Taiwan's Stay-at-Home OA Chair Makers Survive with High-quality, High-end, and Customized Products

Taiwan's furniture industry has been shrinking for decades as producers have migrated to mainland China and Vietnam in search of more favorable manufacturing conditions. Some, however, have remained in Taiwan to produce office furniture, design-oriented and customized metal furniture, and other types of furniture that require greater technological input, multiple functions, and ergonomic design.

These manufacturers say that they have kept production in Taiwan mainly because they feel comfortable operating at home, where they have access to a comprehensive, highly efficient network of subcontractors and satellite plants that supply virtually all of the parts needed for high-end furniture products.

Office automation (OA) chairs hold a key position in the island's office furniture industry, and their manufacturers have been more aggressive than others in upgrading manufacturing technology in order to turn out sophisticated products that meet upscale market demand.

One of the foremost examples of this trend is Chueng Shine Co., one of the few local companies that specialize in high-end OA chairs. Chueng Shine has kept its production base in Taiwan to concentrate on the development of innovative and highly functional products.

Founded in southern Taiwan in 1981 as a processor of hardware products, the company converted to the making of OA chairs in 1988; since then, it has built up an integrated production line that turns out products with 70% local content. The firm claims that it can handle all critical manufacturing processes in-house, including iron and steel shearing, forming, and processing. Highly polluting processes such as electroplating and paint-spraying are subcontracted to supporting factories with good pollution-control facilities.

Friendly to the Environment

“All of the products that we make are recyclable in compliance with the environmental-protection regulations adopted by the industrially advanced nations,” states Lu We-chin, the company's president. “For instance, we employ environmentally friendly PP (polypropylene) instead of toxic PVC (polyvinyl chloride), and we economize on the use of formalin in wooden panels. At the same time, we bolster the structure of our products by using specially designed mechanisms.”

Chueng Shine has been working all-out for years to improve its production processes and upgrade its quality-control procedures in accordance with ISO standards; as a result, it has won ISO-9002 and ISO-9001:2000 certification. Also, comments the president, “To keep production costs down, we focus on minimizing material waste, maximizing production efficiency, and reducing product defects.”

In pursuit of its focus on high quality, the company has invested in sophisticated testing equipment along with automated production equipment. Its advanced production and testing facilities include welding robots, computerized numerical control (CNC) pipe-bending machines, pressing machine, and devices for testing torque, loading, durability, strength, and pressure.

The firm constantly develops innovative products, many of which have been granted patents in Japan, the U.S., and Europe. In recent years it has devoted an increasing amount of effort to the production of ergonomically designed mesh OA chairs, which today are available in a variety of colors and adjustable seat height, headrest angle, armrest height, lumbar support height, and back tilt tension.

Another top maker of OA furniture, Chuan Lin Wang Co., was also established in southern Taiwan, in 1984. It specializes in the production of complete chairs as well as parts and components.

Today, the company operates three integrated factories with a total production area of 75,000 square feet and advanced in-house facilities for metal-parts forming, PU (polyurethane) and PP (polypropylene) foaming, and plastic injection molding, tooling, and assembling.

By striving continuously to sharpen its edge in production and R&D, Chuan Lin Wang has built a solid grounding in the market with sophisticated products that carry ISO-9001:2000 and ISO-14001 approval.

The company's workforce of about 100 includes engineers, designers, and workers who are quality conscious and highly skilled. In addition to parts for office furniture, they can turn out up to 3,500 office chairs and enough other products to fill 15-20 TEU (twenty-foot-equivalent) containers per month.

Attention to Quality

Chuan Lin Wang has paid close attention to quality ever since its inception. “We use a strict quality-assurance system, covering everything from design to manufacturing processes,” explains the firm's president, Wang Te-shan. “All of our products have to pass strict testing and evaluation, as well as a reliability and durability analysis program that has been certified by SGS Yarsley. All of our testing procedures are in accordance with ANSI/BIFMA standards.”

The company turns out most of its products on an OEM or ODM basis, and many are patented in Taiwan, the U.S., and mainland China. To keep up with world trends, it maintains a close eye on worldwide developments in chair functionality.

The firm has succeeded in diversifying its export areas, and today its main overseas markets are Japan, Europe, and the U.S.

Jia Goang Furniture Industry Co. has been making OA chairs for more than two decades and has established a solid reputation in the international market for high-quality, innovative products.

As an integrated manufacturer, the company can handle every step of product development and production from design and raw materials procurement to manufacturing, quality control, and packaging. “To obtain advanced manufacturing technologies,” reports Jia Goang's founder and general manager, Peter Lin, “we have cooperated with a Japanese plastic chemical manufacturer to fabricate high-end plastic materials that can enhance the durability and safety of our chairs.”

The company has continuously upgraded its manufacturing technology and its management, enabling it to gain ISO certification back in 2001. To keep competitive it constantly introduces new products that meet changing global trends, and most of its offerings have found popularity with consumers because of their high quality, innovative design, and user-friendly functions.

Jia Goang recently unveiled an ergonomic OA chair featuring a height-adjustable headrest that also tilts backward and forward, along with a patented back consisting of two specially designed frames equipped with a weight-sensing mechanism that provides greater comfort by adapting to the weights of different users.

Operating on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the company has enjoyed steady growth in annual output. Its major export markets are Japan, the U.S., and Southeast Asia.