Global design manufacturer, Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ: MLHR), today announced the first human-centered, enterprise-ready system of connected furnishings to enable the workplace to more deeply engage with people. Live OS includes an app and dashboard to offer data-based insights to help understand employees’ ever-changing needs in the workplace. With the launch of Live OS, Herman Miller extends its traditional product offering to include this subscription-based service.
“Live OS is an example of how Herman Miller continues to evolve to better serve our customers as they increasingly look to the workplace to drive their own business transformation” said Greg Bylsma, President, Herman Miller North America. “With decades of experience in human-centered design, we’re introducing services like Live OS, to help our customers create workplaces that empower, energize and perform.”
Live OS will connect Herman Miller furnishings, including sit-to-stand and fixed height desks. Either when first installed, or retrofitted later, Live desks are equipped with sensors that are continuously connected to the cloud using a secure cellular network. This enables the desks to sense people, send data on desk utilization, and respond to people in new ways.
The sit-to-stand desk remembers preferred postures. All a person needs to do is tap the desk control once, and it will adjust to the chosen and saved position. If an individual chooses to receive reminders, the desk control will light up and vibrate, reminding them to switch postures.
While a person is present at the desk, the sensors send anonymized real-time data to the cloud. The dashboard analyzes the data and delivers it in the form of evolving insights to enhance workplace performance.
“With the data insights captured through Live OS, organizations can better measure and manage workplace strategy to optimize real estate usage and improve employee experience,” said Ryan Anderson, Director of Commercialization for Live OS. “Our initial testing indicates that employees using Live sit-to-stand desks have become more active, transitioning between sitting and standing six-times as often as previously recorded. We’re excited by these early results as we seek to improve comfort and encourage people to adopt healthier behaviors in the workplace.”
The Live OS system is initially available in the North American market as part of a suite of services within Herman Miller’s Living Office. Living Office creates workplaces that bring real advantage and proven outcomes to people and organizations.
About Herman Miller
Herman Miller is a globally recognized provider of furnishings and related technologies and services. Headquartered in West Michigan, the global company has relied on innovative design for over 100 years to solve problems for people wherever they work, live, learn, and heal. Herman Miller’s designs are part of museum collections worldwide, and the company is a past recipient of the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper Hewitt National Design Award. Known and respected for its leadership in corporate social responsibility, Herman Miller has earned the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s top rating in its Corporate Equality Index ten years in a row, was named a 2016 Top 100 Healthiest Employer, and has earned numerous global sustainability awards. In fiscal 2016, the company generated $2.26 billion in revenue and employed nearly 8,000 people worldwide. Herman Miller trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol MLHR.