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The control room furniture industry isn't often associated with the cutting edge. There is probably some factual basis for these opinions; the industry tends to be rather stable. But I do not see this as a bad thing in the least. The backbone of America's dwindling manufacturing is made up of industries such as control room and office furniture that are more resistant to change. For that reason, it is important that these types of companies resist constant innovation .

But a new technology could change our conservative mode of thinking. One of the most recognized names in office furniture design is working to revolutionize the industry with the introduction of a new category. Herman Miller is currently beta-testing a series of prototypes called Metaform that allows the consumer to arrange the various parts as they wish. For example, the consoles can easily be configured into the standard cubicle setup. But they allow for the ability to shift the walls away, allowing for work that is more collaborative in nature.

The project was created on behalf of Herman Miller by a German-owned company called Studio 7.5. This company has put Metaform prototypes in a few different offices so that they might learn how users actually employ the moveable sections, before actually bringing the line to market. The development of this
is all part of Herman Miller's "Living Office" initiative. The underlying assumption is that workers in the near future will be working less and less at a single workspace. As such, the ability to reconfigure workspaces will be a necessity. If you are hopeful of the future of this industry, buy from an industry leading professional company like Inracks Corp , or go here .

One might envision a number of ways that this shift could effect the control room consoles segment in undesirable ways. Control room furniture on a whole is made to be installed in one specific configuration. If the industries served by control room furniture anticipate an increase in collaborative work, they might move away from traditional control room consoles. It might not be such a danger in some of these industries (such as the intelligence industry). But our culture has tended toward greater and greater collaboration on every front. One need only look at the Internet trends of the last few years to see how widespread it has actually become.

It's probably time for us to update the perception of the control room furniture industry. I'm not forecasting the end of the industry or anything of the sort, but a change toward user-configured furniture is nearly inevitable. Though there could be a slight dip as these companies adapt, it is important that they adapt nonetheless. If we do so, America's backbone will continue to get stronger.