Major Facts Herman Miller is an internationally recognized furniture company founded in 1905. The company is deciding if they should continue to use polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in the manufacturing of the arm pads of their chairs. Arm pads are crucial in determining comfort for their customers and make up ten percent of the cost of the chair. Unfortunately, PVC goes against the company’s protocol because of the harmful chemicals it releases during production. Furthermore, Herman Miller international presence represents 15% of its sales and is predicted to be an important area for future growth. The company is an environmental leader with in the furniture industry. Many initiatives have been made to make their production process more environmentally friendly such as their zero landfill and zero hazardous waste generation. Herman Miller after working with McDonough and Braungart consulting firm wanted to implement the Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) design protocol. The C2C protocol is about recycling the products after their use has been exhausted to make, new products. This idea was unique, because previously items would be discard after their useful life instead of recycled. The company is now trying to design the Mirra Chair, which would be the first chair completely built under the C2C design. Major Problem …show more content…
Finding alternatives may be difficult because PVC has a lot of greater features such as being cost efficient, durable, scratch resistant, and formable. The alternative of thermoplastic urethane (TPU) is twice the price, which will increase cost significantly for the company. Herman Miller as a company must not only work to incorporate their new C2C design protocol but simultaneously keep good relationships with suppliers and keep cost