BRISBANE (AUSTRALIA) – For a good night’s sleep, you need a mattress that keeps the spine aligned the same way whether you stand or lie down.

This is what Sealy Asia-Pacific discovered through collaborating with the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to develop mattress designs backed by sleep science experts.

A mattress that maintains the alignment of the spine “helps prevent back pain, discomfort and disturbed sleep”, says managing director Simon Dyer.

“Sealy Asia-Pacific has been funding sleep research at QUT for about six years, and working with scientists to not only design the mattress for the market today, but also for a new generation in the future with evolving tastes and needs,” says Mr Dyer.

The 64-year-old Australian declines to reveal actual figures, but says the funding was in the region of “a few hundred thousand US dollars” annually.

He adds that, through the company’s joint venture with owners Tempur Sealy, the latest research and development (R&D) findings are shared with the American parent company.

A corporate culture of collaborating with experts has sealed Sealy Posturepedic’s position as the top-selling mattress brand in Australia since 1999 and in Singapore since 2015.

The brand is sold in the United States through Tempur Sealy International and in the region through Sealy Asia-Pacific.

Back in the 1950s, the American owners of the brand came up with the Sealy Posturepedic mattress after consultations with orthopaedic surgeons and the company’s in-house engineering team.

Sealy Inc was founded in 1881 in Sealy, Texas, by gin and grist mill builder Daniel Haynes. Over the decades, advertisements in major newspapers across the US crafted a niche for Sealy as the only mattress in the market with “no morning backache”.

And the sales spiel worked. With an emphasis on mattress architecture that incorporated robust metal springs, a latex core and firmer foam edges, Sealy Corporation, as it was renamed in the 1960s, soon became one of the top bedding brands in North America.

In 1969, the owners in the US appointed Madad of Australia as the licensee to sell Sealy mattresses in Australia and the region. Madad was founded in 1923 by entrepreneur Sam Dyer and, by the 1960s, had become a prominent mattress brand in Australia.

Today, the late Mr Dyer’s successors have expanded the business to the Asia-Pacific region, which covers Australia, New Zealand, China, India, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia, as well as Britain.

What began as Madad became Sealy Asia-Pacific in 2000, a family-owned joint venture which is today helmed by Mr Simon Dyer and his son George, 34, its chief financial officer.

The company’s 2,500 sq m R&D facility in the Wacol industrial district of Brisbane collaborates extensively with QUT.

In conjunction with QUT, Sealy Asia-Pacific also established the Orthopaedic Advisory Board, an independent group of global experts in spinal research from the university’s Biomechanics and Spine Research Group.

The board is staffed by sleep science experts such as Emeritus Professor Mark Pearcy, who has more than 40 years of biomechanical research experience, focusing on movement and support from artificial joints and implants, and Dr Geoff Askin, a pioneer in surgical techniques to correct spinal deformity.

The board collaborates with Sealy Posturepedic’s R&D team led by Mr Daniel Green, Sealy’s mechanical engineer, on spinal alignment and sleep quality.

Mr Green says the tie-up helps the company to keep innovating. “We now consider anatomical differences between males and females, and include the neck in spinal measurements,” he says. “We have also expanded our assessment of spinal alignment when lying on the side as well as on the back.”

For the research, the advisory board worked with 50 male and female adults, analysing the human body when it lies on the side, back and different sleep surfaces. The research included using state-of-the-art systems such as magnetic resonance imaging for internal and external images of the body; 3D surface scanning to show how the surface of the bed moves during use; and pressure mapping to reveal points where the body comes into contact with the bed surface as well as points where heat and moisture build up.

One of the recent breakthroughs in the Sealy R&D facility involves the use of spinal alignment mannequins. These mannequins are designed to move just like a human body does and are used to measure the support offered by different mattresses.

Test-bedding mattresses

Sealy Singapore stocks more than 20 types of mattresses at its flagship store, the Sealy Sleep Palace at Tanglin Place, located at the junction of Tanglin Road and Tomlinson Road.

Its beds are also sold at other retail outlets such as Harvey Norman at Millenia Walk, Takashimaya, Isetan Scotts and Courts Nojima at The Heeren. All Sealy Posturepedic beds come with a 10-year guarantee.

Here are some of Sealy’s innovative designs and product architecture that have been developed in partnership with Australia’s Orthopaedic Advisory Board and the Queensland University of Technology.

Soft or firm beds?

A mattress can be compared to clothing: something comfortable yet fitting – and not too hard or soft.

Sealy’s “firm” beds are said to provide a deeper level of firmness and are best for sleepers who prefer to rest on a firm surface.

“Cushion-firm” beds are soft to the touch and are ideal for sleepers who like a soft surface feel with some firmness. “Plush” and “ultra-plush” are designed for those who prefer a soft landing when they fall on their beds, as if into a comforting embrace.

Sealy Posturepedic Palatial Crest and Exquisite ranges

These top-of-the-line Exquisite beds can be found at Sealy Sleep Palace and Sealy Sleep Boutiques in Century Square, City Square, Funan, IMM and Plaza Singapura. Palatial Crest beds are displayed at Takashimaya as well as Harvey Norman at Millenia Walk, Parkway Parade and Northpoint City.

The Palatial Crest and Exquisite range feature a patented “RestSupport” coil, a three-stage coil system that is said to provide instant pressure relief, enhance deep-down support and reduce motion transfer.

These coils are made from titanium alloy for extra strength and long-lasting performance. The RestSupport coils provide various stages of comfort by offering cradling, conforming and deep-down support.

Sealy Posturepedic Enhance and Aspire ranges

In these ranges, Sealy employs a different coil technology called the “SRx support system”. This design has a graduated coil made specifically for single-sided mattresses, where only one side can be used for sleeping. It contains six turns in every coil, said to provide stability and support. As a result, the coil can respond better to a person’s weight.

SmarTex Fabric

This proprietary fabric is said to help regulate sleep surface temperature throughout the night. The fabric starts to work only when a person’s body temperature increases. The SmarTex fibres wick away moisture to enable it to evaporate rapidly, giving the sleeper a comfortable surface environment. The fabric also inhibits the pooling of moisture such as perspiration on the surface of the bed.

Info: Sealy beds are priced from $799 for a PosturePremier Sealy Singles single-size mattress to $14,500 for a plush Exquisite Grand Princess queen-size bed. Go to shop.sealy.com.sg or Sealy’s retail outlets for more details.