Accenture Solution Story In collaboration with the design firm, Gensler, DeKalb Office helped Accenture revitalize and streamline the way it uses office space and develop a global standard for procurement. Accenture is a leading management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company that collaborates with its businesses and governments to help them maximize performance.  A global company with more than 110 offices in 48 locations, Accenture calls upon its deep-rooted expertise and broad global resources to help clients exceed their goals, mobilizing people, developing skills, and using the best technologies available. Delivering Innovation DeKalb Office collaborated with Accenture on a test site for facility consolidation, which became the model now being used in the company’s New York and Chicago offices.  The goal was challenging: to consolidate four facilities into one over two years.  Together with Gensler, DeKalb Office accomplished Accenture’s objective, transitioning the company from traditional cubes and private office spaces to an open, flexible “hoteling” environment.  Additionally, DeKalb Office provided Accenture with a global standard for procurement. The Project Challenges The implementation of Accenture’s new office environment concept was not a simple process.  It required restructuring of Accenture’s interior infrastructure and a major cultural shift for company employees.  “Making sure we met Accenture’s design goals while staying within budget and keeping employees comfortable was critical,” explained Melissa Morgan, Design Manager for DeKalb Office.  Now, Accenture’s facility is run like a first-class hotel.  Partners call to reserve their workspace, and everything is on wheels so changes can happen for staff very easily. “It’s a completely different environment when you’re in Accenture’s space,” said Randy Clark, Senior Associate with Gensler.  “There’s some great energy in there!”

Emory Solution Story DeKalb Office provided Emory Healthcare with a fast, cost conscious, tightly managed solution. Emory Healthcare is one of the nation's leading healthcare systems and is affiliated with the world-renowned Emory University School of Medicine and Emory University Hospital, all located in Atlanta, Georgia.  Emory Healthcare is the largest healthcare system in the state of Georgia, with revenues in excess of $1.1 billion and approximately 10,000 employees.  Since 1915, Emory University has been at the forefront of medical knowledge and research, pioneering many of the procedures that have changed the face of medical history. DeKalb Office was selected to handle the interior environment of Emory’s ground-up Pediatric Building project.  The project scope included furnishing six floors of private offices, conference rooms, workstations, patient rooms, waiting rooms, and teaming areas.  The furniture selection decisions needed to accomplish three goals: Enhance the architecture of the building as designed by SLAM Collaborative. Provide an ergonomic and professional work environment for the staff. Create an inviting and comfortable place for patients and their friends and family. The Project Challenges The occupants of the building were planning to move in within four months of the contracted date, making time a major constraint.  Emory Healthcare’s furniture budget was very lean, so it was critical to present the customer with budget-conscious products.  At the same time, we knew Emory Healthcare desired and deserved a high-quality, durable product designed to last. We presented the Emory Healthcare team with four options, each containing a detailed timeline and a comprehensive project management strategy.  After Emory selected a package option DeKalb Office wasted no time, holding numerous project meetings to select the furniture, choose finishes, create the layout and finalize the specifications.  Within a month, the entire product had been ordered. DeKalb Office kept up with major last minute changes and maintained our tight schedule. According to Lindsay Cross, Emory Interior Designer, “A leasing tenant made last minute changes necessitating the cancellation of an entire floor of furniture.  DeKalb Office worked with us to reorganize the previously scheduled deliveries along with the associated reorganization of shipping vehicles, restocking of product and all of the other things that are affected by any major furniture purchase.  We then reordered the whole floor of furniture eight weeks later.  Everything came together on time, seamlessly.  I was most impressed with their teamwork.” Over the past several years DeKalb Office has worked on small and large projects for Emory including the Crawford Long Hospital Redevelopment Project and the Winship Cancer Institute. According to Kathy Dukes, Purchasing Agent for Emory Hospitals, DeKalb Office team members are “ …the most outstanding design professionals I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I expect all professionals to be knowledgeable, and efficient in their tasks, but they offer more than that.” Emory Interior designer Lindsay Cross puts it more succinctly: “We chose DeKalb Office because they had the lowest numbers and the most impressive product,” she says.

Kaiser Solution Story DeKalb Office helped Kaiser Permanente make the transition to a patient-friendly “paperless” process without downtime. Kaiser Permanente is the largest nonprofit HMO in the United States.  Founded in 1945, the company serves the health care needs of 8.2 million members in the United States.  Kaiser Permanente’s Georgia Region serves approximately 267,000 members in the metropolitan Atlanta area, operating 15 facilities. Electronic storage for Kaiser begins After enacting a plan to go “paperless” in exam rooms, converting to computerized patient records, Kaiser Permanente approached DeKalb Office to develop a transition solution that could be implemented without any patient or doctor downtime.  DeKalb Office was presented with a unique challenge: to reorganize more than a dozen Kaiser Permanente facilities across Georgia without interrupting business. DeKalb Office’s solution evolved through careful planning, extensive research provided by Steelcase Inc. and the use of detailed mock-ups.  First, DeKalb Office recommended utilizing existing furniture and architecture.  Then, DeKalb Office set up patient areas while simultaneously converting conference rooms into transition training rooms for Kaiser Permanente employees. Once the training was complete, patient areas were ready to go live.  The result?  No disruptions for patients, nurses, and doctors, and a HIPPA compliant, aesthetically pleasing, ergonomically enhanced patient exam room.  In addition, Kaiser Permanente significantly cut costs by reincorporating much of what they already had.  The transition proceeded smoothly, with a facility going on-line every six weeks. “It’s great working with DeKalb Office because they are so service-oriented.  Sherrie Baldwin, the DeKalb Office designer, is just like part of the Kaiser Permanente family. She is so familiar with our standards that she can go to our facility unaccompanied to get started; in this way she saves me a lot of time,” —Mary Jo O’Neil, Manager Health Care Operations, Space Planning for Kaiser Permanente