Two-speed furniture manufacturing industry in China, Lectra study finds
21/06/2017
Lectra recently carried out a global survey of companies in this industry, working with research group the Centre for Industrial Studies. The survey put a series of questions about the role of advanced technology in their manufacturing processes to furniture producers in North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and China.
One of the discussion points that was of greatest interest to Lectra centred on the number of respondents who said they are not using advanced technology at the moment but are in the process of looking at technology options as a means of changing the way they make their furniture. China was the region with the highest number of companies that put themselves in this category, with 17% of all respondents saying they are weighing up new technology options at the moment. This compared to 16% of respondents in Eastern Europe, 10% in North America and only 6% in Western Europe.
Western Europe had the highest proportion of respondents (58%) saying they already use advanced technology and intend to use it more widely in future. This figure compared to 50% in North America, 42% in China and 40% in Eastern Europe. Western Europe also had the highest proportion (14% of respondents) of companies stating that they run and want to continue to run artisanal production and have no intention of adopting technology. In China, 12% of respondents gave this answer, compared to 10% in North America and 8% in Eastern Europe.
Specific to digital cutting technology, Eastern Europe was the region in which the highest number of respondents said they already have solutions in place, with 46% of participants declaring that they use the technology already. China was second on this question with 37%, compared to 33% in Western Europe and 29% in North America.
“These results show the possibility of a two-speed manufacturing industry in China,” Lectra concluded. “In one lane, companies who are already familiar with automated technology and, in the other, those who have not yet made the leap.”
It went on to say that rising labour costs, “the stigma of the ‘Made in China’ label with its connotations of low prices and inferior quality”, and a desire to transform China into a domestic and international manufacturing powerhouse have spurred the Chinese government to enact the Made in China 2025 plan.
This is an initiative that aims to “reinvigorate the Chinese manufacturing industry”, Lectra explained, by switching from high-volume, low-quality manual production processes to higher value-added, innovation driven manufacturing. “Although a number of Chinese companies began their digital transformation long ago, the government will use a variety of methods to encourage those who haven’t yet begun, in order to move towards smart manufacturing, increase production efficiency and improve product quality,” the technology provider said.
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