How to start small furniture factory???

[dooyoo]

Hi everyone.
I have been importing some flat packed furniture from China and it has been going very well. But quality is so so, OK I am getting what I am paying for, product costs £11 here in UK in my warehouse.
I guess would be naïve to expect anything super quality.
But I am strong believer that to survive in future it will be a key factor to cut out every middle man, to beat competition.
So that would mean that I need to produce goods and sell them to public myself.
But at the moment I have no clue about manufacturing process and where to begin, what kind of machinery I need, where to get supplies, etc.
I would be very happy if someone could point me the right direction where to start!!!
Thank you.

 

[Tim Coulter]

The reason that most of the manufacturing industry has disappeared from Europe is that high labour costs and huge amounts of red tape (for example, onerous health and safety rules) have made it prohibitively expensive to make anything here.

Do you seriously believe that it will be more economical for you to make your own furniture than to buy it from a volume producer in a low-cost country like China?

Setting up to manufacture furniture is a major commitment and entails a sizable investment. Even if you ignore all the hidden costs (like having large amounts of money tied up in stock or work-in progress), I can't imagine how you could get costs down below the China rates.

If you really feel that this is something you want to try, perhaps you should investigate making very high-end products, maybe even one-off custom designs, where the quality and uniqueness is your key differentiator - not the cost of production.

However, if you have already built a customer base around flat-pack furniture and you think that quality is not quite up to scratch, wouldn't it be better to work on finding an alternative supplier that can offer a slightly better product?

 

[dooyoo]

Well, I am from Eastern Europe, where one person's labour (carpenter's) fair wage in smaller city is about £500/month. To rent premises is about another £500/month.
And machinery that I would need can be bought for about £10 000, used ones even cheaper. And of course there are bills and taxes.

So if these 2 workers can produce a container load in a month. Which, according to one of my friends who works in such a place, is very doable. Is pretty much the same what would cost me to ship such a container from China.

I am talking about really micro factory that would only produce about 5 simple products with up to 4 employees.

But the thing is I have a control over manufacturing process/ quality, it will be harder for someone to undercut my products, and it wont be that if I develop a product with some Chinese factory, and then they just manufacture it to someone else. And I can put on it "made in EU".

 

[Tim Coulter]

I have to admit that I have no experience in manufacturing - just an intuitive belief that it's really hard to make a success of such a labour-intensive business in a region that is expensive and over-regulated, like Europe.

However, you seem to have done some research and maybe your connections in Eastern Europe will enable you to make a success of this.

I would recommend doing some accurate costings before you move forward with this, which will entail getting detailed information about material requirements and the productivity rates that you can reasonably expect to achieve. Can't your friend help out with this information, since he/she already has a first-hand view of the manufacturing process?

Also, are you sure that these low manufacturing costs can be sustained in the long term? Isn't there are risk that, as Brussels extends its stranglehold over the new EU member states and forces them to fall in line with the numerous EU directives, that your forecast savings will be eroded?

One other thought: since you already have connections in your home country, I imagine it wouldn't be too difficult to find an existing micro factory that has some excess capacity. Can't you negotiate an exclusive manufacturing deal with one of them, using your own product designs. It's true that their margin would eat some of your profits, but it would also eliminate all of your risk, enabling you to test the viability of the idea (and iron out the wrinkles at your own pace) before making an expensive commitment to your own manufacturing operation. As a side benefit, you would also get to see and learn how this process works, which is essentially what your original question was asking.

 

[Billmccallum]

A small factory could cost as little as £5,000 to set up.

Planer/Thicknesser
Router Table
Bench Saw

Plus a range of hand tools and possibly a spray booth.

A small unit (depending on location could be as little as £500 a month.

The big issue is raw materials, pre-treated (kiln dried) timber can be expensive in the UK and if you don't use kiln dried then you can get lots of returns after 6 months or so.

Many years ago, I helped a furniture maker set up a factory (got him £9k in grants) and developed the business brand. A year after he started, he came back and asked me to take on the sales role for him and set up a new retail company on the high street.... the point is, I know it can be done on a relatively small budget.

 

[Billmccallum]

just an added note... it may be possible to start from a home workshop/garage.

 

[Konstantin Korkov]

Currently taking part in a medium size enterprise, manufacturing furniture, based in Bulgaria. Looking to expand in other countries.
E.g. to do import-export

 

[Ravie Jain]

Hi everyone.
I have been importing some flat packed furniture from China and it has been going very well. But quality is so so, OK I am getting what I am paying for, product costs £11 here in UK in my warehouse.
I guess would be naïve to expect anything super quality.
But I am strong believer that to survive in future it will be a key factor to cut out every middle man, to beat competition.
So that would mean that I need to produce goods and sell them to public myself.
But at the moment I have no clue about manufacturing process and where to begin, what kind of machinery I need, where to get supplies, etc.
I would be very happy if someone could point me the right direction where to start!!!
Thank you.

Hi !

We at My Industries, India manufacturer the wood furniture. You may import from us.