Taking the advantages of their stable supplies of quality materials, well-established satellite plants, advanced manufacturing technology, and experienced and skilled workers, Taiwan' s metal furniture parts manufacturers are still confident of their competitiveness in the world market.

Metal furniture parts come in a broad range of items, styles, shapes, and sizes, which can be generated by anything from factories with only a few employees to those with more than 100 workers. Many metal furniture makers have traditionally clustered in central and southern Taiwan, where metal materials and experienced workers are readily available.

Despite the exodus of local furniture makers searching for lower costs to mainland China in recent years, some furniture metal parts makers have insisted on staying on the island and have found ways to overcome rising manufacturing costs here. They believe that Taiwan is still an ideal place to fabricate metal parts, particularly for office furniture, because of the sophisticated surface treatment that local makers excel in, thanks to their long experience and state-of-the-art automated production equipment.

Diversity, production automation, and high quality have become the trademarks of metal furniture parts and suppliers in Taiwan as they seek to distinguish their product lines from the lower-end items of rival competitors in mainland China and most countries in Southeast Asia.

In addition to rivals in developing countries, Taiwan' s manufacturers have increasingly become annoyed with spikes in iron and steel prices, which have continued to climb in recent years due to materials shortages in the international market. Some producers complain that the cost of these materials has nearly soared 100% in the past couple years, putting a severe strain on their profit margins.

By developing innovative products and incorporating new materials, producers can evade the profit pinch caused by the soaring cost of metal. Another method for enhancing profit margins is to fabricate high-end products for special orders.

Keeping Production in Taiwan

Founded in 1980, How Wei Metal Industrial Co. has established itself as a frontrunner in designing and manufacturing office chair components and related accessories to meet market needs. "Since we got involved in the line some 25 years ago, we have spared no effort to develop value-added, quality-oriented products. Today, R&D is a pivotal weapon domestic manufacturers can use to compete in the global arena, and the life cycle of a new product hinges mainly on innovation, duration, and function, " Hu Jung-hua, chairman of the company, indicates.

Unlike its counterparts, How Wei has kept all of its production lines in Taiwan. "We have felt comfortable operating in Taiwan and never thought about moving out, " Hu says frankly. "Taiwan is an ideal place for the production of metal parts since it has established a network of related plants, in addition to advanced manufacturing technologies and stable supplies of quality materials."

The company provides its products to quality-oriented markets at reasonable prices. "We have committed ourselves to developing innovative, high-end products and recommending them to our clients. Quality office automation (OA) chairs need quality parts. To develop innovative, high-end products, every year we spend more than NT$10 million (US$294, 118 at US$1 = NT$34) to develop new items and molds, which are exclusive and difficult to copy, " Hu explains.

How Wei turns out mainly OA height-adjustable armrests for chairs that are available in two specifications—80 mm and 100 mm. To diversify manufacturing risks, the company subcontracts some processes for its items to reliable satellite plants. "Our products are patented in the U.S., mainland China, Germany, and Japan, in addition to Taiwan; and have gained good reputation among buyers, " Hu states proudly.

How Wei' s products are 100% exported, with 90% shipped overseas through direct channels, while the remaining 10% is indirectly shipped. The company' s major export markets are the U.S. and Europe. Influenced by the global economic slowdown, How Wei' s shipment volume last year was only one or two 20-feet containers per week. However, the volume has expanded to four or five containers per week since the beginning of this year, when the economic climate turned better.

"We have screened our clients very carefully because we want to build up a permanent relationship with them. We prefer not to have the clients that are picky about price but not about quality. So, most of our clients are mid- and high-class OA furniture manufacturers, which demand high-end furniture parts to go with their products, " Hu interprets.

"Competition is normal in a market—we welcome fair and healthy competition because it will urge us to turn out better products. Nevertheless, we have always committed ourselves to fabricating top-quality products. This is why the prices of some of our furniture parts are even higher than those of some entire low-end furniture pieces, though our furniture parts have become quite popular in the market, " Hu points out.

Moving to the Mainland

Established in 1999, Kuo Yang Metallic Co. is a dynamic manufacturer of metal furniture parts, including such items as OA chair seat bases, swivel bases with bearings, sofa frames, wire forms, and various chair backs. "In its beginning years the company focused on the production of hardware products for local buildings, and did not expand its production lines to cover metal furniture parts until 2002, " Lan Chieh, senior official at the company, notes.

After getting involved in the manufacture of furniture parts, the company found its plant in Taiwan was too small to cover its product line, and therefore decided to move to the other side of the Taiwan Strait. "If we had enlarged our production base in Taiwan, we would have faced higher manufacturing costs in comparison with our counterparts in mainland China, where much cheaper industrial land and labor is available, " Lan analyzes.

