Bad Münder. “Sustainable” product design has traditionally formed the basis of any design concept for Wilkhahn’s product development division. Since the 1950s, the company has been focusing on the maxim of sustainability, once coined by the legendary Ulmer Hochschule für Gestaltung (Academy of Design): “Our aim is to develop sustainable products, to increase their utility value and to reduce waste.” Whilst elsewhere consumption was being stylized for its own sake, and predetermined breaking points and increased potential for wear and tear were being quite intentionally incorporated in products, Wilkhahn focused consistently on design, innovation and quality.

Longevity in terms of form and function as a fundamental principle
For Wilkhahn’s Managing Director, Dr. Jochen Hahne, these are more vital basic requirements than ever before for achieving the desired balance between economic success, social responsibility and environmental conservation:

„An office chair that should be in use for decades has to combine at least four basic requirements:
a strong innovative edge; design quality that has nothing to do with short-lived fashionable trends; enduring and appropriate materials; as well as facilities for service, repair and exchange of parts.”

In terms of form and function, the FS-Line has set a new standard of modern office chairs: just sit down, adjust the height – that’s all. The FS-Line adjusts to any posture and movement completely automatically.
Design: Klaus Franck, Werner Sauer

Complex tasks require simple solutions  The office chair family “FS-Line”, named after the two designers Klaus Franck and Werner Sauer, is a shining example of the soundness of this concept. This office chair range, designed for the very purpose of “dynamic sitting”, is, from an ergonomic point of view, one of the best that the international office furniture industry has to offer: just sit down, adjust the height, that’s all – the chair does everything else itself. Hahne explains the FS concept as follows:
“This matter-of-fact functioning is becoming increasingly important with modern organizational concepts such as desksharing and project work. The correct adjustment of an office chair is, after all, the last thing that people at work should worry about”.

This, however, provides even more security for the future:

• The FS-Line is certified ergonomically and thus fulfils future office chair standards which will be based on the new EU directives for display screen equipment workplaces.
• The design of the FS-Line, which is both simple and ingenious, has now made the range a design classic, whose timelessness has been honoured in numerous publications and exhibitions.
• High-performance materials, such as through-dyed polypropylene and die-cast aluminium, show hardly any traces of wear and tear even after years of use.
• The key: the constructional principle was designed from the very start in such a way as to be able to integrate new requirements and thus keep the FS-Line up to date.

Adaptability through modularity
When the standards for the backrest height of office chairs changed, a new, modified seat shell was developed with which the FS could be retrofitted. In conjunction with new seat shells, it is today even possible to retrofit complex additional functions such as a height-adjustable lumbar support and separately height-adjustable armrests, if this is required by different, individual standards.

New upholstery, new fabrics, everything else can be used for almost unlimited time: the FS-Line it therefore always up to date.
Design: Klaus Franck, Werner Sauer

By the way, Wilkhahn has been refurbishing FS chairs at customers’ premises for many years. For example, chairs were serviced, repaired and/or retrofitted in 2001 for approximately one million Euros.
Hahne points out: “In most cases, customers did not even know beforehand that it was possible to give an FS chair a second lease of life for little money, if the fabric was worn out, the upholstery had holes in it and seat shells were scratched after many years”.
No wonder: in the past the trade, as the most important source of sales, showed little interest in prolonging the life of a product which was more or less still functioning. They preferred to sell new chairs rather than bother about updating existing furniture.

Shell, upholstery and cover may be exchanged at any time, with very little effort. Optionally available with additional functions which are today required in some international markets.
Design: Klaus Franck, Werner Sauer

More service instead of more production
Jochen Hahne now thinks that a trend reversal in thinking is likely. Not only because the issue of sustainability is gaining an increasing amount of ground in public discussion, but also because this opens up new prospects in a recessionary market: “Qualitatively high-quality products such as the FS-Line allow a long and almost unlimited period of customer loyalty and also generate, besides production and sales, jobs in the service field. Whereas many company budgets for new purchases have been frozen, there are usually funds available for maintenance and repair – particularly if this means that customers can therefore save on costly new purchases.”

Wilkhahn intends to boost this change in approach: four attractive seat shell colours, and new fabric and colour collections for the upholstery material of the FS-Line make this design classic a real eye-catcher. In the coming weeks there will be a large-scale campaign, involving mailing FS customers and informing them by means of the new product brochure about the possibilities of updating their chairs technically and optically. An FS chair can be given a new look for as little as €133.

In future, the company will also focus more on the product life of other ranges in its marketing and sales activities.
“In many companies, a system of holistic cost management is gaining ground which considers not only purchase prices, but also follow-up and running costs. This benefits both the company and the environment.”

By the way, Wilkhahn did not only adopt sustainability as a guiding principle yesterday. For the winner of the German Ecology Prize 1996, easy repair and reasonably priced exchange of parts have long been an integral part of product concepts. Now it’s time to seize opportunities.

All illustrations obtainable at the Wilkhahn online image database (please click direct here or look under “Service“, “Image Database“). Please type in the keyword “FS-forever-new“. Further illustrations under keyword: “FS-Line“.

For further information, please contact:

Wilkhahn
Wilkening + Hahne GmbH+Co
Press + Public Relations
Fritz-Hahne-Straße 8
31848 Bad Münder
Germany
Phone: ++49 (5042) 999-169
Fax: ++49 (5042) 999-203
burkhard.remmers@wilkhahn.de