The Globalization of the American Furniture Industry

Ameri potty piece of article of furniture manufacturers catch struggled with qualification cost-competitive harvest-tides everyplace the past decade. Several have closed in(p) U. S. facilities and built plants oversea or hired companies to make the goods in foreign countries and send them here. Many factors have influenced the decision to trial comprehend over seas including, labor costs, expenditure of materials, freight costs, time in transit, overall time to make a product and get it to market, and the amount of training compulsory for employees. A decade ago, nigh cytosine pct of the dinette sets, cabinets, dressers, armoires and other wooden pieces change in the linked States were produced here. Today, 75 percent to 80 percent is make in China, Taiwan, Vietnam and other Asian countries. (Chavez)In addition to production, many a nonher(prenominal) companies atomic number 18 in like manner bug outsourcing their benignant imagination functions. Many comp anies today view human resource outsourcing as one of the about viable options to save money and reform services while also making a strategic contri plainlyion to the transaction. (Clinton) proud forefront, North Carolina is often regarded as the furniture capital of the world. Every six months tall Point hosts The International Home Furnishing Market, which is the centrepiece to citys economy. Thousands of sales representatives, buyers, and designers go to the event. The massive heap show is the largest, most well-known, and some important furnishings constancy contend show in the world. merely, a hot study shows that North Carolina has addled nearly 80,000 jobs to China since 2001. Associated weightlift) Economist Michael Walden recently ex charge up, at that place is no question that North Carolina has unconnected jobs particularly in textiles and furniture manufacturing collectible to supranational trade agreements signed during the finis 15 years. Pri or to the World handle Agreement, North Carolinas textile and apparel jobs were saved from lower cost foreign producers. (Associated Press) To struggle some companies are looking to get by their products foreign. A group of high-end custom furniture manufactures created an organization called American Furniture Exporters.Their polish is to find cost effective moveway to export their goods overseas. The idea arose from the High Point market. We saw some decent (international) traffic in our space with buyers from Venezuela, Greece, Israel, Quatar, Mexico and elsewhere said Rick Moose the sales passenger car for Designmaster. (Gunin) La-Z-Boy Inc. , the nations second-largest furniture manufacturer, faced sales declines with its wood furniture, so they terminated some(prenominal) of their U. S. production and moved the work to China.In an April press release, the ships company came out again to promulgate that they were moving often of their upholstered furniture manuf acturing to Mexico. A Mexican-based facility is practical for La-Z-Boy because they rely firmly on custom orders in their upholstered segment and with its close proximity to the U. S. , orders volition be shipped much faster on land, rather than if they had to travel by ship from China. Speed to market for custom orders is a tenet of our brand promise to the consumer and the military strength of our U. S. facilities enables us to deliver on that promise.We made the decision to transition our domestic rude(a) and sewing operations while streamlining the forum aspect of production in the United States. Our new Mexican facility imparting be able to rapidly add together our domestic plants with cut-and-sewn fabrics and leather for custom orders and will complement the personifying cut-and-sew program from China, which supplies our U. S. manufacturing operations. (La-Z-Boy) The U. S. is not alone in the deportation of manufacturing of production overseas furniture giant IKEA imbed it to be cheaper to manufacture furniture in Ohio rather than producing it in Sweden and shipping it to the U.S. Ironically, the company IKEA came to, Sauder Woodworking Company, had shipped part of its production overseas to China to tolerate competitive. The companys electric chair, Kevin Sauder, said, We are to IKEA what China is to a dowry of furniture companies. (Chavez) Many people are fed up with the federal giving medications stance on international trade. James Copeland of Copland Industries/Copland Fabrics of Burlington, N. C. said, Deeply blemish U. S. trade policy toward domestic manufacturing is the single most important root cause of the illness.Every American deserves the right to provide for his family, to own a home and to educate his kids, precisely our flawed manufacturing and trade policies are taking this out. (McCormack) Copeland is psychological disorder because he is competing against foreign companies who do not have to pay workmans compensa tion, unemployment insurance, overtime, benefits nor do they have to deal with Environmental Protection execution (EPA), Occupational Safety and Health Regulations (OSHA) regulations or abide by child labor laws. None of these things alone drove jobs overseas. But each improverd the cost of doing communication channel and made a move overseas just that more necessary for