The Challenge: CNG Financial Corporation is the corporate headquarters for all Check 'n Go stores across the United States. As a rapidly expanding company, CNG had outgrown its office space and built a new 60,000 square foot building in Mason, Ohio, capable of staffing up to 290 employees. The new offices would require new office furniture including a new panel system.

Panel Requirements: Flexibility in Cabling and Collaborative Teaming.
In their previous buildings, CNG had been working with a panel system standard that could not handle their rapid change. They found themselves spending a great deal of money for labor to reconfigure work spaces. Much of the labor costs were associated with the data and electric cabling. They had simply outgrown their panel system's cable capacity. In addition, CNG's corporate culture dictated the creation of collaborative teaming areas which required that the system panels be lower. Unfortunately, the existing system could not change in height.

The Solution: CNG hired an independent design firm, Arelt and Associates (A&A), to conduct a comprehensive furniture evaluation. Through the interviewing process , A&A identified and prioritized CNG's buying criteria that included the ability to:

1. Enlarge or contract workstations off a center spline
2. Handle large amounts of data cable and ease of recabling
3. Plug-in laptops at desk height
4. Raise and lower the panel heights.

"We do a great deal of changing and moving in our dynamic environment," commented David Mitchell. "It was of utmost importance that we could make these moves easily and at a low cost."

Kimball Office Reason's Panel System Wins Out
A&A narrowed the field to two furniture manufacturers: Kimball and Herman Miller. After months of pricing evaluations, mock-ups and product presentations, CNG selected Kimball Office Reasons Panel System as their new corporate standard. OstermanCron combined a number of the Kimball product lines to address the unique requirements of the project and to achieve the "Total Best Solution." "The project was a huge success and a great experience," concluded Mitchell.