Case Studies

Office Furniture Center Case Studies

Campus Headquarters Decommissioning for a Major Insurance Company

When a Fortune 500 insurance company needed to completely remove all furniture from their 1.8 million sq ft corporate headquarters in Northbrook, IL as a condition of the property sale, they partnered with Office Furniture Center to manage all phases of the decommissioning project and maximize the value of the outgoing FF&E assets.

The project began in February 2022 with the OFC team decommissioning each of the 15 buildings on the corporate campus over the next seven months. The first step in the project was for the OFC team to visit the site over multiple days to get a complete inventory of the furniture on the campus. This allowed the team to forecast the labor requirements needed to knock down and remove everything within the required timeframe. This also allowed the team to see what value the furniture might have on the secondary market.

Given that most of the inventory was Steelcase product in good condition, OFC was able to garner significant interest among its national network of resale and refurbishment partners and ultimately provide a credit for the market value of the furniture, which reduced the cost of labor removal by half and diverted 95% of the inventory from a landfill.

The OFC labor and facilities teams spent the next seven months removing furniture floor by floor, building by building. All workstations were knocked down and organized by parts so they can easily be pulled to fulfill orders. All task, conference and lounge seating were pulled to designated areas by each of the docks to the OFC marketing team could take an inventory and promote the products to customers who were interested in purchasing. All conference, training and collaboration tables were carefully disassembled and staged for removal. Office Furniture Center then called on its network of nonprofit partners to donate any furniture that had little value due to age or wear.

Each phase of the project was completed on-time and under budget. By partnering with OFC, the insurance company was able to have a seamless decommissioning project that provided a second life for their furniture assets and helped reduce the cost of the project.

In the end, the OFC team removed over 13,000 chairs, 4,000 filing cabinets & wardrobe towers, 6,000 workstations, 750 lounge chairs, 2,000 tables & 1,000 desks and private offices.

If you need premium office furniture quickly, give Office Furniture Center a call!

Download The Campus Decomm Case Study Flyer Here

Township District 214

Township High School District 214 needed office furniture for a temporary workspace set up for their administration staff while their primary offices were being renovated. They wanted to create a space that was functional, comfortable and attractive but didn’t break the bank as the Superintendent and his administrative and educational staff would be occupying the space for up to a year. Facility managers also had little time to get the temporary space up and operational as renovation of their current space was slated to begin as soon as the school year was concluded.

District 214 Leaders (D214) reached out to Office Furniture Center (OFC) having heard of their on-going decommissioning of a 1.8MM sq ft multi-building corporate campus in the north suburbs, not far from their home base. Upon visiting the job site, they were convinced that the high-quality Steelcase furniture coming off the site would work perfectly for their temporary space. Working with OFC’s sales rep and design team, in less than two weeks, a space plan was finalized, furniture was selected, and contract was in place to get the work done.

Within four weeks of contract award, the entire multi-floor facility serving as D214’s temporary offices was furnished and ready to occupy. OFC’s MAC Relocations (MAC) labor services division was used to deliver and install the furniture over a two-week period. The final configuration of furniture included over 70 Steelcase Answer workstations, 10 private offices, three conference rooms, collaboration areas, break room and associated task, guest and conference seating. D214 administration leaders and Board of Education members were equally impressed with how well the project came together, the professionalism working with OFC and MAC teams and the resulting value they were getting by using repurposed contract-grade office furniture.

If you need premium office furniture quickly, give Office Furniture Center a call!

Download The Township District 214 Case Study Here

Berwyn Police Department

After the Berwyn Police Department (PD) finished construction on their nearly renovated headquarters renovation, they needed to fill the space with attractive and functional cubicles for the team. The Berwyn PD was most concerned with finding a company they can rely on with a sales team that was responsive and committed to getting them the perfect space. Upon their first visit to Office Furniture Center, they were blown away by our unmatched inventory of value-priced furniture and with the time and care their sales rep, Grisell Feliciano, showed while working with them.

The first phase of the project consisted of evaluating the space and understanding the customers needs. Grisell set up a time to visit the updated headquarters to get site measurements, evaluate power, and get an overall feel for the aesthetics.. Grisell took the information back to the OFC Workstation Design team who then started to develop different layouts for the space.

The Berwyn PD team liked the look of the Herman Miller Ethospace system after Grisell explained all the features and benefits, especially with how easily it can be customized. Grisell collaborated with the OFC design team to create a customized solution that fit their space perfectly.

