Modern Home's TV Stand Wins Gold Medals at Top Invention Exhibitions

Innovation points way to company's future

Modern Home Furniture, an affiliate of the Modern Home Group, is a dynamic design-oriented furniture manufacturer that operates in both Taiwan and China. In addition to furniture, the group also makes lighting and electric products.

Modern Home was established in Taiwan back in 1978 as the Rei Jean Enterprise Co. In its early days the company's products consisted mainly of lighting products, and in the 1980s it became one of the leading lighting manufacturers on the island; later on, however, the deteriorating manufacturing environment caused by soaring wages land prices at home prompted a migration to China.

Following the lead of many other Taiwanese lighting manufacturers, Rei Jean began moving its production lines to the other side of the Taiwan Strait in 1993 and changed its name to Modern Home Lighting. Initially, the company established a 3,000-ping (one ping = 36 square feet) in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, with a workforce of about 200.

The company worked hard, developed rapidly, and built up a good reputation for quality lighting products. Then, in 2000, Modern Home Lighting decided to diversify into furniture, aiming to attract more customers with high-end furniture items to go with its lighting products.

In response to the unexpectedly rapid expansion and booming demand in the furniture market, the company established an independent firm—Modern Home Furniture—to handle the furniture business. The new firm now offers a variety of furniture products, some of which are designed especially to go with the Modern Home Group's lighting items.

In addition to its lighting and furniture units, the group has two other affiliates: the Alart Home Collection Co. and Changxin Electronics Technology Co. The former is charged with marketing Modern Home's products, including lighting, furniture, and artistic glassware, while the latter turns out electronic parts mostly for the group's lighting and furniture products.

Modern Home's production base in Dongguan currently operates six plants covering a combined area of 120,000 pings, about 40 times the initial manufacturing space, and its work force has soared to 5,000-6,000. “We have moved almost all of our production lines to China, and today our operation in Taiwan handles only financial and marketing matters as well as the sales on the island,” comments Roy Chung, Modern Home's general manager.

High-end Innovation

“With a strong R & D team and long experience in the lighting field, we are capable of developing high-end furniture to cater to the tastes of high-tier consumers,” Chung goes on. “Our R & D team usually comes up with an average of 100 different designs for various furniture items every month, and we carefully choose the ones that are suitable for commercial development.”

The company's furniture shipments reached US$40 million in 2009, with the United States and Europe being the major overseas outlets.

Modern Home used to produce mainly on an OEM basis, but in recent years it has upgraded to ODM. “Innovation plays an important role in the manufacturing industry,” Chung explains, “so we have spared no effort to enhance the quality and function of our products and have kept introducing new designs every once in a while.”

In 2008 Chung led the company's R & D team in developing a folding TV stand and foldable computer desk which can be easily assembled in five minutes with the bare hands. The two can be regarded as a sort of DIY knockdown furniture, featuring easy assembly along with compactness and simple design.

“The concept of the innovative structure of the easy-folding TV stand and computer desk can also be applied to other furniture items,” Chung comments. “We have decided to put more emphasis on developing more such furniture items in the near future.”

These two products have attracted strong attention after being introduced in 2009--particularly the TV stand, which won the “Gold Medal” at the 38th International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva this year and another “Gold Medal” at the 25th Invention New Product Exposition (INPEX) in the U.S. city of Pittsburgh. The former is the world's largest marketplace for inventions, and the latter is the largest invention show in North America.

“The honors we won at those two international invention exhibitions have encouraged us to continue improving our manufacturing technology and the quality of our products as well,” Chung sums up. “We will commit ourselves to putting more effort into the furniture industry and continuing to develop innovative high-end products.”