has changed in the recent past and ASSMANN’s role in the office of the future. “20 years ago,” he said, “everyone was talking about flexible working environ ments, but no one really did it, there was a bit of working from home but not on a large scale. Then Covid hit: in a click of a finger, everybody was doing it, there was no choice.

“Suddenly, everything that everybody had been talking about had to come into effect. And we made it work. I think things have changed in the working environment. I don’t think i’ll ever go back to the pre-pandemic way of work.”

ASSMANN looks set to continue reflecting and directing trends, with more and more products designed to suit the ‘New Work’ ethos.

As Mr Claydon concluded: “It’s not just desks anymore. It used to be all desks, ‘how many people can we fit into this space?’ Now customers don’t want to fit that many people into a single space. They want greenery, some breakout stuff, inviting lounge areas and meeting pods. We have a massive growth plan over the next three years. Our vision is to create inspiring contemporary spaces where people are happy to work, promoting knowledge and creativity. In this way, we always set the highest standards for ourselves – in terms of our product quality and our extensive services.”