Five Questions With…

In every issue of GO magazine, an industry executive is asked five questions related to sustainability and/or the environment. The interviewee is given no prior knowledge of the questions, which are answered within a 5-minute time frame.

Natalie Jones Vice president, commercial brand development and creative product, Mannington

1. WHAT ASPECT OF SUSTAINABILITY ARE END USERS MOST CONCERNED ABOUT TODAY?
Transparency. Today’s designers and end users want to know the ingredients that are going into products, in addition to the data from our life cycle assessments. We are increasingly asked for EPDs, HPDs, Pharos information and other sustainability content. LEED v4 reflects this shift from single environmental attributes to real and open transparency.

2. WHICH SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE FROM MANNINGTON DO YOU FEEL HAS HAD THE GREATEST IMPACT?
In recent years, on-shore manufacturing of hard surface product from Asia. Domestic manufacturing has an incredible impact on sustainability, not only from reduced fuel use and creating products with a smaller carbon footprint, but also in bringing economic sustainability to communities.

3. TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE DESIGN LOCAL PROGRAM. WHAT STRIDES HAS IT TAKEN IN ITS SECOND YEAR?
Design Local has been a truly unique platform for us to connect with the design community and involve them in our product development process. Bringing six individuals together in each city for a 24-hour design immersion has given us and our product design team deep insight into the market and what designers want to see in products. Design Local evolved from a contest into something more meaningful. Rather than setting up a competition between the designs that were inspired by each city, we were able to seek out commonalities, themes that are relevant wherever we live. In each city the teams were interested in the effect of age and weathering on the environments around us.

4. HOW HAS THE AMTICO INTEGRATION IMPACTED MANNINGTON COMMERCIAL?
LVT is the fastest growing category of flooring in the market, and with the acquisition of Amtico, Mannington Commercial became the global market share leader. As we have stepped into this position, Amtico has been such a natural fit for our company, lining up with our core values of “doing the right thing” and “controlling our own destiny.” Being able to onshore not only product but also jobs speaks to who Mannington Commercial is and our platform as a U.S. manufacturer. The Amtico capabilities also fit with our Choices that Deliver strategy, extending our ability to bring the best service in the industry. For example, we already have the most expansive quick ship program of any flooring manufacturer, and Amtico LVT has enhanced that program.

5. WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE NEXT FRONTIER IN DESIGN?
Agility. In retail design, you see pop-up stores. In office design you see spaces that are designed to function in multiple ways, such as bringing open, collaborative spaces and heads-down focused work areas. We believe agility will also be increasingly important not only in design, but also in service — being able to respond to change in the market; being agile with solutions, whether service or product attributes.

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