Herman Miller
Herman Miller, Inc., based in Zeeland, Michigan, is an American manufacturer of office furniture and equipment, as well as modern furniture for the home. It is notable as one of the first companies to produce modern furniture, and the manufacturer of the Equa chair, Aeron chair, and Eames Lounge Chair.
Despite the header (office equipment), Herman Miller was not primarily in the office furniture business until the late 1960's, although they produced office furniture since the 1930's. Most of their most famous modern products were produced starting in 1946 and running through the mid-1960's, when they discontinued much of their home furniture lines and focused on the business world. In 1980's they began re-introducing many of their most famous home pieces and now they are about 60/40 office/home.
Eames Lounge Chair and ottoman1923-1930 - historic (non-modern) reproductions
1930-1944 - with the coming of Gilbert Rohde, Herman Miller produced modern furniture for the home and office.
1946-1970 - with the coming of George Nelson, Charles & Ray Eames, Herman Miller produced by most iconic classic modern furniture for the home and office
Many of Herman Miller's products are designed to be ecologically sound, and many are good examples of ecodesign techniques for achieving sustainability include saving materials, energy efficient manufacturing, recycled content, and recyclable content, including design for disassembly. The design process also utilizes life cycle assessment.
Herman Miller helped fund the start of the United States Green Building Council, and hired architect William McDonough to design a factory incorporating green design principles. The building is known as the Greenhouse and is an example of green building.
The company is also famous for having partnered with furniture designers Gilbert Rohde, George Nelson, Charles and Ray Eames, Paul Laszlo, Robert Propst and Isamu Noguchi. Influential fabric designer Alexander Girard came to the company in 1952. The line of furniture published by Herman Miller in their catalogs from 1948 to 1952 is considered to be among the most influential in modern design.
Herman Miller is consistently recognized as one of Fortune Magazine's "Most Admired Companies", having placed at the top of the list for Furniture companies for the past 18 consecutive years.
The company is also noted for its dedication to a people focused employee culture, following a servant leadership concept.[citation needed]
In March 2008, Herman Miller settled an antitrust lawsuit with the states of New York, Michigan, and Illinois for $750,000 [1]. The lawsuit focused on Herman Miller's use of a suggested retail pricing policy, which was found to be within the bounds of the law. Today, many companies employ such policies to avoid price erosion in the internet channel.