Dataflex: working for an ergonomic and sustainable future

The flexible, hybrid work revolution has brought an improved work-life balance for many. According to a survey conducted by video conferencing company Owl Labs, a third of workers across Europe would now turn down a job that did not include flexible working arrangements. But working remotely has its own challenges. As more and more of us can work some of our days from the sofa or at a local café, this also means that we are exposed to a workplace that has not been set up to take ergonomics into account. Indeed, in the UK alone, health insurance firm Bupa estimates that 11 million post-pandemic remote workers suffer from back pain as a result of a sub-optimal work set-up.

The solution is to ensure that a home workstation should offer some of the same ergonomic support as those in an office. What is different, however, is that these solutions need to be more flexible and versatile or more compact and visually unobtrusive, such as a task chair that can double up as a dining chair, or a laptop stand that can be easily folded away and taken from home to a café and back again.

Dutch manufacturer Dataflex, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, is one of the companies providing consumers with solutions for a more ergonomic workplace. Founded as a family company in 1982, its first signature product was an acoustic hood for dot-matrix printers. At the time, these appliances were just too loud for offices, and Dataflex's solution combined functionality with employee wellbeing. Monitor stands, printer tables, footrests, cable management solutions and document holders soon followed, all aimed at making work environments healthy, safe and free of injuries.

Fast forward to today and the company, still family-owned, has become one of the most respected brands in its market, closely responding to workspace trends to address safety and wellbeing. Dataflex works closely together with the leading manufacturers of office furniture, and the company's products can be found, among other places, inside offices, banks and hospitals all over Europe. Dataflex regularly receives plaudits for its designs including the Red Dot and IF Awards – which are intimately tied with the firm’s wider approach to manufacturing and sustainability.

For instance, monitor arms manufactured by Dataflex are an adaptable, expendable and modular system. They are fully demountable, and made of recycled and recyclable material such as aluminium or steel. Individual parts can also be replaced with Dataflex’s dedicated Circularity Program, extending the product’s useful lifespan. This ethos extends to the company’s offices and manufacturing facilities, too. By using efficient LED lighting, electric vehicles and offsetting all of their carbon emissions (Scope 1-3), Dataflex is the first carbon-neutral company in its sector.

Last month, Dataflex launched its latest products which respond to the latest workspace trends at ORGATEC, a bi-annual fair dedicated to all things office in Cologne. The company has expanded its Bento range, first introduced in 2019 and designed in collaboration with Robert Bronwasser, with a new laptop stand and a compact, moveable desk locker. These design-led products add functionality, flexibility and considered design into a modern, flexible office. They also complement other Bento products, such as the Addit Bento ergonomic toolbox, the cover of which doubles as a laptop table for hotdesking and flexible working. Another new product shown at ORGATEC is the Viewgo Pro, a new, entry-level monitor arm that combines concerns about ergonomics and sustainability while being mindful of rising prices across the board.

Taken together, these products indicate the development of our workspaces towards being more flexible, agile and sustainable, while keeping in mind the importance of ergonomics and health in both formal and informal working environments. After all, as Dataflex director Roderik Mos says: ‘In more than 40 years we have learned that sustainable business starts with not compromising on important things nor resting on one's laurels. At Dataflex we always look forward to tomorrow.’

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