Industrial Design
Smed, A Calgary based company, centers around both new manufacturing ideals, and those set by is pre-successors, the Smed Family. Ideals such as lean manufacturing and one-piece flow, single Smed out, while making it one of the leading furniture manufacturing companies in the field. Former CEO Mogens Smed founded the company in 1983, after he began designing modular office furniture in 1974. In 1983 Smed was officially founded, and in 1996 the company went public with their designs. As of today Smed is no longer run or owned by the Smed family, instead it was purchased in 2000 by Haworth Inc. of Holland Michigan.The Smed factory floor centers around a flexible one piece flow system. A large staff and a well-constructed work floor enable Smed to carry on a product or a set of products from start to finish in an orderly manner. Smed managers designed the factory floor to run in the most efficient method possible. The Smed process begins with an order from either a familiar client or a new job. A qualified design team pulls the design into the “Smed” world. Often Smed will re-do or design an entire office structure for a company, such as new offices for an entire floor.
Smed’s steps to environmental sustainability come in several forms. The company takes stock of what comes into the factory, against the ratio of what leaves, as well as what ends up being recycled as well as reused in further production. The lighting used is low mercury content lighting, which has replaced the older lighting, which was hard on energy levels. All HVAC and lighting systems are on timers and/or motion sensors. They also encourage staff involvement in things such as car pooling and recycling on a day-to-day basis. Quality control is divided into three levels at Smed, including assembly and production, to ensure that every piece of work is up to standards, and exactly what the client is expecting. The furniture is mostly assembled on site, except for the basic put together parts. Packaging is very minimal, just what is needed to protect. Smed is centered on having a system that designs pieces “just in time” for its orders. However, it is difficult to have a perfect system, and therefore there are still many racks of storage of different assemblies, in the case that a piece is not produced in time. They try to minimilize storage, ordering wood and parts only when necessary, but some storage is still required.
Some topics in this essay:
Sustainability Traditionally,
Process Smed,
SMED Powdercoat,
Mogens Smed,
Standards Smed,
Family Ideals,
Smed Calgary,
manufacturing floor,
floor design,
smed family,
flow system,
quality control,
“just time”,
smed strives,
office furniture,
factory floor,
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Approximate Word count = 1309
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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