Designed and manufactured in the U.K., the Reee chair is at the forefront of compliance with the European Union’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, which makes proper disposal of WEEE materials the responsibility of manufacturers. The chair is the brainchild of Christopher Pett, founder of sustainable product development company Pli Design Ltd. in London. He came up with the idea at the Eden project in Cornwall while discussing the possibility of reusing plastic from waste electronics products with other manufacturers – including Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
Pett contacted specialist sustainable design consultancy Sprout Design Ltd. to develop an eco-friendly chair that is ergonomic, affordable for commercial, education, and domestic markets, and made from 100 percent recycled plastic from PlayStation®2 games console casings. Pli expects to ship 3,000 chairs, representing 7.5 tons of recycled plastic, in the next year. Click here to listen to a podcast interview with Pett.
“The final design is quite complex, though each component by itself is fairly simple,” said Guy Robinson, engineer with Sprout. “There were a lot of details to get the geometry and ergonomics right, such as how the stiffness and flex of the ribs responded to the body, and how to make the clips tamperproof yet easy to disassemble, etc. SolidWorks allowed us to tweak the design of the individual components while showing how this affected the whole product to get it right. We would have abandoned this concept early on if we didn’t have that flexibility.”
Sprout used SolidWorks SimulationXpress to ensure the chair would be strong enough to support sitters without over-engineering the amount of plastic in the seat’s ribs, reinforcing the sustainable design theme. Both Pett and Robinson hope the Reee Chair sets a precedent for electronics manufacturers around the world.
“The Reee Chair is a great example of innovation and creative design thinking around sustainability issues. By combining quality, style, and affordability with low carbon footprint, the Reee chair project demonstrates that sustainable design also makes good business sense,” said Chris McManus, the U.K. and Ireland country manager for DS SolidWorks Corp. “DS SolidWorks is committed to helping manufacturers discover new ways to achieve sustainable design to reduce their environmental impact.”
Sprout Design and Pli rely on authorized SolidWorks reseller NT CADCAM for ongoing software training, implementation, and support.
About Sprout Design
Headquartered in London, Sprout Design is an industrial design consultancy which aims to integrate the disciplines of sustainable design and inclusive design into mainstream design practice. The company uses these methodologies to innovate new products that are better for the environment and widely accessible. For more information, visit the Web site ( www.sproutdesign.co.uk).
About NT CADCAM
Launched in 1996, NT CADCAM is one of the U.K.’s leading providers of the highly affordable, premier design software solution, SolidWorks. NT CADCAM offers designers and manufacturers complete design and engineering solutions built around SolidWorks. The company also provides customers with comprehensive product data management (PDM), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), finite element analysis (FEA), and knowledge-based engineering (KBE) solutions. For more information, visit the company’s Web site ( www.ntcadcam.co.uk).
About Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp.
Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp., a Dassault Systèmes S.A. subsidiary, develops and markets software for design, analysis, and product data management. It is the leading supplier of 3D CAD technology, giving teams intuitive, high-performing software that helps them design better products. For the latest news, information, or an online demonstration, visit the company’s Web site ( www.solidworks.com) or call 1-800-693-9000 (outside of North America, call +1-978-371-5000).
About Dassault Systèmes
As a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, Dassault Systèmes brings value to more than 100,000 customers in 80 countries. A pioneer in the 3D software market since 1981, Dassault Systèmes develops and markets PLM application software and services that support industrial processes and provide a 3D vision of the entire lifecycle of products from conception to maintenance to recycling. The Dassault Systèmes portfolio consists of CATIA for designing the virtual product – SolidWorks for 3D mechanical design – DELMIA for virtual production – SIMULIA for virtual testing – ENOVIA for global collaborative lifecycle management – and 3DVIA for online 3D lifelike experiences. Dassault Systèmes is listed on the Nasdaq (DASTY) and Euronext Paris (#13065, DSY.PA) stock exchanges. For more information, visit http://www.3ds.com.
CATIA, DELMIA, ENOVIA, SIMULIA, 3D VIA, and SolidWorks are registered trademarks of Dassault Systèmes or its subsidiaries in the US and/or other countries. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright © 2008 Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp.
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