Shopping For The Ultimate Office Chair
What makes an office chair the ultimate office chair
? In a word, comfort. An office chair that is comfortable will keep you productive and that is really the name of the game for employers and staff alike.
To maintain all day comfort, a well made office chair usually affords the user some key benefits like multiple adjustments and functions as well as excellent ergonomic features such as lumbar support, arm rests, pneumatic height adjust-ability. All of these features are designed to specifically address comfort.
There is another type of comfort Americans need to come to grips with. We need to become more fiscally accountable regarding the decisions we are making as relating to products manufactured in the United States.
I Have been selling office chairs for going on twenty years now and have sold chairs manufactured in the US, Canada, Germany, Japan, China, Italy, and frankly they all do about the same thing. I have tried my best to support our US economy to the best of my ability, by featuring US made chairs on our website and in our premise sales capacities.
Cost aside, I believe US chairs are competitive. From a comfort and a design perspective, US made office furniture and seating is unmatched. US made office chairs are also very accessible and are usually in stock, ready for immediate shipment to meet the needs of most users.
It is difficult for US chairs to compete with foreign manufactured chairs for one due to labor cost disparities. Even factoring the consideration for additional shipping costs, it is difficult to tip the cost scale in the direction of US manufactured products as a whole.
At some point, people have to make their own decisions regarding what role they are responsible for playing in supporting the US economy and its recovery. Sometimes it means choosing to pay a few dollars more, but gleaning the satisfaction of knowing we are doing our part and fair share to offset our trade imbalance. We cannot simply rely on the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to change the economic tide. Our trade deficit with China is particularly disturbing to me as an American entrepreneur and businessman.
For the most part, US made products are more stout and dependable as well as sustainable ecologically. US regulations insure that products manufactured in the US meet specific manufacturing standards such as OSHA, BIFMA, ISO, etc., and many related environmental mandates.
Manufacturing competition in the United States is so intense, that if a particular manufacturer wishes to maintain any market dominance, they will no only acquiesce to regulations, they will do their best to exceed them.
To that end, US manufacturers provide office furniture and chairs that are for the most part, more sustainable and better for the environment. Additionally, office chairs fabricated in US plants, generally have better ratings as relating to potentially harmful emissions. Many office chairs made in the United States are Green Guard certified, which means they have exceeded standards for reduced emissions.
As the worldwide demand for healthy, sustainable products and buildings continues to rise, consumers, designers and building professionals seek legitimate standards for evaluating product sustainability claims. GREENGUARD Certification programs offer better market solutions and resources to ensure healthier buildings and provide industry manufacturers with credible tools to legitimize and promote sustainability efforts. The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute supports certified manufacturers by actively promoting the GREENGUARD Certification programs and the GREENGUARD brand in the marketplace and by supporting GREENGUARD Certified products.
The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute has established performance based standards to identify products and processes with low chemical and particle emissions for use indoors. The standards are primarily for building materials, finishes, interior furnishings, office furniture & seating, cleaning products as well as electronic equipment. These standards establish certification procedures. They conduct procedures including but not limited to test methods, allowable emission levels, product sample collection and handling. They facilitate testing types and frequency as well as program application processes, and toxicity limits for safety and acceptability.
Most US manufacturers are committed to disseminating full disclosure statements as relating to their environmental programs. This means they endeavor to tell you what is good about their products and what they are doing above and beyond most foreign manufacturers. Most are vocal about what they are doing to try to improve their commitment to making quality products in an attempt to justify slightly higher costs in exchange for higher quality and improved safety.
Most imported office furniture and chairs are not required to meet such rigid standards.
One US office furniture and seating manufacturer is engaging in what I perceive to be commendable behavior. Global Industries is a worldwide leader of high quality office furniture and chairs. Global also does something unique which I feel, sets them apart.
To be competitive most manufacturers have to either build or assemble a significant portion of their products in China or Mexico. Global has the fiscal strength, solvency, and administrative vision to require that products produced in foreign plants adhere to specific quality and environmental standards, similar to what we do here in the US. In addition, Global Industries has purchased land in China and brings in US engineers, factory workers, and staff to assist in their operations there.
In the final analysis the ultimate office chair might not be the one that is the least expensive.
by: Phil Swindle
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