Changing workplace, research, and ergonomics

Reach was created to address many of the recent trends that are dramatically changing how people work and what they require in their office environments.

• The increasing use of electronics and peripherals, from personal printers to PDA's, cellphones, and computer add-ons, means people need more places to plug in and more room to store these devices.
  
• Email, faxes, desktop publishing, and other technological advances ironically result in more paper than ever before, as many pieces of communication are printed and saved.
  
• Increasing pressure on storage results in desktops being piled with papers, files, electronics, and other office paraphernalia. On a typical worksurface, up to three-quarters of the space is used for files, piles, technology, and personal items, leaving only 25% available to spread out the work relevant to the current task at hand.
  
• Individual offices are unoccupied for up to 40% of the day, as people gather in conference rooms, training and teaming areas, informal gathering spots, and alternative worksites to confer, strategize, form as-needed teams, and conduct work in a more fluid, less hierarchical way.
  
• Rising real estate costs and flattening organizational structures are increasing the need to move from private offices to the open plan, yet privacy is still crucial for senior managers, people involved in sensitive areas such as human resources, and for critical strategic and creative functions. Reach workstations, with their unique combination of space-defining storage walls and open feel, make the transition from private office to open plan easier and more comfortable.
  
• More hours at the office and more people doing repetitive tasks such as keyboarding make ergonomic considerations more important than ever before. Natural light, open work areas, worksurfaces that can be adjusted to preferred heights, ample storage that does not require bending down or reaching overhead, and tools that keep most-used items within arm’s reach help reduce eyestrain as well as muscle fatigue.
  
• A satisfactory, attractive, and functional work environment remains one of the most critical factors in overall job satisfaction and employee retention.

Reach gives individual employees more storage and storage options and opens up the individual worksurface and workstation, as well as the office as a whole. Planning with Reach lets you use panel systems to create private offices and frees up floor space so it can be better utilized for cross-functional areas. Plus, Reach workstations keep most-used storage at ergonomically optimal torso height and allow you to utilize a wide range of work tools and design features that further improve working conditions and overall ergonomics. Reach is the most effective solution for today’s workplace challenges.