Community Sustainability Partnership Growth

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CommunitySustainabilityPartnershipGrowth
Innovation Panel April 11, 2007
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BIFMA Background

• Thomas Reardon, Executive Director
• Organization established 1973
• Furniture manufacturers and suppliers
  addressing common issues
• Effective forum for cooperation and collaboration

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BIFMA Background

• Members establish the agenda
• Primary areas of organizational focus
  standards, market info, advocacy
• North American market focus
• Approx. 250 member companies
• Importance to west-MI economy

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Industry Profile/Overview

• Several large companies many small
• Project business
• Typically larger volume
• Designer influenced
• Higher end
• Contain environmental/sustainability criteria
• Value proposition
• Price sensitive
• Less concern with environmental/sustainability
  criteria

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Industry Performance

• Shipment volume peaked in 2000
• 3 consecutive years of decline, -37
• 2004 - 2006, recovery
• 2007 continued growth expected
• Still 18 below 2000

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Impacts

• Refurbished/remanufactured product
• Lower cost workstations
• Smaller workstations
• Imported product

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Opportunities

• High degree of workstation customization
• Schedule demands
• Product innovation
• Sustainability

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Sustainability Drivers

• Pull from the customer
• Business trends toward green buildings
• A D community demand
• Allows for more efficient operations
• Right thing to do
• Market differentiation

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Industry Activities

• Development of common measurement criteria
• Development of tools to facilitate
  evaluation/decision process
• Early stages of trend
• Industry taking a leadership role

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Benefits

• Standardization provides efficiencies
• Sustainability leads to more efficient use of
  resources more competitive position
• Differentiation, market advantage