some American companies. (Hall) Because we live in a modern, civilized nation we realize that at that place is a need for laws and rules that protect employees, but we also need to realize that businesses exist for the sole purpose of making a profit. Increasingly, well-intentioned government regulations also toil up costsand drive out jobs. (Hall) There may be championship in site for the American worker.During his campaign President-elect Barack Obama expressed support for tax benefits for companies that move on jobs on American soil. Obama introduced the Patriot Employer diddle of 2007 in the Senate las t year to reenforce companies that create jobs with benefits for American workers. (Maltby) Much the like North Carolina, Mississippi has also been greatly affected by the outsourcing of American manufacturing. Jay Moon, president of the Mississippi Manufacturers Association, hopes that lawmakers will do away with the inventory tax businesses pay on raw materials, works in progress, and ideal goods.Because China using favored-nation status to alluvion the American market with cheaper goods, such(prenominal) moves would support American manufacturers better compete with overseas companies making the same types of products. (Ayers) There are many other fill outs affecting the furniture industry, high gas prices increase shipping costs, job layoffs, and most directly, the nation encompassing house foreclosure crisis. When people are unable to economise a roof over their head, it is improbable that they are worried about the furniture in their home.The logic is simple, retail butt ins arent change any furniture because people arent get furniture, (Ayers) Since I am in outlet into the field of Interior Design I have seen the results of shipping production overseas first hand. This past summer I did an internship in a furniture terminus and nearly everyday we received a fax from an upholstered furniture company with a list of fabrics that had been discontinued due to the remnant of U. S. mills.This causes there to be much little selection and variety, which creates problems when one furniture retentivity wants to stand out from another or when a customer wants something new and unlike than what everyone else has. No one wants to pay a thousand dollars for a sofa when their dwell can buy a same one at Big Lots. Our store worked very closely with La-Z-Boy until they began to reduce their warranties and increase delivery time due to much of the production being done in Mexico. It is very difficult for an independently owned business to stay competit ive and also provide customers with quality goods.In our store, we carried both American made products and imports in order to stay competitive and satisfy a wide range of customers needs. Many people would posit if we carried American made products, but when they compared the prices they opted for the cheaper import goods instead. I also noticed increases in shipping costs over the endure of the summer, which translated into higher prices for our customers. To cope with the financial strain, we began to exactly make deliveries 2 days a week and encouraged customers to pick up their items when possible.An advantage a small business has over large companies or a foreign firm is customer service. I recollect that that is what keeps many businesses going, because a topically owned store is more potential to work with you personally and understand your needs. I find myself torn over the issue of outsourcing. Part of me wants to stick with the belief that the beaver quality goods ar e American made, but as I grow quondam(a) and are paying for things myself, I make out the benefits of lower costs due to outsourcing.I figure that the United States should take certain move to improve business here domestically, such as tax benefits for businesses, so that prices can be lowered and more people will buy locally. Because the future of industry and manufacturing jobs in America is unknown, I believe that we should focus more of our efforts on reading and training employees in fields that cannot be outsourced, such as teachers and health professions.Works Cited Associated Press. N. C. has lost nearly 80,000 jobs to China since 2001, report says. 30 July 2008. Local Tech Wire. 24 Nov. 2008 . Ayers, Jeff. Manufacturing Takes Hit. 19 Oct. 2008. Clarion Ledger. 24 Nov. 2008 . Caplan, Jeremy. Ikea CEO Anders Dahlvig on Surviving a Bad Economy. 18 Nov. 2008. TIME Magazine. 23 Nov. 2008 . Chavez, Jon. Overseas competitor challenges furniture industry. 22 Mar. 2007. T oledo Blade. 17 Oct. 2008 . Clinton, David. instruction 76% Of Major North American Companies Outsource One Or much HR Functions. 15 Apr. 2006. Rent To Own. 23 Nov. 2008 . Gunin, Joan. N. C. based American Furniture Exporters makes progress. 19 Nov. 2008. Furniture Today. 24 Nov. 2008 . Hall, Robert A. Who sent American jobs overseas? 11 Nov. 2008. American Chronicle. 24 Nov. 2008 . La-Z-Boy Furniture. LA-Z-BOY ANNOUNCES MOVES TO STRENGTHEN ITS NORTH AMERICAN OPERATIONS. Press release. 2 Apr. 2008. 24 Nov. 2008 . Maltey, Emily. Overseas outsourcing heats up again. CNN Money. 11 Nov. 2008. 11 Nov. 2008 . McCormack, Richard. The Free-Trade Debacle interior(prenominal) Manufacturers Vs. Multinationals. Manufacturing and Technology News 15 (2008).