Taiwan's furniture-hardware manu-facturers are working with full en-ergy on creating products of one-of-a-kind and not-easily-copied design, and are being aided in this effort by the island's iron and steel industry in the supply of high-grade materials.

Although domestic makers of furniture hardware are mostly too small to justify integrated manufacturing facilities, and have to commission much of their production to specialized satellite plants, many of them have set up research and development departments and installed state-of-the-art production equipment such as automated forging and pressing machines.

The subcontracted operations include surface treatment, which is so well established in Taiwan that manufacturers claim that they can turn out products with a higher level of quality than similar products from mainland China. Lower costs have helped mainland competitors to take over a large slice of the international market, and Taiwanese companies that lack the ability to develop innovative products are having trouble surviving.



Besides the problem of price competition from suppliers in China and other developing economies, Taiwan's furniture-hardware producers have been hard hit by sharp hikes in the price of such materials as iron and steel over the past year. Some of them complain that the cost of these materials has soared 70% during the past 12 months, putting a severe strain on their profit margins. The only way they can keep going, they say, is to expand their product lines and develop innovative products that can command higher prices.

One veteran manufacturing-firm executive, for instance, plans to add forged hardware to the stamped hardware that his firm has focused on for a decade. Forged hardware, he explains, has wider applications than the stamped variety, because it can be used in the automobile, motorcycle, construction, and household sectors.

As reported by a veteran domestic manufacturer, the biggest categories of made-in-Taiwan furniture hardware, in descending order by value, are hinges, drawer slides, knobs and pulls, knock-down fittings and fasteners, casters and glides, locks and latches, and function/decorative components for tables and chairs.

Specialized Production

One of the leading producers in the line is Maing Yion Industry Co., established in 1984 in the central Taiwan county of Changhua, which began life as a contract manufacturer for the furniture industry but went independent after two years and began exporting. Today, it specializes in the production of caster screws and other special screw hardware such as grip-neck stems and threaded stems for furniture, especially office-chair casters.

The company maintains an R&D department charged with developing unique products different from those of other manufacturers. It won ISO9001:2000 quality-assurance certification from Britain-based KEMA Co. last year. This achievement, says Maing Yion president Lin Chin-kuo, "shows that our production complies with the strict international quality-control system. We're one of the few domestic manufacturers in our line that have obtained this certification."

Constant investment in new production equipment enables the company to handle all production processes in-house with the sole exception of surface treatment, which is contracted out to specialized factories. "We have close ties with professional surface-treatment firms that carry out strict quality-control procedures," Lin explains, "but I still insist that the products they treat pass our own inspection once they are sent back to us."

Lin says that his company can turn out a wide range of specialized caster screws, and that it both produces items based on its own designs and special designs from customers. "Our R&D department has 15 experienced technicians who are able to develop innovative caster screws with different specifications," the president comments. "They also help us make products in accordance with customers' special requirements."

Lin reports that the firm posted sales of US$19.3 million last year, about the same as in 2002. With the economic recovery and a consequent increase in demand for office-chair casters, though, he expects sales to grow at a rapid pace over the next few years.

Emphasis on Quality

This year the company has a production target of 80 million units of wheel components and vertical shafts, "a slight increase from last year because we won't concentrate on boosting our production in this slow global economic recovery," Lin comments. "Our current priority is the constant enhancement of the quality of our products; this is what I think Taiwan's manufacturers in this line should focus on, instead of trying to increase output, because better quality will strengthen their international competitiveness more effectively. If they don't do this, it will be easy for them to be defeated by price competition from rival manufacturers in developing-economy nations."

The company exports half of its production and sells the other half to domestic manufacturers of OA-chair casters.

Strict Quality Control

Hsien Hsing Hardware Co., established in 1987, is one of Taiwan's top producers of hardware for the furniture industry. After almost two decades of experience, the firm is ready to use its expertise in the development of metal parts to expand its product line into items for other industries.

The company's 36,000-square-foot factory in Changhua County turns out such stamped parts as cap and tee nuts. Its strong R&D capability enables it to develop innovative products.

"We use our own well-experienced technicians to make drawings of hardware for the furniture industry," says Hsien Hsing's president, S.Y. Bai. "Many of our products are designed this way. Besides developing innovative hardware ourselves, we also accept orders from foreign customers on an original equipment/design manufacturing (OEM/ODM) basis."

