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Delivering innovation to global contract markets Ekornes
Ekornes is a leading manufacturer of quality furniture for both the consumer and contract markets. Philip Yorke spoke to John Terje Drege, managing director for the contract division, about its success in expanding niche markets and its innovative new products.
DELIVERING INNOVATION TO GLOBAL CONTRACT MARKETS
Ekornes is the largest furniture manufacturer in the Nordic region and a global leader in ergonomic design, with famous brands such as Stressless®, Ekornes® and Svane® . The company’s ergonomically designed recliners, sofas and beds are sold throughout the world through its global network of wholesalers and retailers. Ekornes’ seven state-of-the-art factories are all located in Norway between Oslo and Trondheim on the west coast, and since the company was founded by J.E. Ekorne in 1934, it has built for itself a solid reputation for quality, innovation and dedicated customer service. Today the same is true of its fast-growing contract furniture division, which was founded on the same, well-tried principles about ten years ago.
The Ekornes Group’s production facilities are organised according to specific branded product areas: Stressless® (recliners, sofas, armchairs, tables and accessories), Ekornes® Collection (sofas) and Svane® (matresses). In addition to producing high-quality products for the consumer market, the company is also focused on supplying a wide range of products for the hotel, shipping and cruise markets, and engaging selected sub contractors as partners for the planning and implementation of its varied interior design projects.
Customising and special solutions
Ekornes’ contract division primarily addresses the shipping and hotel industries, as well as the cruise and office furniture markets. Within the shipping and offshore sectors, Ekornes Contract Division cooperates closely with both the shipyards and the ship-owners and is able to provide everything from single furniture orders to total project and design solutions. In the hotel sector, the company supplies products and design services direct to the client, whilst with office furnishings, Ekornes operates a broad network of more than 85 dealers throughout the Nordic region.
The cruise market is a new one for Ekornes and it’s making lots of sense so far. “In April last year I visited Fort Lauderdale, Florida and saw the cruise ship Oasis moored there, which accommodates over 6800 people and more than 2800 crew members. That represents a lot of seating and mattresses in one project and we want to position ourself to bid for future projects of this scale,” Mr Drege says.
Customising furniture to meet the specific needs of its customers is a growing trend for Ekornes’ contract division, which offers a flexible approach in order to achieve optimal solutions. Mr Drege said, “We have a wellestablished R&D department with 22 people working on new products and designs, which we showcase at international furniture trade shows and large internal trade venues. We are also committed to an on going investment in new technology for more efficient and sustainable production techniques. We have a fairly advanced production lay out today. For example, we use more than 25 large robotic arms to handle time-consuming operations which ensure we are not only profitable but also very
reliable and flexible when it comes to high volumes and consistent quality. We manufacture about 1500 seats every day and utilise more than 8000 complete hides every week. Large projects are not a challenge for our set up. For the contract market our advantage is the high quality of our products combined with a modular and scalable concept which makes the interior design process easy and effective.”
Mr Drege added, “For more than 10 years our contract division has been working closely with the offshore industry. Today we are also focused on serving the growing cruise line sector and the office furniture market. Our contract market turnover is increasing steadily year on year and we see the new markets offering us further opportunities for growth. Over 80 per cent of all our products are for export markets. Currently Germany is Ekornes’ biggest single market and our Stressless® and Svane® brands are among the best-known brands in the country. We see USA, China, India and South America as being the potential drivers for growth in the future. In addition, we are designing new products to appeal to a younger audience with fresh opinions on environmental and social responsibility as well as functionality and comfort.”
For many years now the company has used the words ‘innovators of comfort’ alongside its logo, and this sums up its commitment to ergonomics and functional design. The company’s famous Stressless® brand was first introduced in 1971 and was the first recliner chair designed to meet the body’s need for movement and support when seated, which resulted it in being an instant success worldwide. It subsequently became known as the ultimate recliner and over 40 years later has achieved worldwide sales of more than four and a half million units.
Ten years ago the Stressless® recliner concept was extended with the introduction of another unique product from Ekornes: the Stressless® reclining sofa. Despite many of its competitors trying to copy the concept, the Stressless® sofa recliner remains the original and the most successful product in its class on the market today.
In addition, the company’s Ekornes® collection of comfortable, fixed back sofas offers a wide range of designs and combination options, and the famous Svane® brand of mattresses was the first trademark to be registered in the Norwegian furniture industry. This features a distinctive white swan on a blue background.
The connection between a comfortable mattress and a good night’s sleep did not escape the attention of the company’s founder when he introduced his first, revolutionary fully sprung mattress in 1937. Today the same culture of innovation and improvement lives on and can be seen and experienced in all the Svane® product ranges on the market throughout the world. Furthermore, as a company that is committed to efficiency and sustainability, Ekornes has a long-established environmental management programme that is continuously reviewed and upgraded to ensure that it follows best-practice, environmental procedures relating to all its production operations. n
