One of the most interesting parts of my job is visiting company headquarters because it allows you to see and touch not only the products but also the present and future of technology. If there is one trip that surprised me with the amount of knowledge and concepts I learned, it was undoubtedly the two days I spent between Amsterdam and Eindhoven with Signify. 

The company, founded in May 2018 as the successor to Philips Light, is dedicated to the development of lighting systems. However, this description is somewhat limiting because it does not convey how much work goes into it, how the internal teams work to develop new solutions and how much light affects people’s lives. And therefore also on performance in professional environments because many companies are unaware of how much a lighting system tailored to their needs can optimise production and energy savings.

A leap into the future of light

Entering the Light Application Centre (LAC), Signify’s headquarters within the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven (an area where more than 140 companies and start-ups are grouped together), was like stepping into the future. Here, the company has organised a series of spaces to demonstrate how lighting can affect different sectors: from offices to shops, from warehouse management to supermarkets, everything is recreated in minute detail. 

This was a necessary choice because the Dutch company hosts small, medium and large companies interested in lighting innovations. The possibility of changing the view from the window next to your desk, with artificial sun replacing real clouds, is certainly not new. Signify has gone one step further by showcasing rotating ceilings that change the lighting in the room according to the time of day (less light in the early morning, more light at lunchtime), the level of concentration of the employees, or the task at hand (with the management of lamps and wall lights to recreate a specific atmosphere).

How light affects

Adjusting the brightness and colour of light to the time of day helps people’s circadian rhythms, and a customisable lighting system is ideal for monotonous, poorly lit or even windowless environments (such as hospitals and prisons). To facilitate change in companies, Signify has created Interact, IoT-connected software that allows connected devices to be controlled via sensors hidden in lamps or light points. This provides data on light temperature and colour, as well as on behaviour and space occupancy. This information is useful for optimising lighting and environment management, thereby satisfying workers and improving energy consumption.

Even more impressive, because they’re unexpected, are the applications in industry and retail. In the first case, being able to see how many people are there and what they’re doing gives real-time info on energy use, while for a supermarket, using light in the right way means a better customer experience, better brand recognition and more sales. One example of this is illuminating fresh fish with white light and meat with a redder tone to make the food stand out and attract the customer’s attention. In essence, therefore, when used in the right way, lighting can also help increase footfall and revenue.

Think sustainably

One of Signify’s priorities is to show how the impact of light is crucial for the buildings of the future. This is already a reality for the Dutch, as demonstrated by The Edge, a 60,000 square meter building with five five-storey buildings in Amsterdam that houses several companies and has been renovated with the aim of optimising efficiency and sustainability. ‘It’s a place where people spend a lot of time because they feel comfortable there,’ Harsh Chitale, Professional Business CEO at Signify, explained to 4iMag. After the pandemic led to the widespread adoption of smart working, many companies are still struggling to get their employees back to the office, while the Dutch company’s offices are often full, even though employees are free to choose to work (partly) from home.

Sustainability is another important issue for Signify, whose managers have repeatedly emphasised the company’s belief in the need and desire to create less polluting environments. To this end, it has created Environmental Product Declarations for thousands of products, providing accurate data on carbon emissions and the materials used. Thanks to this move and the extensive use of recycled materials, Signify has extended the life cycle of various products by more than 50%. As for the possibility of increasing the efficiency of environments, ‘if you use LEDs, you can achieve energy savings of up to 60%, and by monitoring the lighting system correctly in real time, the percentage can reach 80%,’ explained Bart Maeyens, Head of the company’s 3D printing division. 

The benefits of 3D printing

3D printing is another cornerstone at Signify, which has incorporated its innovations into myCreation, a range that uses recycled polycarbonate to create lamps with customisable shapes, textures, finishes and colours. It is an ingenious solution that satisfies everyone, as Signify uses the 900 printers it has placed in its hubs around the world to print the requested products locally.

The results are reduced customer waiting times, lower energy consumption and minimal material waste, as the system is accurate to the millimetre and has a margin of error of less than 2%. It is no coincidence that several well-known companies (such as Desigual and McDonald’s) have turned to the Dutch company for customised lamps and lighting systems.

Faced with so many innovations capable of having a real impact on a large scale, promoting the spread of the circular economy and a more attentive vision of the places where companies are born and thrive, the visit to Signify’s laboratories and headquarters was a useful and informative experience for me.