10 February 2010

Company Profile: Haworth

Indesign talks knowledge, sustainability and design with Haworth.

What does your company supply?

Haworth offers a comprehensive range of furniture and accessories predominantly for the commercial office industry. We design and manufacture a global portfolio supported with solutions more suited to each market. Our core portfolio centres around workstations, task seating, storage and meeting solutions however we are now growing this portfolio with accessories offering more architectural elements such as Clouds from Kvadrat.

How did your company come about?

Modern Products founded in Holland, Michigan by G.W. Haworth as an expansion of a woodworking operation in his garage. In 1976 the company name changes to Haworth Inc with massive growth and leading toward a global expansion in 1988. Over the next 10 years, 25 companies are purchased in North America, Europe and Asia to build a complete portfolio of product lines.

Where do you distribute?

Haworth has global distribution with the global head office in Holland, Michigan and regional head offices in Bad Munder, Germany and Shanghai, China. For the Asia Pacific region, distribution is throughout China, South East Asia, Australasia, India, The Middle East, Africa and Latin America. For Australia, head office is in Sydney with offices located in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

Describe your customers?

Our customer base is very broad and therefore very difficult to categorise. A large part of our business is with multinational companies that we service through our Global Account Management (GAM) however we are also focussed on local small to medium business. For us, any customer who is seeking quality and value for money for the office space is an ideal customer for Haworth.

What sets your company apart?

Knowledge, Sustainability and Design. These are the core principles of Haworth where we are able to partner with our customers to create inspiring interior spaces. Our scope is highly adaptable and we can range from strategic workshops to challenge working culture through to project delivery and long term service. Our ‘Harmony’ program allows us to become a partner for our client, servicing all their furniture needs through procurement, project management and being a long-term service provider.This is supported by our Shanghai manufacturing facility, which was the first Haworth factory globally to achieve zero waste.

Who should we speak to when specifying?

John Harrs is the Managing Director of Haworth Australia and the best contact for sales enquiries. Richard Simpson is the Design Leader for Haworth in our region. Both can be contacted on +61 2 8586 7777.

What are your client’s priorities at the moment?

Each customer of ours has their own distinct priorities and we adapt our offering to suit their needs. Some of our clients are leading the commercial office landscape through the adoption of Activity Based Working, others are renovating existing spaces while maintaining their current work flow. Consistent with all our customers is value for money, on time project delivery and reliable ongoing service and support.

What is good design to you?

Good design adds value to the user and improves their lifestyle and environment. For Haworth good design is about observation, research and understanding the issues before we leap to a solution. Challenging the industry norms is allowing us to move into new territory and present a very different Haworth to what has been before. Good Design is also about longevity harking back to our sustainability underpinnings. We value our environment and treated with resources we use as precious seeking to reduce and improve everything we do.

What does the future hold?

April will see the launch of several new products in Australia and marking a change in direction for Haworth to become a design lead organization. This will then see a flow of new ideas, thinking and products we will share with the design community and continue to support this market to lead Australia as a leader in design for our region and globally.