DESTINED TO SUCCESS?

Rank two worldwide among the exporters in 2020, with China just ahead – it has to be admitted that the Polish furniture industry has been doing extremely well in recent years. Will this be the case forever?

1/3 OF THE EXPORTED FURNITURE GOES TO GERMANY

The Polish furniture industry flourishes – without any doubts. We have worked quite well even in the event of an interruption of the supply chain, production and sales restrictions imposed on the industry in the previous year. The main export directions for the manufactured furniture are the European Union member states, including:

-> Germany where approx. 35% of the furniture were exported (close to EUR 4.5 billion for 2020)

-> Czech Republic (EUR 885 million)

-> Great Britain (EUR 796 million)

-> the Netherlands (EUR 791 million)

-> France (EUR 773 million)

COMPETITIVE FURNITURE PRICES

So far, the price has been the largest advantage of the Polish furniture manufacturers on foreign markets. Unfortunately they increase, so the attempt to maintain the run of good luck will involve seeking new opportunities to reduce the cost of producing each piece of furniture. Where to look for them? If we have no impact on the availability of raw material and the resulting price increases, we just have to monitor the company’s design and production chain. Optimisation of the entire process by looking for vulnerabilities and leveraging automation may increase your company’s performance twofold. Shorter time for designing furniture, producing drawing documentation, smooth transition to the CNC machining process and readiness to receive unplanned last-minute orders will certainly increase the competitiveness of the company.

LOGISTICS, RELIABILITY, QUALITY

The position of Poland at the centre of Europe makes efficient transport of furniture to EU countries and all storage logistics and services a strong advantage for the furniture industry. Short lead times and surprisingly high quality of the furniture produced are 2 additional pieces to our “success of Polish export” puzzle. Reliability, well-trained personnel and state-of-the-art process facilities become a distinguishing sign of the Polish business.

FUTURE OF POLISH EXPORT

Will this be the case forever? Problems with the availability of raw materials, especially wood, increased production costs and, as a result, higher furniture prices encourage companies to question the future of the Polish export. In accordance with the principle of “better prevent than treat”, it is worth considering today what stages of our production process can be simplified and accelerated by, above all, automation. They can include reduction of design time, automation of a tedious and engaging process of developing of 2D documentation and production reports and elimination of errors in our projects. If we add seamless integration with ERP or PDM systems at the factory, an efficient processing preparation for NC machines and thus a smooth transition from designing to manufacturing, it may appear that the new performance of our company will be a surprise even for us.