bene
PRESS RELEASE
Bene presents preliminary excerpts from its Future Report 2018 – Pioneering concepts for the working environment of the future
Waidhofen an der Ybbs, 28 September 2017: Big data, digitalisation, mobility and social networks are just some of the factors that are fundamentally altering our society, politics and economy and, as a result, the ways in which we work. As the leading international designer of modern working environments, Bene is dedicated to keeping ahead of the latest trends and developments in business and society and transforming this knowledge into innovative concepts and products for the working environment of tomorrow. In cooperation with 40 international experts from the business, research and arts sectors, Bene has used the digital revolution as a jumping-off point for a methodical review and comprehensive presentation of the latest trends and their impact on working environments. Bene presented the first extracts from this large-scale research project yesterday as part of an expert roundtable in Vienna and has published them online at futureofwork.bene.com. The Future Report follows in the tradition of the company’s two previous Trend Reports, both well received by the public. Bene will release bound copies of the Future Report, including all interview material, in early 2018.
Together with more than 40 experts and opinion leaders from the research and arts sectors and from international companies – start-ups and consulting firms as well as large industrial companies from a variety of business sectors – Bene has conducted numerous interviews and round-table discussions in Berlin, London and Vienna over the past several months in conjunction with an intensive review of international publications on related future-oriented subjects. Bene will publish the results of this research undertaking in hard copy format under the title Future Report. The publication will provide its readers with an informative overview of the relevant trends and developments that will influence working environments of the future. Topics covered include digitalisation, mobility and big data along with new models of corporate leadership and a number of other developments that have – on their own – already effected fundamental changes in the way working environments are organised.
Bene presented the first excerpts from this research project in its Vienna flagship store’s IDEA LAB yesterday as part of a series of expert talks organised in cooperation with Darwin’s Circle. Prof. (FH) Michael Bartz, Department of Business at the IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems, moderated a discussion with Petra Hauser, CEO Exponential Business Hub and head of the Vienna Chapter of the Singularity University, and Lars Gaede, workawesome, Berlin. The conversation among these impressive discussants centred around the trends that are expected to revolutionise our working environments, trends that were summarised at the beginning of the session by Michael Fried, Executive Board member responsible for Sales, Marketing and Innovation. These include digitalisation, leadership, new forms of cooperative work and new job content. It became clear that there are many highly differentiated aspects that will alter working environments in a lasting way.
In publishing the Future Report, Bene seeks to illustrate and summarise these trends and provide an overview of their possible effects on working environments. By assembling international experts from such an array of economic backgrounds and with such a diversity of perspectives, Bene enables a comprehensive and multilayered analysis of the questions companies must grapple with as they think about the future. Thus the Future Report is intended as an instrument for companies to use in designing their own strategies to answer these questions.
“The Future Report does not seek to provide a conclusive answer to these questions in thinking about the future. It offers instead a collection of relevant perspectives from international experts with which every company – regardless of size – will have to seriously engage if it hopes to remain successful in its respective markets,” says Michael Fried, who continues: “Bene has consistently been an early recogniser of trends and, thanks to the emphasis on innovation, has regularly remained one step ahead of its competitors in developing its new products. Based on the research we have undertaken, we are already hard at work on the concepts and products that will be in demand in the working environments of tomorrow.”
More information at: futureofwork.bene.com
About Bene
The international office expert is a specialist in the design and furnishing of office and working environments. Bene defines the office as a living space, and its concepts, products, and services turn this philosophy into a reality. The Bene Group is a globally active company with its head office and production facilities in Waidhofen an der Ybbs, Austria. Development, design, and production, along with consulting and sales, are thereby united under one Austrian roof. As a significant market player in Europe, Bene stands for innovative concepts, inspiring offices and high-quality design. Bene develops and produces customised solutions for all company sizes – from one-person companies to SMEs and global corporations.
