Gispen

Sustainable design

Design is at its best when it enhances your working, healthcare or educational environment. Our designs are practical, well thought-out, sustainable and a bit idiosyncratic. Our design methods are based on circular principles. From product design to return flows, our focus is always on reuse and functionality. We deliberately opt for materials and components that can serve multiple purposes, and that can be reused in our production process sometime in the future.

It all starts on the drawing board, with a good and well-thought-out design

Our design process

When we develop a new product, we start with the Design Framework, which was developed in cooperation with TNO and is illustrated below. The Design Framework makes it easier for us to make the right decisions and to be aware of all kinds of sustainable aspects right from the early stages of the design process. It affects the selection of materials and production methods as well as transport and furniture maintenance. The framework is our guideline for the future. Gispen designs, manufactures and supplies sustainable products that support your employees in their current work environment and that of the future.

Our manufacturing process

When we design a product, we always think in terms of modular structures. A good example of this is the fact that we use as many intermediate products as possible. An intermediate product is one component of a final product, such as the metal tubes from which our table legs are made. By including intermediate products in our production process, we reduce waste production when manufacturing new furniture and save energy when remanufacturing products. In addition, we use raw materials that are easy to recycle; recycling steel requires 70% less energy compared to starting with raw iron, for example. In short, our production process is both efficient and environmentally responsible.

Gispen takes control

A circular economy revolves around partnerships and chain integration, much more than any linear production economy would. How can you make sure that your materials end up in the right place when they have reached the end of their lifecycle? And how do you ensure that your own waste and that of others is being recycled? Gispen makes good agreements with its partners and suppliers to guarantee this. We can only do so by taking control of the entire production chain. After all, as a supplier and manufacturer we have considerable influence. We take our social responsibility seriously when it comes to procurement. It is from procurement that we establish control over the supply chain. We stimulate and create demand for sustainably produced or circularly produced products. This is one of many ways in which we strive to achieve our CSR objectives.