Seating was subjected to the same intense scrutiny, with several seating products tested over a six-month period. Armstrong has organized itself to be more collaborative and responsive to customer needs. In the Corporate Retail Accounts Division, for example, multifunctional teams support sales and distribution according to customer group. Bringing together the key people familiar with customers facilitates communication and creates an environment that can be highly responsive to their needs. The customer is the specific focus of Armstrong's customer service teams.
Ergonomic support is critical, as is a high level of collaboration.
Team members must be able to communicate with each other quickly and have immediate access to shared customer information. Ergonomic support is also important for the customer service employees who offer technical and marketing assistance to individual customers. These employees are assigned to one customer and have less need for collaboration and shared storage. Throughout its journey down the path to greater efficiency and flexibility, Armstrong found in Herman Miller both a consultative partner and a supplier willing to explore new options. Armstrong's Corporate Retail Accounts Division is organized around customer support in an environment that encourages collaboration and cross-functional interaction.