Office Furniture Makers in Taiwan Fight to Survive Adversity

Compelled by the realities in the wake of globalization and gradual liberalization of the mainland Chinese economy, office furniture makers in Taiwan, like many other manufacturing sectors, have also been moving production offshore to take advantage of lower labor cost to upgrade competitiveness, hence leading to downsizing of the industrial scale in recent years. The relatively small number of furniture makers who have chosen to remain in Taiwan, to keep at bay emerging rivals in Southeast Asia and China where labor costs are a fraction of those in Taiwan, generally resort to division of labor to cut manufacturing cost, as well as turning out innovative, high-end, eco-friendly products that are not only upscale, but also meet global demands that are increasingly green-oriented, with such items able to command higher markups as well.

Although emerging players from Southeast Asia and China offer cost advantages, but makers in Taiwan have counterpunches that such fledgling rivals have yet to master: seasoned downstream suppliers, relatively skilled marketing and business sense, and design capabilities that are keenly sensitive to the latest trends. But even backed by such desirable skills, furniture makers in Taiwan still have to grapple with formidable challenges, including soaring raw material prices, red tape to apply for domestic standards, as well as difficulty to recruit young professionals, who tend to be traditional-industry-averse-regarding furniture making as passe.

Green Furniture Maker

Taizen Industrial Corp. started to engage in the manufacture of eco-friendly office furniture about 10 years ago, with such items having been gaining increasing attention in recent years. "Having been in the furniture industry for nearly three decades, I have experienced its ups and downs," says Chen Yung-chuan, general manager of the company.

"Initially I made metal knockdown (K/D) furniture and school furniture for the domestic household and campus segments," Chen indicates. "It was tough competing against my rivals who produced similar items of wood as metals were simply more expensive."

"For years, I have been committed to producing quality metal furniture and believed in my choice, which has been proven a wise decision particularly in recent years when rising eco-awareness all over is slowing tree cutting, hence limiting supplies of lumber," Chen states. "As a result, many Taiwan furniture manufacturers have had to either move production to forest-rich Southeast Asia or totally suspend making wooden furniture, with some having been forced to turn to metal furniture."

Foresight

"Even 10 years ago I foresaw the global momentum building behind eco-friendly furniture. As a pioneer in the line, I felt somewhat lonely and suffered a lot of frustration in promoting such furniture," Chen recalls. "I have been loyal to developing eco-friendly furniture because I, after seeing over the years the devastation from reckless dumping, woke up to the duty to save, protect the earth; so I decided to turn out recyclable furniture that minimizes eco-impact."

"Choosing the right material is key to the successful development of eco-friendly furniture: We mainly use recyclable PE and metal for they are more durable than wood and rubber," Chen says.

In Taiwan, showing the official 'green' label on your furniture is the seal-of-approval that such item is in fact eco-friendly. "So we spent about two years and considerable money to improve our products and finally received the first green certificate some eight years ago granted by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in Taiwan," Chen notes proudly.

"Our products became increasingly popular after being officially green-certified," Chen adds. "Today government offices are required to purchase furnishings with EPA green certificates."

Taizen develops tooling in-house and subcontracts some of the manufacturing to its satellite plants in Taiwan. About four years ago, the company diversified into office furniture in addition to home and school furniture. Currently the company turns out annually more than 20,000 pieces of school furniture, 5,000 conference tables, and 1,000 park benches, among others.

Taizen has so far been mostly a home market supplier, but plans to explore overseas markets, initially by working with trading firms and later by exhibiting in international trade shows. The company is confident that its eco-friendly furniture can carve out global niches soon.

Metal-and-Wood Furniture

Founded in 1994 by a group of technicians and engineers, Tai Yi Furniture Enterprise Co., Ltd. is a dynamic manufacturer of metal-and-wood KD furniture. "Although most domestic furniture manufacturers have moved production to China and Vietnam, we insist on staying in Taiwan," says Lin Ming-yen, general manager of the company. "We believe manufacturers in Taiwan can capably compete globally with advanced manufacturing technologies and seasoned design skills, not to mention savvy marketing strategies."

