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Euro: A Holistic Trendsetter

By Khaw Chia Hui

Not one to be led, Euro Holdings Ltd is a blazing trendsetter in the region when it comes to office furniture. This time round they share how they have come full circle.

Space-savisaving office solutions aren’t new to Euro Holdings Bhd, according to Group Managing Director, Lew Fatt Sin. Their first foray was evidently seen in their Runway series which was launched three years ago. Not wanting to be known as just furniture manufacturers, the team at Euro are identifying themselves as furniture designers, both in functionality and aesthetics.

Euro shared their concepts and ideas behind their latest collection that is set to be unveiled in Orgatec 2010. Their yet-to-be-named island furniture collections are the result of years of R&D, understanding the big picture and coalescence from more than 20 years of experience. They are eco-friendly and multi-functional, thus space-saving as well, Lew said.

For example, their existing collection dubbed Lighthouse exhibits all the aforesaid qualities. It is made of mostly recyclable material. Its structure is done in aluminium and its wooden parts are made of E0 particle boards. E0 boards have ultra low emission and these decorative wood panels are manufactured under strict conditions.
The idea of space-saving furniture and even hotdesking isn’t new. More and more offices are pressed for space and workers are in need of storage space that they may not have the luxury of.

On the other hand, in the modern workforce, employees are highly mobile. Their work may take them on the road, or require them to be away from the desk, telecommuting, or engaging in collaborative work using a temporary space. Thus the idea of one desk per employee is a thing of the past. In such an environment, taking up floor space with cubicle walls and permanent individual storage can be very wasteful.

In comes hotdesking; the term is thought to be originated from naval customs where sailors on different shifts share bunks. But in an office environment, it means that workers don’t claim any personal space and physical facilities are communally shared. The idea was around since the early 90s with moderate success and in Malaysia, the best known practitioner would be DiGi Telecommunications.

At Euro, they realised that building out is no longer a feasible option where space is a highly priced commodity, so instead their furniture are moving upwards. Each presentation, measurement, seating arrangement and ergonomic proportion is made with care and reason. Plus, Euro is able to cater to offices of multiple shapes and sizes.

Simply Green

It is no secret that consumer demands are moving towards sustainable furniture and Euro has this concept down pat. It has already obtained an ISO 14001 certification at the end of February 2009. This certification is a testament of its commitment towards preserving the environment and practising environment sustainability in its company.

Materials used are recyclable especially for its wood furniture and metal storages. According to Lew, space-saving furniture doesn’t necessarily mean smaller proportions and worry about how many tables and chairs you can squeeze into a particular workplace. It is actually about what more can you do with this workstation that has never been done before. It also means that a piece of furniture is able to perform with more features and yet save costs when you don’t have to buy extra pieces that does the same job.

Moving parallel with their eco-friendly practices is their motto of ‘simplicity’. Introduced back in 2002, the idea came from Europe, mostly Scandinavian, demonstrating that less is indeed more. Similar to that, Euro’s commitment to simplicity also reflects on clever choices when it comes to design, materials and presentation.

Such “clever choices” allow their new collections to be able to complement existing lines, so customers need not redo the entire office when they want to add more pieces to their islands. Euro credits this forward-thinking manoeuvre to its designers which benefit customers in the long run.

Not Just Storage

Falling nicely into their eco-friendly and simplicity ideals, Euro is making headway into metal furniture. It is both clean in design and green because metal is recyclable.

They aim to evolve the whole concept of metal storages and present a new concept for this fledging category. Perhaps, pushing metal furniture into the spotlight as well.

Although not privy to their new products, Lew mentioned that it has a flexible filing system, making full use of the office space available and also complements their current crop of office furniture. When asked about the phasing out of storage systems as society moved towards a paperless trend, Lew confidently said that they still see a huge potential market for this as a lot of industries are still paper dependent.

Apart from files and other work related documents, employees with desk-bound job scopes also need some storage space to keep their personal belongings, rather than have them strewn under work tables. Lew said that their collections strive to bring a homely feel to the workplace and he foresees that different spaces such as homes, offices and so on will converge. More importantly, a workplace should be relaxed and homely to get employees up to a certain level of productivity.

Committed To Quality

It’s easy to sit back and talk about Euro’s success as a furniture designer and manufacturer but behind that success their team has put in a lot of efforts and money into understanding human behaviour and creating furniture that defines the way one works.

Despite stormy economic predilections, Euro commits up to five percent of their total turnover annually into R&D and this is in the tune of millions of dollars. According to their recent Q3 financial report, Euro Holdings raked in RM45.3 million (US$13.2 million) in revenue in 2009. They are also committed to producing one totally new product each year that fits into their business motto. This is not the first we heard of the big strides that Euro is making, and definitely not the last.