A chair that never gets in the way

• noonee's product worked, but it is much too expensive for serial production 

• Zühlke optimizes the prototypes for serial production 

• Production costs per unit are significantly lowered 

A smart chair that isn't a chair was sought to relieve the burden on the strength and health of industrial workers. With Zühlke's help, start-up noonee was able to take the Chairless Chair to the production stage.

Series production as a challenge

The Zurich start-up noonee approached Zühlke because they were seeking a partner for the launch of their Chairless Chair. The company developed the smart chair itself, and tested the prototypes at Audi. It was designed to provide relief for production line workers in the car industry, since they are subjected to considerable strain while standing during the assembly process. The sticking point: noonee's product worked, but was much too expensive for serial production. 
 

Successful market entry

Zühlke optimized the prototypes for serial production. This resulted in significantly lower production costs per unit. The Chairless Chairs were optimized and stabilized to the extent that they were able to master at least 2.5 million walking cycles per year with no wear. Zühlke subsequently produced a pilot run of 100 Chairless Chairs for noonee, which were tested and well received worldwide by various customers in the car industry. The suggestions for improvement from this test were incorporated into the design for serial production, so that the zero series of 250 devices was optimally adapted to the requirements of noonee's customers.