Do a quick internet search of the best ways to boost creativity and you’ll find thousands of articles and posts bursting with suggestions. Everyone, it seems, has a different approach to channeling creative thinking, but there are a few repeated pieces of advice that always come to the forefront. We read through some of our recent creativity…
Modern society is all about convenience. We want to buy things that make our lives easier. It’s why grocery store shelves are lined with instant coffee and freezer meals. It’s why plastic spoons and forks are stocked to the brim at fast-food restaurants. It’s why newer, better versions of phones are released seemingly every month. Products…
Remember a few (nine) months ago when we blogged about simplicity—a fundamental aspect of our company culture—and promised a follow-up post on flexibility and honesty? No? Well, ignoring the fact that we are just slightly offended that you didn’t remember our blog post from exactly 259 days ago, we are happy to inform you that…
[vc_row row_type=”row” text_align=”left” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_column_text] You’ve probably heard of an increasingly popular material called solid surface, which is becoming a design standard among designers and architects for intensive use and hygienic environments beyond just countertops. But what is solid surface, really? The composition and performance qualities of solid surface can provide significant short- and long-term benefits when compared…
Like to skip ahead in articles? Jump to the sections that interest you most:Industrial Revolution 1.0: Machines Industrial Revolution 2.0: Modern factoriesIndustrial Revolution 3.0: The digital revolutionManufacturing 3.0 Mindset: what’s different?Mass customization case study: the WedgeWords like “manufacturing” or “production line” naturally bring to mind images of large buildings, filled with machines and hundreds of…
REQUEST A QUOTE “The details are not the details. They make the design.” – Charles EamesFine details such as a photo on a restaurant menu, a green “download here” button on a website or the order products are placed in a store aisle can greatly influence our behavior.Small details go a long way in design,…
At Shield, we firmly believe that healing environments deserve sustainable and safe material. We believe that whatever isn’t good enough for countertops certainly isn’t good enough for the rest of the casework system. Shield is here, and laminate is history. For the past 50 years, healthcare facilities have perceived plastic laminate as the cheapest solution,…
An interesting article was recently published in Healthcare Finance News that talks about how designing hospitals with sustainable materials and a proper workflow in mind leads to better ROI, or return on investment. This is highly applicable to hospitals furniture, especially casework. By thinking about the long term, as well as the short term, you can increase…
Lean manufacturing is the process of maximizing customer value, while eliminating waste, both material waste and wasted motion (labor). The idea was derived from the Toyota Production System (TPS) and is now universally adopted. At Shield, we embrace lean thinking in manufacturing. We are constantly looking for ways to further incorporate lean manufacturing techniques into…
Among the leading causes of preventable deaths are Healthcare-associated Infections (HAIs), which are infections patients contract while receiving medical or surgical treatment. Whether from cross-contamination or unsanitary spaces, patients in healthcare facilities risk further sickness as a result of germs and bacteria spread in hospitals. While there are a number of solutions in place to…