The list of international design prizes and awards is long that the acclaimed company has received in its almost 100-year history. Wilkhahn has repeatedly established itself as a pioneer in terms of performance not only with products but also with corporate processes, winning recognition in the form of the German Marketing Prize (1992), the German Ecology Prize (1996) or the Good Practice Award of the European Commission (2002).

Cheap mass production does not offer any perspective
The persistent crisis in the building industry and the general economic situation and outlook have seriously shaken the office furniture industry too.

Fig. Production pavilions: the famous production pavilions by the architect Frei Otto had been geared to self-organization processes from the very beginning. They now provide the ideal setting for the Wilkhahn Customized Manufacturing Center.

 Wilkhahn President Dr. Jochen Hahne explained that the market in general was becoming dominated by price dumping and foregoing quality to an increasing extent.
According to Hahne “With comparable products and average performance it is, in the final analysis, the price of the product that is becoming the decisive competitive factor – mass production, involving a high degree of manual work, has hardly any chance of survival at a high-wage location”.

Fig. Fabric-cutting pavilion: in line with true craftsmanship, skins for seat covers are selected and the cutting presses are set manually at the Wilkhahn Customized Manufacturing Center.

As increasing anonymity in the construction industry had led to ruinous price-cutting and loss of quality due to property developers and investors, the office furniture industry would now go to rack and ruin and become a group of cost-saving specialists focusing primarily on low production costs rather than on meaningful, sustainable use.

Opportunity for architects and designers: controlled individuality for exclusive furnishing areas
Contrary to trends in the industry towards standardization and continually cheaper solutions, Wilkhahn, however, sees a growing market for high-quality, intelligent and individually adapted solutions. The focus will be on design quality, value, customer orientation and furnishing competence.

Fig. In the west pavilion, all services related to the theme of customized manufacturing have now been concentrated: ranging from the planning of special engineering and design and costing to purchasing and CNC programming.

Sales Director Holger Jahnke explains, “It is interesting to observe that a feeling of uncertainty increasingly accompanies the possibility of selecting customized products. “Controlled individuality” this is how we term the solution which we believe the market is looking for.” The order of the day is to combine the security, image and professionalism of a strong brand with individual requirements in a unique solution. Architects are key opinion-makers in this field; they often do not find any suitable solutions to their sophisticated architectural and design concepts in the serial offers of industry.

Fig. Production and services of customized manufacturing have merged into one process. In the figure, plans for an offer are just being completed in colour.

Jahnke points to perspectives in detail by adding “Irrespective as to whether requirements are for special veneer solutions to blend with interior design, special forms and dimensions of table tops, individual edging and geometry or the integration of modern, highly complex conference technology – with our Customized Manufacturing Center we can now offer architects and designers all the possibilities of realizing furnishing concepts in their own design language”.

Basis of the Wilkhahn Customized Manufacturing Center: open production platforms, modern CNC technology, consistent project organization
Focusing product design and development on the simplest solutions possible allows a host of variations with relatively low additional cost and effort. The Palette table range, that has since become a design classic, is a good example: a rigid, cantilever table top, an ingenious, reversible leg connection, (now) available with three different table leg versions. This allows almost any table configuration desired. Technical Director, Horst Knigge, therefore backs the qualities of the design platforms and manufacturing intelligence as well as the craftsmanship of the staff: “Our product ranges have been designed to allow a host of adaptations in addition to inherently versatile serial models. For seat covers, we can process any type of material, including special stitching. In the wood sector, our CNC technology allows us to deal with any kind of customized solution. Above all, we have highly qualified employees who are glad to accept to new challenges.”
Knigge has consistently organized the Wilkhahn Customized Manufacturing Center in the form of project work to allow customized products to be integrated smoothly into production. Project specification, costing, preparation of offers, special engineering and design, special purchasing, operation and process scheduling and CNC programming are all concentrated in one process at one single location. Knigge underlines the customer-oriented flexibility of the concept as follows, “We are therefore in a position to answer queries at any time during the planning process and to consider modifications up to the last possible moment”.

Wilkhahn Customized Manufacturing Center: reutilization of pavilion by Frei Otto yet again
The Wilkhahn Customized Manufacturing Center aims to provide active involvement of both customers and architects in realizing their furnishing solutions. The concept has therefore been implemented using one of the famous production pavilions which Frei Otto built for Wilkhahn 15 years ago – and which still attract some 1,000 visitors from throughout the world every year.

Fig. The spatial concentration of all processes allows spontaneous, informal coordination and agreement. The time from receipt of an order until dispatch can be shortened considerably and the defect rate reduced to a minimum.

In this unique, tent-like architecture, the wiege design studio has designed an office setting which shows what the 20 employees of the Wilkhahn Customized Manufacturing Center working there are capable of performing: ranging from an individual version of the exclusive Conrack furniture system in white, through special tables which are tailored to respective work requirements to the InteracTable, an interactive planning table.

Fig. Employees from all departments involved work cross-functionally in consistent project organization.

The bright room is flanked by a lounge in shades of brown for more informal meetings and a catering, conference and presentation area. This is where fabrics, leather, veneers and specially constructed prototypes can be selected and “experienced”. “Five years ago visitors could find production processes here, three years ago it housed our EXPO exhibition “The future of work” and now the pavilion has been transformed into a grand office setting where our customers can be familiarized with materials, planning and processes in a hands-on manner” Hahne adds with a smile, welcoming the fact that past investment in the quality of architecture has paid off so impressively.

Pioneer with sales strength
Holger Jahnke believes it goes without saying that things will start moving on the market with this additional concept. After all, we have an efficient, 30-strong sales team in Germany alone, our own showroom in Bad Münder, Düsseldorf, Berlin and Hamburg and intelligent planning tools, so-called GDL data, which are available online on the internet. “Sales strength, our market presence and planning support provide us with a decisive competitive edge over our competitors in this market segment.” Holger Jahnke therefore has reason to believe that there is sales potential in the medium term for the Wilkhahn Customized Manufacturing Center of EUR 15 – 20 million in the German market – not to mention the spin-off effect on the standard portfolio…

With the Wilkhahn Customized Manufacturing Center, “Made in Germany – made by Wilkhahn” will acquire a new significance in the future: the synthesis of industrial design and individuality, of high tech and craftsmanship on the highest level.

For printable images and 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) 999-450
burkhard.remmers@wilkhahn.de