Household & Decorative Products Flexibility and Innovation Keep Taiwan in the Game

Taiwan's manufacturers of household and decorative products have cultivated a strong ability to develop and produce a wide array of items with the help of highly flexible operations and a solid network of supportive industries, from sheet-metal makers to hardware-parts suppliers.

This flexibility and quick market response is particularly evident among local manufacturers of curtain rods and accessories, which make such products of iron, plastic, wood, and light alloy. Most also produce intricate and innovative textile accessories to add value and diversity to their product offerings.

Some manufacturers in this line have moved their production facilities to mainland China in recent years in order to tap the burgeoning market there. Most Taiwan manufacturers anticipate that the mainland government will at some point in the near future fully open its domestic market, in keeping with pledges made to gain membership in the World Trade Organization.

Nevertheless, there are some Taiwan producers that are more skeptical about their prospects in the mainland market, questioning whether or not the market will indeed be fully opened in the foreseeable future.

Hot Chili Curtain Rods

Chili Tubes Enterprise Co., Ltd., established a decade ago, specializes in the production of curtain rods made of different kinds of materials, such as wood, iron, zinc alloy, aluminum alloy, glass and various combinations thereof.

"In the early stage of our establishment, we concentrated on curtain rods made of single materials, " says Wu Ming-huang, president of the company. "In recent years, more and more customers have asked for products made of composite materials. To meet this demand, we began developing multi-material curtain rods one and a half years ago."

Thanks to the high quality of its products, Chili began exporting to Japan, Europe and the U.S. several years ago.

The U.S. absorbs 90% of its total output. "We have sold products to the top five wholesalers of the U.S. for approximately five years, " says Wu. "We have found that U.S. consumers prefer curtain rods made of multiple materials, so we have increased the production of such products over the past year."

Three years ago Chili sought the cooperation of a wood manufacturer in Vietnam to ensure a sufficient supply of wood for its production. Last year, the company took the next step by opening its own factory in Vietnam. At present, the company sends wood materials back to Taiwan for processing, but it hopes to train its Vietnam staff to due to the processing there, Wu says.

Although Chili plans to manufacture wood curtain rods in Vietnam, the company will continue to produce metal products in Taiwan to take advantage of the island's strong network of supporting hardware suppliers. Besides, the company's factory in Taiwan is highly automated so labor costs are less of a factor.

Earth-Friendly Fabrics

Yison Interior Textiles Co., Ltd. Manufactures a wide range of functional textile fabrics for household decorative products. Currently half of the company's upholstery fabrics are made of recyclable olefin fiber.

Yison says all of its functional upholstery fabrics are approved by renowned certification bodies, including SGS and ITS.

The company's upholstery fabrics are suitable for office-automation furniture, partitions, sofas, and other furniture items.

Since its establishment in 1989, the company has steadily upgraded its product line to keep abreast of trends in the upholstery fabric market, as well as followed strict material and quality controls.

Yison can develop a new series of products every month. The company is currently focused on the development of a new recyclable fabric, says Bill Chung, president of the company. It also has developed a infrared-processed upholstery fabric for office chairs. The fabric can accelerate blood circulation, Chung says.

Innovation has been the key to Yison's survival in a highly competitive market, says Chung.

To further penetrate the international marketplace, over the past few years Yison has invested more than NT$100 million (US$2.94 million) to build a 72, 000-square-foot production facility equipped with an automated storage and retrieval system to speed up delivery times.

Yison's products are mainly exported to the United States, Europe and Japan. The company boasts it can offer high-quality products at reasonable price.

Iron Furniture

Song Yeou Enterprise Co., Ltd., established 12 years ago, specializes in metal tubular K/D furniture made of iron pipes, including metal racks, magazine stands, vanities/dressers tables, mirrors, computer desks, home-office workstations, and dining sets.

Headquartered in Changhua County, central Taiwan, the company boasts a highly flexible production capability, enabling it to quickly re-tool lines for the production of new items.

One new item turned out by the company is ironing boards. The company says its involvement in this line was sparked by U.S. anti-dumping charges against mainland Chinese producers last year--a move that opened a window of opportunity for Taiwan suppliers.

Company president Lin Ke-fan Lin says that over the past several years many of Taiwan's veteran manufacturers of ironing boards have moved production facilities to mainland China to reduce costs.

The company says it only produces high-end products. "We inspect every item before shipment, " says Lin. "Although our ironing boards are 15% more expensive than those made in mainland China, we guarantee a high level of quality."

Song Yeou's ironing boards are equipped with special mechanism to adjust its height. At present, the company exports 60% of its ironing boards to the U.S. market.

The company has an in-house product development team staffed by highly experienced designers, says Lin.