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November 19, 2008 -
Since the creation of the new
IDEA (Innovation, Design,
Engineering and Acceleration)
Center for research and
development in 2007,
Leggett & Platt has
demonstrated a revived
commitment to scientific and
technological advancement.
Ordinary to Extraordinary
In the past year, the 125-year
old components manufacturer has
been named among the nation’s
top 35 innovative companies in
The Wall Street Journal. Their
advanced engineering has helped
retailers and bedding
manufacturers alike by creating
high-performance innersprings
available at a value price
points. Leggett’s revolutionary
Starry Night™ Sleep Technology
Bed debuted with a bang at the
2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES),
and their innovative
applications of eCoupled
technology will be showcased at
CES 2009.
Leggett’s commitment to
innovation is best summed up in
the words of CEO and President
Dave Haffner, “At Leggett &
Platt, we take ordinary
materials and turn them into
extraordinary products.”
Celebration of Innovation
On October 27, the Fortune 500
company celebrated the past year
of groundbreaking developments
with the second annual J.P.
Leggett Innovator Awards Dinner,
held at its headquarters in
Carthage, Mo. Named in honor of
J.P. Leggett, company founder
and inventor of the coiled
bedspring, the J.P. Leggett
Innovator Award is Leggett &
Platt’s highest internal
recognition of excellence in
technological advancements.
Vincent S. Lyons, head of the
IDEA Center and vice president
of engineering and product
development, started the annual
awards in 2007 as part of
Leggett’s overall focus on
scientific progression. Lyons
was inspired by similar internal
awards at other industry leading
companies that motivated
engineers to reach new levels in
innovation.
A firm believer that a company
must stretch beyond R&D
boundaries to truly compete and
succeed, Lyons notes that
engineers are not the only
employees eligible to receive
this coveted symbol of
excellence. “All employees at
Leggett are eligible,” said
Lyons. “The only criteria for
receiving a J.P. Leggett
Innovator Award is that one
contributes an idea or
innovation that has significant
benefit to Leggett & Platt.”
The J.P. Leggett Innovator
Awards are given to both
individual and team-created
innovations. This year’s
recipients range from product
designers to engineers to heads
of marketing. Recipients of the
prestigious award were honored
with a glass trophy that reads,
“In recognition of technological
leadership beneficial to Leggett
& Platt.”
Awards were given at the J.P.
Leggett Innovator Awards Dinner,
a formal banquet that kicked off
Leggett & Platt’s annual
Technology Forum. The Forum
reflects the company’s overall
focus on product innovation and
is currently in its third year.
Attendees included senior
management, special guests and
J.P. Leggett Award recipients.
“In its two years, the coveted
award has already inspired
Leggett employees to reach new
levels in their development of
new technologies,” said Lyons.
“Exceptional talent across
Leggett & Platt is evident
within these leading
innovations,” he said. “I am
proud to be part of such an
accomplished work force.”
2008 J.P. Leggett Innovator
Award recipients are:
·
eCoupled technology
·
LeRoy Johnson, Senior
director, emerging technologies
Johnson received a J.P. Leggett
Award for his work with
eCoupled, an evolution in
traditional energy that delivers
power through advanced wireless
infrastructure. eCoupled will be
showcased by Leggett at the 2009
Consumer Electronics Show.
• Starry Night Sleep
Technology
• Ryan Chacon,
Software controls engineer
• Niels Mossbeck,
Senior director, advanced
technologies
• Mark Quinn,
Executive vice president of
sales and marketing, bedding
group
• Chuck Steers,
Mechanical design engineer
• Jason Turner,
Director of controls &
technologies
• Tom Wells, Jr.,
Director of engineering strategy
& technical support
Chacon, Mossbeck, Quinn, Steers,
Turner and Wells received J.P.
Leggett Awards for their work in
creating and promoting Starry
Night Sleep Technology, the
first bed to incorporate
diagnostic and entertainment
technologies to create an
intelligent, intuitive and
comfortable sleep environment.
Starry Night was not only a
revolutionary concept that
redefined the boundaries of the
bedding industry, but was also
an international media
sensation.
• Responder Office Chair
• Dana Lockwood,
Senior seating designer, Indiana
Chair Frame business unit
Lockwood received a J.P. Leggett
Award for his work with the
Responder office chair, an
ergonomically-designed office
chair that responds intuitively
to all body movements and is
uniquely engineered, designed
and tested to withstand more
than one million cycles of 24/7
intensive use.
• MAG Dock
• Jennifer Guerndt,
Vice president of marketing,
Gamber-Johnson business unit
• Jason Lewandowski,
Vice president of engineering,
Gamber-Johnson business unit
Guerndt and Lewandowski received
J.P. Leggett Awards for their
work in creating and promoting
the innovative design and
breakthrough technology of the
MAG Dock, the industry's
first low-density and affordable
magnesium docking station. MAG
Dock is used in thousands of
vehicles worldwide.
• ZWAHL (Zero Wall High Leg)
• Greg Lawson, Chief
engineer, Omega Motion business
unit
Lawson received a J.P. Leggett
Award for his work with Zero
Wall High Leg technology,
the world’s only high-leg motion
mechanism for furniture. Zero
Wall High Leg technology
utilizes geometry to balance
chair operation, ensuring that
when reclining, a chair will
adjust itself to never come in
contact with a wall or other
obtrusive objects.
• Patients Choice Medical
Care Mechanism
• Glenn Wiecek,
Product designer, furniture
hardware division
Wiecek received a J.P. Leggett
Award for his work on the
Patients Choice Medical Care
Mechanism, a new mechanism
for coupling a seat back to a
base. The Patients Choice
Medical Care Mechanism provides
for smooth and simultaneous
extension and retraction in
seating items including sofas,
loveseats and modular
sectionals, and is often used in
medical chairs and hospital
waiting room chairs for patients
and visiting family members.
About Leggett & Platt
Leggett & Platt (NYSE: LEG) is a
FORTUNE 500 diversified
manufacturer that conceives,
designs and produces a broad
variety of engineered components
and products that can be found
in virtually every home, office,
retail store and automobile. The
company serves a broad suite of
customers that comprise a “Who’s
Who” of U.S. manufacturers and
retailers. The 125-year-old
firm’s continuing operations are
composed of 22 business units,
24,000 employee-partners and
more than 250 facilities located
in 20 countries.
Leggett & Platt is North
America’s leading independent
manufacturer of: a) components
for residential furniture and
bedding; b) retail store
fixtures and point of purchase
displays; c) components for
office furniture; d) drawn steel
wire; e) automotive seat support
and lumbar systems; f) carpet
underlay; g) adjustable beds;
and h) bedding industry
machinery for wire forming,
sewing and quilting.
For more information,
please visit Leggett’s Web site
at
www.leggett.com.
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