Kuo Yang' s manufacturing base is located in Wuxi of Jiangsu Province, where the company has a workforce of more than 200 persons. "The reason for the company to choose Wuxi as its production base is that the furniture industry is already well developed in the city. The result is that Wuxi has suitable materials and skillful workers, " Lan explains.

The manufacturing processes for the company' s furniture parts require equal amounts of machine processing and processing by hand. Most of Kuo Yang' s processing machines are imported from Taiwan, including heavy stamping and pressing machines, pipe cutting machines, pipe bending machines, electric welding machines, butt welding machines, coating/spray-finishing equipment, and molding manufacturing equipment.

"We choose Taiwanese manufacturers to develop molds for us because we can trust each other, " Lan maintains. "Compared to the workers in Taiwan, we have to spend more time and effort in training and educating the ones in the mainland, even though they can endure harder work."

Kuo Yang exports 80% of its products, and the remaining 20% are provided to Taiwanese furniture makers in the mainland. Australia is the company' s major export outlet, accounting for 50% of its total exports, and the countries in Southeast Asia—namely, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines—together make up the remaining 50%.

The company receives orders in Taiwan, while it generates and ships products from the mainland. "Despite the intense market competition, we still can survive because our products have already built up a good reputation among our clients, " Lan says.

Currently, Kuo Yang delivers around 10 containers of furniture parts per month on average. "Usually we experience a busy season in the second and the third quarters of a year, and are slightly less busy in the first and the fourth quarters. Sometimes we take a couple months to maintain our facilities during the slower season and prepare materials for the busy season. We believe that the market for office chairs and casual seating products looks promising for the future, and of course the mainland offers a large potential market, " Lan adds.

Jumping Into Furniture Parts From Auto Parts

Started up as a professional processor of auto molds, An Uji Co. transferred its production line to furniture parts in 1998. "The company was founded late in 1995 and focused on mold processing for auto parts supplied to domestic auto makers. The worsening manufacturing environment and thin profits in that line forced the company to turn to the furniture industry, " Tseng Su-chen, sales manager of the company, notes.

"We saw the OA furniture industry boom in Taiwan late in the 1990s and decided to enter that field, " Tseng states. "Our auto parts facilities are also suitable for turning out metal furniture parts, particularly for OA furniture items. In the beginning, we did have a hard time in the furniture industry, and it took several years to get used to the manufacturing processes of the industry."

Currently An Uji has two factories in southern Taiwan, with one for manufacturing and the other for packaging. The two factories have a total workforce of about 20. "We produce mainly OA furniture parts and accessories, and the manufacturing processes depend heavily on machinery, so we do not need too many workers. Besides, we have cooperated with contract factories to generate products in large volumes or for special orders, " Tseng points out.
"The reason for our staying in Taiwan is that we feel comfortable running a business here, not to mention the risks of moving to the mainland or the countries in Southeast Asia, " Tseng analyzes.

Today An Uji provides 65% of its products to Taiwan' s domestic market and exports the remaining 35%, with monthly revenue standing at around NT$3-5 million (US$88, 235-147, 059). To enhance the revenue, the company intends to further explore overseas market in the near future.

With a history of more than 30 years, Fwang Tzay Enterprise Corp. is a professional manufacturer of versatile furniture hardware products, including gang gears, brass buckles, door hinges, and hardware items for cabinets, dining tables, chairs, baby beds, and screens. These products are mostly made of such materials as brass, iron, aluminum, zinc alloys, yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), and stainless steel.

The company keeps all of its production lines in Taiwan and boasts a workforce of some 50 persons, who are able to turn out around 500-600 different furniture hardware items. "We are a traditional furniture hardware parts maker and also a leading supplier in the domestic market. We provide our products to distributors and traders. Roughly speaking, 80% of our products are supplied to furniture manufacturers in Taiwan and 20% to overseas markets, " Lin Fu-lai, chairman of the company, discloses.

Fwang Tzay is able to design and develop molds for its products and its facilities can turn out the products in massive volumes. "To maintain the quality of our products, each year we appropriate 20%-30% of revenue as R&D funds to update our facilities and improve our manufacturing technologies, " Lin confides. "In face of the growing threat from the counterparts in the mainland, we have to lay more emphasis on streamlining our manufacturing processes and upgrading the quality of our products."

Currently the company delivers about 10 or so 40-foot containers per week. "We insist on satisfying our clients with the best products and after-sales services. We welcome special orders from buyers, and gladly listen to any suggestions that can help us upgrade the level of our products, " Lin says.