Case Study: Herman Miller Inc. achieves faster corrective action and greater customer satisfaction with Octave Reliance

Herman Miller Drives their Quality Mission with ETQ Reliance

Herman Miller Inc., the international office furniture manufacturer, needed a better way to manage policies, procedures, work instructions, and supplier-related quality information across a large, geographically dispersed organization. Its manual document control approach led to inconsistent practices across sites and made it difficult to drive continuous improvement and customer satisfaction. Herman Miller turned to Octave Reliance, using ETQ Reliance to support document control and supply chain management.

Octave Reliance implemented a flexible, configurable system that enabled shared workflows, collaborative revisions, and enterprise-wide access to consistent information without costly customization. The results were significant: corrective action cycle time dropped from an average of 30 days to 14 days, improving reliability and reducing mistakes, repairs, and reshipments. Herman Miller also benefited from easier training, lower support costs, and better metrics for tracking continuous improvement, with Octave Reliance serving as a core part of its quality strategy.

Herman Miller Inc.

Ken Grisso

Senior Quality Specialist