Once the order was completed, the final step was to delivery & install the stations. The project took place over the course of two days and was finished on-time with no issues. With the thorough planning conducted by the OFC team, the workstations fit perfectly into the space. The project went off without a hitch! The result was a beautiful set of workstations, perfectly suited for the facility and the team.

If you have a need to upgrade the furniture in your office, give us a call!

Download The Berwyn PD Case Study Here

Able Electropolishing

When Able Electropolishing decided it was time to upgrade their space, they turned to Office Furniture Center to help them give them the solution they were looking at the price that didn’t break the bank!

Office Furniture Center’s furniture specialist and designer initially met with Able’s CEO Tom Glass and his team to first understand their vision for their space, to discuss options for the existing furniture assets and they plan to making the new space happen. The OFC presented options for furniture to meet Able’s budget and timing considerations as well as drawings on how the furniture would be laid out in the space. Able chose OFC’s refurbished Ethospace frame and tile system using contemporary fabrics, laminates and color schemes to give them a modern, clean and open feel.

Over the course a weekend, OFC’s MAC Relocations team came in and removed the old furniture assets, delivered and installed the new furniture pieces. On Monday morning, Able’s staff was able to move into their new space and begin enjoying their furniture immediately.

Download The Able Electropolishing Case Study Here

Girls Inc. of Chicago

A nonprofit organization in Chicago, Girls Inc., needed a new look office that was modern, utilized color to incorporate the company’s branding, and was at an affordable price to stay within their budget, so they partnered with Office Furniture Center to get exactly the office they wanted for less.

Office Furniture Center’s space planning team worked closely with the nonprofit to understand exactly what their needs were. This included an office visit to get a feel for the aesthetic of the room as well as taking measurements to ensure the proper office layout. The product utilized included refurbished Herman Miller Ethospace workstations with custom red and white panels that match their company colors. The seated privacy setup gives the office a more open feel and has resulted in a more productive, collaborative work atmosphere.

The final step was to get everything delivered and installed. Our partner company MAC Logistics delivered and completely installed the entire office smoothly and efficiently so that the nonprofit was able to finish its week with the old office and start its week in the new office with no disruptions to its activities.

Download The Girls Inc. of Chicago Case Study Here

Howard Packaging

Howard Packaging came to the Office Furniture Center showroom on a Saturday in search of 12 workstations with seating, desks to furnish 4 private offices, vertical & lateral files, and additional ancillary furniture for a breakroom and a library. His company had experienced a pipe burst in their office. The water was over 20” high and had ruined the entire space. Acquiring quality furniture in a tight-timeframe was imperative to recovery efforts and ensuring that business was not lost as a result of unforeseen circumstances.

By the following Monday afternoon, a custom draft of the office and quotes were created by our design specialists and sales team. On Tuesday morning, the quote was signed-off on and installation by our in-house specialists, MAC Relocations was arranged. Given the circumstances, our team was able to prioritize and seamlessly execute furnishing an entire office from start-to-finish in just over one-week.

Installation was completed by MAC Relocations on the following Monday, allowing business to resume as usual at Howard Packaging.

Download The Howard Packaging Case Study Here

Herman Miller AO2 Retrofitting: Adding Stacking Glass Panels to Raise Height of Workstations

A local manufacturing company had a dilemma – how to adapt their existing Herman Miller AO2 workstations to meet company-mandated COVID-19 protocols so their staff could safety return to the office. Not satisfied with the options proposed by other furniture and plexiglass makers, they reached to the office reconfiguration experts at Office Furniture Center for a cost-effective solution.

Our team first met with their HR and facilities personnel to get an in-depth understanding of the scope of project. We next presented an option to raise the height of lower panels to full height using glass stacking units. Within a week of contract award, our design team produced a set of 2D and 3D line drawings of the “to-be” layout of all the workstations so the client could review and revise the plan as needed. Within three weeks of contract award, Office Furniture Center had all parts for over 100 workstations ready for delivery and install.

Office Furniture Center’s labor services division, MAC Relocations, performed the work to implement the changes to their existing workstations to the new configuration. In less than two weeks, MAC’s team of professional installers modified the stations to the new configuration. Over 1,000 parts were added or replaced. All work was done on-premises to minimize both cost and time; this also allowed client representatives to inspect the work and end product as it was being done. In less than 30 days from the time of first engagement, the Office Furniture Center team had completely transformed a non-compliant space into one that met all requirements allowing employees to safety return to the office.

“Office Furniture Center really came in clutch with their proposal to do the work. We were very unsatisfied with a number of other offers, and glad we kept on searching. Our stations look exactly like we hoped they would. I cannot thank OFC & MAC enough for their efforts.” - Customer Testimonial