Occasional tables normally play a supporting role to major pieces of living-room furniture such as sofas, armchairs, and couches. Sometimes, though, occasional tables with innovative designs are able to take on a starring role as the visual center of the living room.

These tables-tea tables, coffee tables, or end tables, depending on their use-can serve as individual pieces of furniture or as part of living-room sets. For most producers, occasional tables account for only a small part of a total output that includes such items as dining tables, beds, cabinets, and complete living-room sets.

A Source of Cheer

One of Taiwan's top manufacturers of occasional tables is the Cheer Yield Enterprise Co., which was established in 1986 as a maker of metal racks and shelves and branched out 10 years later to encompass other types of furniture such as beds, cabinets, and hangers-and, of course, occasional tables. "Compared with metal racks, it is much more difficult to make beds, cabinets, and tables," comments Luke Yang, Cheer Yield's chairman. "At first we ran into all kinds of problems, from the procurement of materials to the creation of designs and the development of modules. Now we've overcome those problems and gained experience, and we've built up our position in the industry."

Today, occasional tables account for 20% of the company's overall production, while beds make up 50% and cabinets and hangers the remaining 30%. "We frequently send mixed shipments to our clients," the chairman says. "For instance, beds will go along with cabinets or occasional tables, all of which generally match each other in terms of color and design."

Because of its experience with metal racks, Cheer Yield makes most of its furniture out of metal. Its compact occasional tables with glass tops, for example, have a stylish and cool look that makes them especially popular with young consumers. Also, Yang reports, "We produce some tables of wood, if our customers want them, but the theme of our products is metal."

The company ships 40% of its products to Europe, and the remainder is divided about equally between the United States and Japan. The Australian market is now being targeted for development, and recent orders received from there are now ready for delivery.

Unlike most of Taiwan's furniture manufacturers, who have moved their production lines offshore, Cheer Yield is staying firmly in Taiwan. Thirty workers and three designers are kept busy at its plant in Changhua, in the central part of the island. The designers are crucial. "Design is the soul of our products," Yang says. "Before trying to develop a new product, we regularly communicate with our clients and study the needs of the market in their area. We've found that customers in the U.S., Europe, and Japan have varying tastes."

Half of the company's designs are of its own creation; the rest come from its customers. On average, one or two new products are unveiled each quarter.

One thing that worries Yang is competition from mainland China, and he travels there once a year to see how the development of his rivals there is progressing. Mainland Chinese furniture manufacturers, he believes, constitute a threat to other furniture makers in the international market. "The only way to survive," Yang stresses, "is to put more effort into R&D. Furniture manufacturers in Taiwan have to beef up not only their design capability, but also their manufacturing technology and management."

Yang has apparently been following his own advice, and doing so successfully, judging from Cheer Yield's performance. It achieved growth of 30% in 2001, 15% in 2002, and a whopping 38% in 2003.

Creating Big Noise in the Market

Another contender in the line is Thunder Action Enterprise, set up in 1980 as a maker of lighting products. Thunder Action moved its production lines to mainland China in the early 1990s, as Taiwan's manufacturing environment started to deteriorate in terms of input costs; later on it decided to expand its product line to include furniture, since lighting products and furniture go together.

The firm's furniture plant was set up in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, in 2000 to produce a wide variety of items including armchairs, stools, lounge chairs, magazine stands, and occasional tables. Business has expanded by around 15-20% since that time, and the Suzhou plant has had to be expanded.

Thunder Action concentrates mostly on innovative high-end products, some developed by the company itself and some with customer-supplied designs. Its occasional tables are made mainly of glass and metal, with design flexibility that might, for example, result in geometrically shaped glass pieces that can be assembled into a surface with one, two, or three layers. The metal can be formed into straight or curved table frames. Most of the tables have a streamlined look, and some with attached lamp stands and magazine racks provide a multifunctional convenience.

Glass and metal materials are purchased mainly from local mainland Chinese suppliers, and production machinery pressing machines, cutting machines, bending machines, etc.-is supplied from Taiwan.

Today Thunder Action ships an average of 50 standard 40-foot containers of furniture products per month. Around 70% of the products go to Europe, 20% to Japan, and 10% to the U.S.

No Kidding Around Here

Changhunsin Industries Co., only four years old, concentrates on the production of high-end children's furniture and, to a lesser extent, occasional tables. Most of the tables are made of glass and metal which are procured primarily from Taiwan-invested companies in mainland China.

Most of Changhunsin's occasional tables are sold to the U.S., the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. "Our occasional tables can be used as coffee tables, tea tables, or end tables," explains the company's manager, Lu Chin-min. "The making of these products is relatively low-tech, so it's suitable for mainland China where abundant supplies of cheap labor is available. Many of Taiwan's manufacturers of occasional tables have already moved their production over there."

More and more local Chinese manufacturers have been entering the line, however, and have become strong competitors to their Taiwanese counterparts. To meet this challenge, Lu suggests, the island's furniture makers need to upgrade their manufacturing standards, create more unique products, and more precisely control quality and delivery.

To make its furniture, Changhunsin imports high-end wood such as oak, birch, and maple from Australia. As well, Lu comments, "To meet the special needs of our United Kingdom clients, we've purchased computerized numerically controlled (CNC) machinery to fabricate knock-down (K/D) children's furniture that can be assembled without glue or nuts and bolts."

Environment-Friendly Products

Tair Wei Enterprise Co. espouses the philosophy of sustainable operations, and has committed itself to the development of metal-tube and wood furniture that is more environment-friendly. The former type makes up about 75% of total production, the latter 25%.

With more than two decades of experience in the field, the company has a product line that runs the gamut from kitchen, bathroom and dining sets to screens and occasional tables. The tables account for about a third of the firm's total production by value.

Some of Tair Wei's operations have been moved to mainland China to keep manufacturing costs down. A plant with more than 100 workers was set up in Guangdong Province about three years ago, mostly turning out wooden furniture. Another plant, in Taiwan, has almost 70 workers and makes steel products as well as a few wooden models.

These complementary cross-Strait operations have helped the company achieve a growth of 20-30% annually over the past three years. However, the cost of both steel and lumber has been soaring recently, putting a severe crimp on profits.

To counter this difficulty, Tair Wei has decided to development more high-end products for the European market. "European consumers prefer high-quality products with simple structures and designs," explains Julie Lin, the company's assistant manager, "so we're inclining to the development of compact, streamlined occasional tables that cater to the preferences of the market there."

The firm is currently promoting occasional tables that have glass tops and stands made of special steel tubes, designed to cater to the tastes of buyers in Germany and the U.K. To make these new products, Lin says, "We've had to invest more money to develop special molds for making metal accessories.

"Other companies make good products; we have to turn out better ones," the assistant manager continues. "We have to continue developing innovative high-end products. Our designers do some pretty good work; but to keep out clients satisfied, we have to pay a lot of attention to quality control in addition to innovative design."