Integrated and BIFMA-certified manufacturing among local makers' advantages
Feb 09, 2015 | By Ken Liu
Compiled by KEN LIU
While some furniture makers in Taiwan have caught some global buyers' attention for being able to supply ergonomic OA (office automation) and residential furnishings, the majority continue to take a backseat to high-profile, branded makers in the West, who traditionally have been aware of the health-enhancing benefits of well-designed chairs, sofas and beds. The discussion of why western furniture designers have historically been spotlighted as pioneers would occupy tomes, not least of which involving issues as value systems, democratization of nations, socio-economic development. There is no simple answer to why Herman Miller and his peers were designing cutting-edge, ergonomic furniture when much of Asia was mired in poverty. In fact the word "ergonomic" does not have an equivalent in Chinese dictionaries nor had been a valued concept in Taiwanese and Asian furniture design and manufacture before wide-spread industrialization in the region.
But and as in most other manufacturing sectors in Taiwan since foreign buyers began sourcing products on the island, furniture makers have come a long way to slowly evolve from being mere original equipment manufacturers (OEM) to original brand and design manufacturers. Most suppliers in Taiwan, however, are unlikely college-grads born post-1980, so may be too insular for their own good, and lack overseas business experience to know how to set up distribution and marketing abroad.
The harsh realities of business also dictate furniture making in Taiwan, whose suppliers are often too busy filling OEM orders or rounding up new orders to think about innovative designs or new business models. And fluctuating business cycles have never allowed makers to build robust finances to invest significantly in R&D and hire talented designers, whose efforts must be continually supported for years before commercial success is achieved.
Fortunately Taiwan's OA furniture makers learn quickly as they adopt more adjustability in product designs, eco-friendly materials as nonflammable and nontoxic plastics, not to mention lighter yet more durable materials. And most of the island's furniture makers have set up highly integrated manufacturing to ensure product quality as OEMs, knowing they are more successful as contract suppliers to foreign brand-name distributors.
Taiwan makers' primary advantages to attract orders from distributors include patented products and technologies, as well as the U.S. Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) certifications, which prove safety, performance of office furniture.
Kuang ShinKuang Shin Enterprise Co., Ltd. has been in the office furniture industry for over 25 years, mainly making kids' furniture, OA chairs, and computer desks and now promoting the ET-100 BK series of worktables, which was debuted late 2014.
Kuang Shin's ET-100 BK worktable has adjustable tabletop and legs.
A rubber mechanism enables Pengxi's two-piece backrest chair to to be more freely angle-adjusted to suit many body types. 
The BIPOSE is Chueng Shin's OA chair of aluminum, engineering plastics, toxic-free metal pipes, nonflammable foams, and silky fabric materials. 
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