Matthew Comfort's Scalable Furniture Receives Warm Response

True to its name, Matthew Comfort Co., Ltd. Has specialized in making comfortable, practical furniture since its founding 14 years ago. Over the years the company has won at least 20 patents on its innovative and user-friendly designs.

Recently it has been promoting several new patented pieces, among them tables with multi-step or step-free height-adjustment mechanisms and a do-it-yourself display rack with an adjustable frame to expand storage capacity. This scalability was introduced for people with limited living space; Japan is consequently a major market for the models.

Quality is another trademark of Matthew Comfort's furniture line. The company's height-adjustable tables have mechanical adjusters, which generally outlast the pneumatic-cylinder adjusters used in most rival models. Mechanical devices are also much less expensive, helping the company keep costs low.

The adjustable tables can be lowered to a height of only 6.5cm. Each weighs only 11.9 kilograms, but can bear a maximum load of 50 kilograms thanks to the use of a sturdy median-density fiber (MDF) top and metal legs. The size of the tabletop can be changed according to customer specifications; chairs are optional.

The company's scalable display rack comes in five different sizes. The GH065-01, GH066-01 and GH067-01 look like DIY-type closets without the cover boards. All five models come with several shelf boards, a bar for hanging clothes, and a long sliding mirror on the front side. The GH067-01 has two such mirrors.

The GH026-01 looks a lot like a TV cabinet. The space below the cabinet is divided into several smaller spaces for holding CDs, books, and consumer-electronic items.

Since their recent rollout, large orders from Japanese importers have been received. The company expects the demand for such items to boost its revenue by 15% this year.

Every year, Matthew Comfort spends around NT$20 million (US$570,000 at US$1:NT$35) on product development, which represents around 4% of the company's NT$400 million to NT$500 million (US$11 million to US$14 million) in annual revenue. The company has an R&D team of eight engineers responsible for design work.

Mathew Comfort has also invested heavily in automated production lines, enabling it to handle about 80% of its processing work in-house. Among its major production systems is an NT$18 million (US$515,000) baking system, which the company installed early this year. The system uses zinc-phosphate liquid to remove unwanted spots on metal parts used in the company's furniture pieces before they are transferred to the baking furnace. This process is more effective at removing spots than the use of ferric-phosphate liquid, which is used by most of the industrial baking facilities in Taiwan.

Matthew Comfort is one of the few furniture manufacturers in Taiwan that continues to do the bulk of its manufacturing domestically. The company currently sells around 1,000 separate product models, mostly metallic items. Japan absorbs 60% of Matthew Comfort's shipments, though the company has begun tapping the European market to avoid overconcentration on a single market.

For more information, please contact the company at: 378, Touchung Rd., Peitou Township, Changhua Hsien, Taiwan; Tel: 886-4-888-5192; Fax: 886-4-888-5197; E-mail: mccl@seed.net.tw; Websites: www.matthew.com.tw or www.cens.com/matthew