More than half of the company's products are exported, mainly to the U.S., Western Europe, and Southeast Asia.

To cope with the sharp increases in the price of steel and other materials over the past year, Hsien Hsing claims to have absorbed most of the hike in production costs. "The price of iron and steel in the domestic market has risen 70% over the past year," Bai explains, "but we haven't adjusted the prices of our products upward, because we want to stay competitive. And we're striving to enhance our international competitiveness through the rapid development of more innovative products; over the past few months, for instance, we've introduced numerous specially designed products aimed at attracting new customers."

All of the company's products have to pass stringent quality-control procedures, says Bai: "We've imported state-of-the-art inspection devices to ensure the quality of our products. We've built up a good reputation in the international market, and we'll take every step necessary to keep our corporate image from being damaged by defective products."

The company is also determined to expand its product line. "With our experience in making stamped parts, we can easily move into the production of forged parts simply by installing new production equipment," the president claims. "Forged parts have wider application than stamped parts; so if we add them to our product line, we'll be able to expand our customer base to other industries such as automobiles, motorcycles, household hardware, and construction."

To accommodate the planned expansion, Hsien Hsing recently bought 323,400 square feet of land for a new plant, close by the old one, which is expected to be completed within one year.

The company's sales were flat in 2003, but with the worldwide economic recovery it is looking forward to a substantial growth this year.



The Yournturn Hardwares Corp. is a manufacturer and exporter of high-end nuts and bolts for wood and metal furniture. Its most sophisticated and hottest-selling items are insert nuts, which the company has developed by itself.

These nuts are produced by specially designed machines and are available in five types and various sizes. "Our insert nuts are made especially for ready-to-assemble furniture," comments M.H. Deng, Yournturn's president. "They are designed to fill the varied needs of furniture jointing systems. We use strict quality-control procedures and inspection systems to ensure that our products meet the requirements of manufacturers that specialize in the production of high-end furniture."

Unlike many of Taiwan's manufacturers of nuts and bolts for general use, which have moved their production offshore in search of lower production costs, Deng insists that his company will stay in Taiwan and concentrate on the production of insert nuts and other high-end products. "Insert nuts have to be inserted in K/D furniture at a 90-degree angle to ensure accurate assembly," Deng says. "Because of this, the processing of the inner thread of insert nuts is the most important step in production. To ensure precision, we use special tapping machines that we develop ourselves."

Standardized Production

Younturn uses about 30 computerized numerically controlled (CNC) machines to ensure standardized production. For example, Deng says, "With the help of our fully automatic tapping machines, we can control the quality of our products 100%; all of the products turned out by the automatic machines are defect-free." Besides ensuring quality, the CNC machines have helped the firm boost its annual production from less then 30 million nuts five years ago to 60 million today.

High quality comes at a price. "Our insert nuts are priced three to five times as much as counterparts made by our mainland Chinese rivals and twice as much as those from competitors in Taiwan," Deng notes. Despite this huge price difference, he continues, "Our products sell well in Europe and especially Japan, which are very demanding of quality."

Of the company's total output, 80% goes to Europe and Japan. "The U.S. used to be our largest outlet, but our presence there has been shrinking for years especially after the outbreak of the Asian financial crisis in 1997," Deng laments. "A few years ago our old American buyers began demanding that we supply them with cheaper products, as mainland Chinese manufacturers do. Since we can't supply high-end products at low prices, we've gradually pulled back from the U.S. market. Recently, one of my old U.S. customers told me that he couldn't depend on the supply of cheaper products, and was considering resuming business relations with us. This indicates that my persistence in supplying high-end products is correct."

In addition to insert nuts, Younturn also offers joint connector bolts, combination screws, cap nuts, cross dowels, connector fittings, and nylon twin wheel casters. Custom-designed items as well as standard products are provided.

Quality is ensured through the use of molds made from zinc-alloy steel imported from Australia. This material, Deng explains, "is suitable for the production of high-end products because it can handle much higher torque than other materials." The company has to date developed about 30 molds, each costing more than NT$200,000 (US$5,900 at NT$33.8:US$1).

To meet the needs of the fast-changing global K/D furniture industry, Younturn strives constantly to develop innovative products that can bring in new customers and bolster the competitiveness of old ones.