www.bene.com
PRESS RELEASE Bene’s forward-looking showroom concept Waidhofen an der Ybbs, 21. August 2017: Bene’s newly designed, forward-looking showrooms in Austria, Germany, and many other international locations, now present a consistent company style and image. These developments will be followed by the publication this autumn of a new report exploring the fundamental changes taking place in office work, now and in the future. The Austrian office furnishings experts demonstrate their pioneering role as leading international office furniture manufacturers for quality, innovation and design. Modern, innovative and creative: that is the image presented by the company headquarters in Waidhofen/Ybbs, as well as the newly refurbished Bene showrooms in Austria (Vienna, Graz, Klagenfurt, Linz, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Bregenz), Germany (Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Co logne, Munich) and many other international locations, after a comprehensive redesign over the last few months. Bene is an international specialist in design and furnishing for inspiring office and work environments. In over 40 countries the company is wel l-known for its successful symbiosis of office furnishing, interiors and architecture, as well as for design, quality and innovation. These skills have now been embodied in Bene’s future-oriented showroom concept. The new look features visionary design, innovative products and creative presentation, reenergising the brilliance of the Bene brand. The new showrooms are much more than just a place to display the extensive Bene product portfolio: a generous open-space atmosphere invites visitors to linger and offers an excellent opportunity to explore every aspect of the office of the future. Members of the Bene sales team work directly with customers to develop new ideas and practical options for implementation in their individual working environments. The head office in Waidhofen/Ybbs has served for many years now not only as the corporate headquarters but also as a “think tank”, where innovative concepts for office interiors are developed and tested directly within the company. In this context Bene has als o completed major renovations at the company headquarters over recent months, so that employees can experience the benefits of the office of the future in their own everyday work environment and showcase this to their customers. Employees and customers are welcomed into the new “Inspiration Center”, which demonstrates now how the office of the future will work. Next door to the office building is the production area, which houses one of the most modern and efficient manufacturing plants in the European off ice furniture industry, completing the image of Bene as a leading international producer of office furniture. “2016 was a good year for Bene: We developed numerous innovative products such as FRAME_S, NOOXS Think Tank, SETTLE and most recently PIXEL, and achieved very positive business growth. We have now brought this breath of fresh air into all our showrooms too , creating innovative work environments which appeal to our visitors just as much as to our employees, who enjoy working there and offering their skilled advisory services.” Michael Fried, Bene’s Executive Board Member for Sales, Marketing and Innovation, is delighted with the new showroom concept. He also mentions Bene’s new “Trend Report”, to be published in the autumn. The report explores the ways in which digitalisation, mobility, big data, social networks and many other trends are affecting the design of office environments and examines the fundamental changes taking place in office work. People’s working and private l ives are becoming increasingly interconnected, with the result that the office is no longer merely a workplace where routine tasks are carried out, but also a place for networking and broadening experience on both a personal and professional level.
Bene IDEA LAB in Vienna offers a new creative space
Waidhofen an der Ybbs, 26 June 2017: The Bene IDEA LAB has moved to an even more attractive area in the Vienna flagship store and reopened its doors. The most up-to-date creative space in town is available once again for the development of forward-thinking ideas and can now be reserved for groups of up to 50 people. Bene also has an IDEA LAB in Munich which is available for booking.
The best environment for developing creative ideas is a space which supports the creative process. Bene’s IDEA LABS extend the traditional concept of a “brainstorming” and workshop space, and provide the ideal setting for developing big ideas. Originally developed for a traditional workshop approach, this innovative space concept today goes far beyond that and is now designed specifically to meet all the needs of a “think tank”. The IDEA LAB provides the perfect setting for brainstorming and planning sessions, presentations, as well as for concentrated individual work. It creates a spatial environment which supports and facilitates innovation and prototyping. The room space is designed to create the atmosphere of a workshop where creative reflection and lateral thinking, concept refinement and exchange of ideas – as well as hard work of course – result in forward-looking projects.
In its new, more attractive and functional location the 150 m2 IDEA LAB at the Bene flagship store in Vienna is now open once again for innovation events, for groups of up to 25 people on each floor. Extending across two levels, the city’s foremost contemporary creative space offers plenty of room for several small groups to work simultaneously. The redesign has extended the space available to users of the IDEA LAB, and included a complete update of the furnishings. The latest addition is Bene’s new PIXEL range, launched in spring 2017, which allows practically any conceivable format to be set up in a few simple moves, enabling maximum variety for event programming. All this combines to create a spatial environment which promotes communication, dialogue and exchange of ideas, while also allowing time out from the group where needed. The IDEA LAB is also ideal for larger group events and can be reserved for up to 50 people.
At the heart of the space is the Bene IDEA WALL, where the findings of parallel small group activities can all be collated and developed further. This interactive digital four-metre-wide media wall allows up to seven people to work on it simultaneously, projecting digitised content to a large screen which enables everyone to see it all together. Elaborate documentation on flip charts and post-it walls is no longer necessary, as all the findings are saved directly in digital form and are instantly available for further editing, and for export in pdf format.
Bene now has IDEA LABS at all locations in Austria and Germany as well as in London, Brussels, Zurich and Dubai.
About the IDEA LAB
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:00, or longer by arrangement
Bookings: http://idealab.bene.com
Email: idealab@bene.com
Facebook: @beneidealab
Address: IDEA LAB Vienna, Neutorgasse 4-8, 1010 Vienna
About Bene
The international office expert is a specialist in the design and furnishing of office and working environments. Bene defines the office as a living space, and its concepts, products, and services turn this philosophy into a reality. The Bene Group is a globally active company with its head office and production facilities in Waidhofen an der Ybbs, Austria. Development, design, and production, along with consulting and sales, are thereby united under one Austrian roof. As a significant market player in Europe, Bene stands for innovative concepts, inspiring offices, and high-quality design, and develops and produces customised solutions for all company sizes – from one-person companies to SMEs and global corporations.
www.bene.com