To effectively compete in the world market, Taiwan's furniture manufacturers have to develop multifunctional, high-end products, Lin stresses. "Today furniture manufacturers in Taiwan mostly focus on producing high-end products in small volumes for upscale consumers," he remarks. "To meet individual tastes and requirements, we offer a wide variety of furniture in various sizes and patterns."

"Mold development capability is critical for turning out wide-ranging models of furniture. With a strong R&D team, we can expertly develop molds for sustained success," Lin says.

Tai Yi offers a variety of product lines, including chairs, tables, office furnishings, dining ensembles, PC desks, and special items, with tables and chairs accounting for 60% of its total output and office furnishings around 15%; while all of the company's products are exported, mainly to Japan and the United States.

Challenging Times

To spread manufacturing risk, Tai Yi subcontracts some manufacturing to its satellite plants. "Business has been extremely hard this year with the New Taiwan dollar having appreciated 7%-8% and raw material prices, including plastics and metals, have soared 50%-100%, which have driven up manufacturing cost by 20%-30%," Lin laments.

Nevertheless, Tai Yi tries its best to retain strength globally by enhancing operating efficiency, developing more value-added products and cultivating personnel. "We believe we can weather through the current difficulties to keep rolling out innovative, quality products," Lin says.

Leading Office Furniture Maker

Founded in 1981, Chueng Shine Co., Ltd. is a major office furniture maker in Taiwan, producing mainly office chairs who, only last year, diversified into producing computer desks.

Brimming with ergonomic features, the company's chairs and desks are multi-adjustable: for example, an office chair has adjustable seat height and angle, with armrests also adjustable for maximum comfort. Many of Chueng Shine's chairs feature gas-spring cylinder to enable seat height adjustment from 990mm to 1,080mm.

The company's first computer desk is the CH-3688, consisting of a computer stand, peripheral stand, and main desk of medium-density fiber (MDF) boards. With a desk-integrated keyboard tray, the desk measures 1,535mm wide and 800mm deep, with the center able to be pulled up as a book rest. The desktop height can be adjusted between 595mm and 745mm with a gas-spring cylinder, making it suitable for users of all ages.

The company's desks for the European and American markets are fitted with gas-spring cylinders that carry a maximum of 400 pounds, while the ones destined for Japan are equipped with cylinders rated for a maximum 350 pounds.

Currently Chueng Shine is actively promoting computer desks through its existing marketing channels for chairs. "Our chair buyers are increasingly asking about our computer desks, and they are obviously from emerging economies as Russia and India," discloses Lu Wu-chin, company chairman. "We are now doing more to develop more new models of computer desks to meet prospective demands."

The company runs two factories staffed by more than 120 workers who turn out about one million pieces of furniture a year. "The two Taiwan factories occupy some 17,000 square meters and are ISO 9001 and 9002 approved," Lu says.

"We offer a wide range of products that can be tailored for different climates and suit especially modern offices. Over the past five to six years, we have won at least 10 patents," Lu claims.

Chueng Shine exports virtually all its output, with Japan absorbing almost half of such shipment, and the rest going to Europe, the United States, Russia, the Middle East, Australia & New Zealand, and India.

Office Cabinet Maker

Located in southern Taiwan, Robust Manufacturing & Marketing Co. is a specialized manufacturer of office cabinets. "We produce mainly metal office cabinets by using locally-supplied raw metals," a senior manager says. "Providing merely quality products would not satisfy clients, so we also offer after-sales service. We are trained to provide the best production and services."

With around 100 workers in two factories, the company runs one plant to manufacture cabinets, pedestals, panels and related parts; and the other making table legs, partition and wood top. To guarantee high quality, the company has installed advanced equipment, including robot welders, stamping machines, powder coating machines, folding machines, packing machines, etc.

Besides its operations in Taiwan, the company recently set up a plant in Vietnam, which handles mostly large volume orders. "Our Taiwan plant turns out high-end products in relatively small volumes while the one in Vietnam popular products in large volumes," says the manager. "The two factories complement each other, so we can take on all kinds of orders."