Episode 44 Show Notes
All industries need regulation and compliance standards. For the office furniture industry, that organization is BIFMA. BIFMA stands for the Business + Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association and they are a non-profit membership community designed to help standardize processes throughout the industry.
Jennifer Wammack and David Panning from BIFMA join me today to chat about what they do, who their members are, and why their organization is a huge player in the industry.
While BIFMA doesn’t do the actual testing of furniture and equipment, they do write the standards that the products should adhere to. There are differences between standards and the guides that are published by BIFMA. Listen in to hear David discuss them and what they both mean for manufacturers.
Becoming a BIFMA member is certainly not a requirement but it does lend a strong sense of credibility to the overall business of manufacturing in the industry. Listen as Jennifer shares more about their new program called BIFMA Compliant and how it could possibly benefit your business. Once testing is complete and a company participates in BIFMA Compliant, the conformance of their products must be verified by BIFMA and then they can use the registered trademark. Once product testing is complete and, a company participates in BIFMA Compliant, the conformance of their products must be verified by BIFMA and then they can use the registered trademark.
This was a fantastic conversation. Look out for more from Jennifer and David on the podcast in the future as we continue the conversation about responsible manufacturing and disposal within the industry.
In this episode:
[03:06] Welcome to the show, Jennifer and David!
[03:27] Jennifer shares who she is and what she does at BIFMA.
[04:01] David talks about who he is and what he does at BIFMA.
[04:37] Listen as they discuss who BIFMA is and what they do.
[08:09] David explains what BIFMA standards are.
[09:04] David shares the difference between the standards and the guide.
[11:10] Jennifer speaks about why they have guides instead of standards for every product.
[13:04] After touring a testing facility, I realized how fascinating the process is.
[15:25] They discuss the pros of being a member of BIFMA and why a company might not want to be.
[19:35] Jennifer highlights their Level program, what it is, and what it does.
[24:26] Jennifer talks about their new program called BIFMA Compliant, an industry wide registry.
[28:26] David speaks about the key elements of the BIFMA Compliant program.
[33:23] Jennifer shares how people can find out what products are BIFMA Compliant.
[36:06] Listen as Jennifer discusses the 2021 BIFMA 360 Conference.
[39:45] The two key things I loved about the 2019 BIFMA Conference.
[43:19] Thank you so much for being on the show!
Links and Resources:
Connect with BIFMA
Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter
Connect with Jennifer Wammack
Connect with David Panning
Connect with Sid:
Embark CCT on Facebook
Sid on LinkedIn
Sid on Instagram
The Trend Report is proudly sponsored by INDEAL. Partners in progress in the commercial interiors industry. To learn more about INDEAL, please visit their website at https://www.indeal.org/
The Trend Report introduction music is provided by: Werq by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4616-werq License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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