Furniture manufacturing transformation and upgrading of raw materials from the "behind the scenes"

“The first month of Shenzhen is ready to send”, the first Shenzhen International Furniture Materials and Accessories Exhibition (Materials & Components) is coming soon. This is another new measure after the Shenzhen Furniture Industry Association launched the independent furniture and accessories exhibition in 2011. The original and auxiliary materials held the exhibition separately, and the organizers saw the new trend of the national policy and the urgent needs brought about by the upgrading and transformation of the industry as a whole. Whether it is the government's policy orientation or the market's consumption orientation, it is more and more strict in terms of quality, environmental protection and health in the furniture category, which is very close to the living environment of ordinary people. In the face of the upstream furniture manufacturing industry, the raw and auxiliary materials supply industry has gradually moved from the backstage to the front, in line with the overall development of the industry, actively and timely launch more and more new materials, new processes, new application technologies, and A variety of raw and auxiliary materials used in the field of furniture, such as wood, board, rubber, adhesives, paints, leather, fabrics, etc.

The standard is missing, causing manufacturers to choose only cheaper

Among the large amount of raw and auxiliary materials used in the production process of the furniture manufacturing industry, the state has relatively standardized and strict testing standards for chemical raw materials such as paints and adhesives. The reason is that such chemical materials are not only applied to furniture. A wide range of fields such as categories, decoration, and shoe bags also require chemical raw materials, which directly causes the relevant government departments to pay more attention to such raw materials than other categories.

On the other hand, wood, board, leather, fabrics and other categories are facing the problem of lack of judging standards to varying degrees. The country does not have corresponding strict standards, which leads consumers to be unable to clearly judge the pros and cons of their materials. The market is flooded with “all Solid wood, 100% pure solid wood, first layer calfskin, imported green skin and other gimmicks and slogans, and these so-called concepts and grades lack the evidence of the authority, resulting in some terminal vendors infringing consumers to some extent. True right to know, this is also one of the root causes of the "Da Vinci" incident last year and many of the "quality gate" events that have taken place in the past.

The reality is that domestic raw material suppliers are fully equipped to produce high-standard, high-environmental raw materials, but unfortunately, most of these high-end raw materials are still used in some overseas furniture products. It is because some foreign markets, especially Europe, Japan, the United States and other regions have developed a series of strict access standards for furniture products, which also shows the important role of industry product standards for the overall development level of the industry.

Due to the advanced and complex process and high raw material requirements, high-end materials and new materials lead to higher cost of these high-end raw and auxiliary materials than the general materials on the market. However, when the reaction is at the product end, there is no other general material. Alternative, so many small and medium-sized enterprises are usually more inclined to choose raw materials with lower prices, especially since the second half of last year, due to the impact of the real estate market, the purchase of raw materials of furniture enterprises has further declined, many original auxiliary The import and export volume of materials stores has shrunk by 30%, which is also the obstacle and difficulty faced by many raw material suppliers in promoting high-tech materials.

Consumption "Chongyang" misunderstanding, low recognition of domestic high-tech materials

Like many domestic products, consumers tend to show more favor for imported products or products made from imported raw materials, which also causes the price of foreign products in the furniture market to be much higher than domestic manufacturing. The status quo of the product. For the consumer psychology of this kind of consumer, many manufacturers also fully highlight their “noble bloodlines” from foreign countries in terms of raw material selection. The promotional slogans such as “imported leather, imported paint, imported solid wood” in the furniture store are everywhere. The guides introduced the products and praised the imported raw materials used in the products. In fact, most of the raw materials of many foreign brands are still processed and manufactured in China. Just like the current BMW and Mercedes-Benz, many of them are made in China, and they are from the hands of the Chinese people, but they are worth more in the market. As far as wood is concerned, the fundamental difference lies in the fact that different climatic and geographical environments make different woods. It does not mean that imported wood is better than Chinese wood.

It can be said that blindly admiring imported products has become a misunderstanding in the current mid-end consumption. At present, some excellent coatings and chemical companies in China have already had the same level of technology as foreign companies. Even their product exports and market share have surpassed some foreign brands. The only gap is the gap between brand values. The gap is laid by time and history. However, domestic products have higher cost performance, which is undoubtedly one of the most competitive advantages of domestic raw material suppliers.

Transformation and upgrading, raw materials from the "behind the scenes"

In recent years, raw material suppliers, both manufacturers and distributors, have gradually begun to try to move from behind the scenes to the front of the stage, and began to play a certain role in the overall furniture industry through various means. In 2010, the EGGER sheet alliance, including 7 famous flooring, furniture and cabinet brands, was launched and established by the well-known EGGER sheet in the industry. The German EGGER sheet was used as the standard to spread high-end sheet in furniture products. The application advantage; at the 27th Shenzhen International Furniture Fair in 2012, the China High-end Panels Alliance, led by Shenzhen Tuoqi Enterprise Co., Ltd., cooperated with 9 high-end panel companies in the alliance to hold the “upstream and downstream industries in the home industry”. The large-scale forum on the theme of response to changes in the chain has attracted wide attention in the industry.

At the same time, at some large-scale furniture exhibitions in China, more and more exhibitors of raw and auxiliary materials have been found. They have made great progress in terms of scale, investment and grades. Some special booths can already be used with furniture exhibitors. The booth was in the same breath. This has also attracted the attention of the organizers of the exhibition. Many exhibitions will set up separate exhibition areas for the original and auxiliary materials, and hold a series of forums and conferences led by the original and auxiliary materials.

Qian Jiang, general manager of Foshan Asia International Raw Materials Purchasing Center, said: "With the momentum of the country to guide the transformation and upgrading of traditional manufacturing industries, more and more raw and auxiliary materials manufacturers began to pay more attention to brand communication, and the enthusiasm of everyone to participate in and promote is unprecedentedly high. Through the exhibition, promote their new materials, new technologies, etc., and at the same time, the brand image of their own enterprises is constantly improving. It can be said that the raw and auxiliary materials industry is no longer the extensive living form in the past, but represents the high in the furniture industry. , fine, pointed 'source of origin'."

Of course, some large-scale raw material distributors have also become more and more aware of the strength of the brand through long-term cooperation with foreign high-end brand raw material manufacturers, and appreciate the value brought by the brand to the products and the advantages brought about by the development of the enterprise. This is another reason why raw material suppliers have increased their brand building and communication efforts.