Hard pressed to stay in business during the Depression of the 1930s, D.J. De Pree gambled on contemporary furniture designed by Gilbert Rohde. The merits of that gamble became so evident that by 1945 Herman Miller phased out its traditional furniture to concentrate on contemporary, soon to be known as "modern," furniture.
In 1960, inventor and researcher Robert Propst, as director of the newly formed Research Division in Ann Arbor, Michigan, began exploring the real work needs of the office worker and the organizations depending on them. He and his researchers, recognizing office productivity as a major business concern for the future, focused on the integration of people, machines, and changing work processes. The open-plan office system, called Action Office, resulted from that research and was brought to market in 1968.
Such innovation is a result, not a goal. Innovation results from thoughtful research into the complexities of our customers' needs, exploration into materials and processes, and designs responding to social and economic trends in the global market. Of course a designer adds his or her inspiration to the mix. Charles and Ray Eames' molded plywood chair, Bob Propst's Action Office, Bill Stumpf's Ergon and Aeron chairs, and Ayse Birsel's Resolve system all resulted from this combination of forces.
Another aspect of innovation--risk-taking--is just as important. Herman Miller tries to maintain its appetite for risk. As we have grown larger and become responsible for more equity, the pressure to minimize risk has mounted. Nevertheless, getting behind promising new products--that sometimes become innovations--remains a risk we are happy to embrace.
Herman Miller encourages our designers to experiment with any material and any process that solves the problem they are trying to solve. We're curious about the new possibilities of new materials, and we make it our business to know a good deal about them. The team working with Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick developed the Pellicle material with DuPont specifically for the aerated seat pan material in the Aeron chair. Eric Chan conceived the structural material that allows the Kiva screen to stand still or move freely. Charles and Ray Eames actually designed the machine that bent and laminated the plywood in their lounge chair and ottoman. We don't set out to invent materials or processes, but if a problem and the resulting design calls for something new, we go after it.
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