|
 Featherlite,
on Mysore Road in the City is a 35 years old company producing
world-class furniture that is ergonomic, durable and neat
looking. Both quality and design are its speciality. Featherlite
is a preferred brand of seating systems for hard working professionals
in corporate and software giants.
Featherlite has tied up with Herman Miller for
their complete range of products. Herman Miller is known internationally
for its 'Aeron' products. Featherlite employs 400 workers
in their state-of-the-art production facility, spread over
75,000 sq ft. The company has exclusive showrooms in all leading
cities of India. In an interview to bangalorebest.com,
Featherlite Company Managing Director, Manohar Gopal spoke
about the present trends in office furniture systems.
Could you elaborate on the present trends
in office furniture taking into consideration the changing
economic scenario?
Basically it depends on their application. If you are looking
at software industry they would use 'L' shaped workstations.
Nowadays, walls are not being used for cabling, but the cabling
is being done through the furniture itself. That is the latest
trend in furniture. To create an image and identity for any
office, good-looking space and furniture is important.
How do the demands of IT companies differ from
the other corporate houses?
In terms of usage, IT companies have specific requi rements.
Theirs is more of a workstation concept, because they are
very heavily cabled offices. And they also want privacy. Today,
software developers have become a key resource in any office.
Each software company is trying to create its own image. They
want to provide a better environment, one that is aesthetically
appealing also to their office staff. They don't mind spending
a little more money on this. Now people are paying more attention
to ergonomics and body movements. Chairs to match the computer
keyboard and height adjustable armchairs matter a lot. Earlier,
nobody bothered about that, but today it has become a fact.
The competition in this sector must be fierce.
Can you comment on it?
In India, there are about five big players in office furniture
like Godrej, Blowplast, Allwyn Matrix and National. In every
city there is local competition in th e
office furniture though not in quality. A lot of new foreign
companies, involved in furniture making, are coming into India.
We have a tie up with one such international furniture company,
Hermen Miller, a $2-billion company, the largest furniture
company in the world. Godrej has a tie-up with Steel Case,
an American company.
What are the new products Featherlite has on
the anvil?
We are introducing new models of chairs with better features
using latest mechanism. These chairs adjust with your body movements.
When you move forward it also moves forward. These chairs are
lockable in different positions and have height adjustable arms.
These are also body weight tension adjustable chairs. There
are so many features available in one chair itself.
Who are your major clients?
Oracle, Lucent Technologies, Satyam, Wipro, IBM, Kshema Technologies,
Enron Company in Mumbai, GE Capital in Delhi are some of notable
big clients. There are so many other clients, more than 100.
Could you tell us about the company's export market?
We do export chairs to Malaysia, Middle East and Singapore.
At present, what is the company's focusing?
Our aim is to deliver well designed furniture of very good quality
to our clients.
What are the future expansion plans of your company?
We are expanding the present manufacturing unit further. Adjacent
to the present unit, there is a vacant space in which we are
going to expand our unit. In terms of growth, we expect to reach
Rs 100 crore turnover by 2003. We will be launching new products
across all sectors of office chairs. We want to build on partnerships
with new companies. We hope to increase our customer base and
build on the relationship with existing customers.
When one is buying furniture for the office,
what criteria should be kept in mind. Can you give some tips?
First, one should study the office furniture requirements
at least for the next two years. Nowadays, ergonomics should
be kept in mind. The person who is using the chair should
not get back pains.
Over all, aesthetics of the office also should be taken
into consideration while furnishing your office.
Apart from this, in terms of design they must try and get
as much as they can out of the available space they have.
If the design of the layout is not good enough they will tend
to lose so much of space, like long corridors and passages.
Bad design makes loss of space. So these are the parameters
one has to look into basically.
Quality wise, one should go for quality furniture to avoid
running around again to the furniture manufacturer or servicing
people.
For larger companies, to create the same image in its other
city branches as well, they should adopt the same uniform
style of furnishing.
Address:
Featherlite, #2, Timber Yard Layout,
Mysore Road, Bangalore-560 026.
Phone: 2674 1006/ 5002/ 5489/ 5013/ 4047/ 0556
Fax: 2674 0449
e-mail: felite@blr.vsnl.net.in
| Text and photos by Y. Rama Mohan |
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