Framery, a manufacturer of soundproofed workspaces and phone booths, launched the world’s first intelligent soundproofed Framery One pod in early 2021. Wapice has been involved in developing and implementing an innovative distributed electrical and control system for the Framery One pod, enabling workspace connectivity and meeting the changing needs of users.
Framery, based in Tampere, is a pioneer and market leader in its field, with more than a million people using its workspaces every day. The company’s products enhance the happiness of corporate employees by solving noise and privacy issues in open-plan offices at dozens of the world’s leading companies, including Microsoft, Puma and Tesla. In Framery’s soundproofed workspaces, people can concentrate and work at full capacity.
Intelligence and state-of-the-art technology
Earlier Framery pods were good at soundproofing and ensuring comfort of use through smooth ventilation, but integration with other systems was lacking. Framery’s vision was clear – they wanted to create a high-quality workspace that meets the needs of the future, is smart and extends far into the future, and meets the highest standards of soundproofing. Quality should not be compromised at any stage, and usability, design, soundproofing and technology must be top notch. Thus was born the next generation Framery One, for which Wapice was chosen as the supplier of the electrical and control system.
The solution designed by Wapice enables the workspace to be electrified and settings to be adjusted in a user-friendly way using the high-definition touch screen inside the pod. In addition, the solution digitalises the space with intelligent automation functions and maintenance services, as well as enables connectivity to external functions, such as calendar booking systems. Framery One is the world’s first soundproofed pod with integrated connectivity to company’s Google or Microsoft Office calendar booking system.
It is a modular solution that allows the same system components to be used in other products in the future. This speeds up time to market and brings savings in approval costs.
Wapice has a highly skilled and ambitious team that was a pleasure to work with. The solution implemented by Wapice created new innovative prospects for the entire product, which will enable us to quickly bring new high-quality features to the market in the future, such as remote software update on a global basis.
Timo Inkinen, Head of Product Development, Framery
Close cooperation in product development
Wapice has more than 20 years of experience in electronics and software design for embedded systems. Wapice also has extensive software expertise in analytics as well as DevOps, IoT and cloud services that can be leveraged during the conceptualisation and product development of the overall system.
This project was carried out in close collaboration with the client, listening to the client’s wishes, brainstorming and implementing ideas in the best possible way.
“We achieved our goal by creating a smart space whose connectivity to other systems opens up a whole new world of possibilities for its users. For example, facility managers can monitor the occupancy rate of workspaces through a separate system, and they can easily optimise the occupancy rate or anticipate future maintenance with the data collected,” Inkinen continues.
In addition, pod users can use stepless adjustment and manage settings, such as ventilation and lighting, or indicate to others when the workspace is vacant. Of course, this is also done automatically.
“The project was a challenge for our team and we learned a lot ourselves, because a lot was required of the implementation. Fast memory buses, 4G connectivity, and a CAN bus-based distributed control system made the design technically interesting. We managed to bring the product to market in an exceptionally short timeframe,” says Risto Pajula, Head of Embedded Systems at Wapice.
“Digitalisation and smart workspaces benefit not only our customers, but also our team at Framery. It is important for us to understand the data related to the use of the workspace, such as occupancy rate, duration of use and any maintenance needs, so that we can further develop the workspaces,” Inkinen concludes.
Article images: © Framery