Take a tour of La-Z-Boy's Dayton, Tenn., facility with David Robinson, the plant's continuous improvement manager, and be prepared for a bit of temporal distortion. For as proud as Robinson is of the facility's current operations, his heart belongs to its "future state." The Dayton facility produces a wide range of upholstered furniture, including the famous La-Z-Boy recliner, in a wide variety of styles and fabrics—11 million possible product variations in all. The facility cuts and shapes its own wood parts, stamps and shapes metal for furniture mechanisms, and cuts polyurethane foam from large buns for cushions and padding. The plant uses a heijunka scheduling system to support its flow of materials to manufacturing cells and a plan-for-every-part (PFEP) method to ensure the right components are used in its varied products. In the manufacturing cells, employees build the frames, stuff and seal the polyurethane into previously cut and sewn components, and upholster each component.

The finished furniture is inspected and then packed for delivery. Each cell team of six to eight employees operates on an incentive basis and is managed by a "coach" who supervises up to five teams.pride lift chair specifications In an American furniture industry decimated by foreign competition, a determined drive for cost efficiency and continuous improvement has allowed La-Z-Boy to flourish, even during the Great Recession. prams and pushchairs edinburgh"If we were doing business the same way we did in 2005, somebody else would be here because we would already be closed," Robinson observes. living room chairs nilkamal"We are $50 million a year better now than we were."chair and table rentals in grand junction

La-Z-Boy has taken on the competitive challenge through its people, equipment and processes. Robinson says it is important to establish a lean culture in the facility, not just employ lean tools. bean bag chairs in ottawa ontarioTo that end, both managers and employees have been trained in lean concepts and involved in operational improvement efforts. barber chairs and stations wholesaleFor example, 23 managers and engineers have been trained in Six Sigma. Cross-functional teams completed 24 kaizen events focused on safety, quality and productivity. One of the process improvements the Dayton facility has implemented is its Flawless Launch Program, designed to build quality and manufacturability into new products. A production engineer is dedicated to ensuring products are designed for manufacturing and assembly.

Robinson acknowledges the plant has not had a flawless launch, but it has made great strides in reducing defects. He points to the plant's first effort at launching an electric lift chair. The first lift chair had about a 40% failure rate in the field. La-Z-Boy redesigned it and the second model had a 17% failure rate. The third time around, the plant used the flawless launch process. "We now have a fraction of 1% failure in the field," he reports. The Dayton facility has extended its continuous improvement efforts to its supply chain. The plant uses a supplier scorecard to evaluate performance on quality, delivery and cost. The plant established a supplier kaizen support team that travels to supplier facilities and helps identify opportunities to reduce waste. Companies that fail to cooperate with La-Z-Boy on cost-cutting initiatives may find themselves losing a customer. For example, the plant buys round steel tubing from a supplier. The tubing was too oily on delivery and was contaminating a detergent bath used to clean it.

Robinson asked to work with the supplier to find a way to reduce the oil, but the supplier refused. Robinson plans to install machinery to make the tubing. Other "future state" plans include building a centralized parts distribution center at the site, changing the size of manufacturing cells and installing additional automation, introducing iPads for the parts picking process, and manufacturing boxes and staples. They all boil down to a simple ambition, Robinson explains. "We want to be great."With the housing market returning and buyers feeling more comfortable with the economy, it’s good news for the furniture industry; since the housing and real estate market are the largest drivers of industry demand. Each year sales fluctuate based on design preferences from homeowners, renters and office professionals. Since 2014, there has been a steady annual increase of about 4% in new furniture sales among U.S furniture manufacturers. Predictions indicate that the increase will continue in the coming years.

However, there are also more precautions tagged onto furniture due to safety concerns, and higher transportation costs. For example, several experts in furniture manufacturing are attributing the increased furniture defects, such as unstable furniture, to some Asian imports which don’t adhere to U.S. safety standards. For more information on furniture recalls, visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Most large furniture manufacturers are able to successfully compete in equally sized economies of scale, while smaller manufacturers are usually more successful at competing with specialty items or high-quality craftsmanship pieces. The Made in CA manufacturers featured at the end of this article are examples of this point. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. revenue by product type can be categorized as follows: The recession shook up the furniture manufacturing industry and has challenged its companies to look at new ways to communicate with all types of generations – from millennials to baby boomers.

(See the Opportunities section) which details some of these new ways. Even though the face of the furniture industry is changing and embracing new technology, the negative image of labor and the ability to attract a younger workforce remains a key challenge to furniture manufacturers. Another economic challenge for the industry, are transportation costs; either transportation within the U.S. or exporting to other countries. One resource is the American Home Furnishing Alliance (AHFS)which offers resources and guidelines on carrier assistance, freight loss and damage claims, international container shipping programs and more. Other challenges have surfaced that include: Many manufacturers are bringing jobs back to the U.S. after overestimating offshore savings by as much as 30% as reported by Furniture Today. This miscalculation is attributed to factors such as: eroding cost advantages due to wage increases, lagging productivity growth, unfavorable currency values and rising energy costs.

Typically a trend will cycle per season with the first few months of the year being the slower periods; purchases will generally pick up during the spring months when home buying begins to increase. Some manufacturers may even shut down their plants, or only a few of them, in an effort to offset the slower months in furniture manufacturing. Many furniture manufacturers opt into selling to a network of retailers because they can gain knowledge about consumer trends and preferences, as well as promoting their brand. Designs are also fluctuating for home and office furniture manufacturers. As work styles change, there is an increased demand to offer flexibility to support numerous wires, cables and computer equipment in the office. As people incorporate a more open floor plan in their homes or add exercise rooms, furniture tastes and needs will also change. The housing market is growing and North America is considered the second-largest luxury furniture market and is expected to be the backbone of driving demand in the furniture industry.

According to a report from Technavio (an online market research and reports tool), luxury furniture is projected to increase with a 4% growth rate each year between now and 2019. These projections position furniture manufacturers, on a global scale to fine-tune their products for luxury designed furniture. Studies have also shown that more recently approximately 60% of new homeowners will fill their homes with new furniture. This helps to foster an expected growth of a 20% demand in furniture manufacturing just this year. Popular online retailers range from Wayfair, Amazon and Overstock accounting for the majority of online furniture sales. Many furniture manufacturers, such as Basset, IKEA and La-Z-Boy, are following suit and making their furniture available for online purchase as well. According to Furniture Today, “Three-fourths of upholstery buyers tapped online resources last year and 60% researched by visiting a brick-and-mortar store. With area rugs, 71% went online and 43% pre-shopped in-store…

Forty-five percent say they would never buy upholstery online, while only 7% refuse to buy a lamp online… Last year, 52% of online furniture shoppers through FurnitureDealer.net’s network of furniture stores used a mobile device to shop product. That percentage has grown significantly over the past five years. In 2010, only 5% of consumers used a smartphone to shop for furniture online.” Of the total online retail market, online furniture pieces are growing the quickest of all online retail sales. So, this is a huge opportunity for small furniture manufacturers who make up-scale or high-end furniture to either sell their products online or reach out to key online retailers to support their sales growth. In a nutshell, the furniture industry is changing but its image remains intact. A large challenge facing furniture manufacturers is their ability to overcome the negative perception with a younger workforce. As in other types of manufacturing environments, advanced technologies will also be introduced in furniture manufacturing.