A customer with a challenge

Orangebox focuses on office environments and workspace solutions consisting of seating, office design and collaborative workspaces. Its product range includes a selection of popular acoustic pods which come with a fabric-covered, louvered roof system specially designed to reduce acoustic reflections and the transmission of sound. The design is innovative in that the roof system can be rotated to support ventilation or the use of building sprinkler systems in the event of fire.

Orangebox approached us with a challenge. The existing process of making its louvered roof systems had multiple production steps, including heating, moulding, cutting, assembly, gluing and finishing. Such complexity meant that supply was slow and there was a high risk of product defect.

Autins worked closely with Orangebox to fully understand the product, its acoustic performance, and then search for solutions to improve the manufacturing process. We were convinced that it could be simplified which would then reduce the quality risk. This was important because Orangebox wanted to expand its product sales, so a faster and more reliable process was key.

A cross-functional new product development team at Autins was able to introduce tooling methods using our in-house expertise to dramatically simplify the production steps to just heating, moulding, cutting and finishing. The process retained the original materials and part structure but gave a high-quality finished product that removed the need to use adhesive.