AFTER years of taking a battering, local furniture manufacturers are ‘wheeling and coming again!’ For three days — August 15-17, 2003 — several designers and manufacturers confidently displayed their products at the trade show dubbed ‘Our High Point’. The name is a spin on possibly the largest furniture trade show in the world held annually in North Carolina called ‘High Point’.

The name, however, is also symbolic of the efforts of furniture producers in turning the local industry around in the context of a rapid decline over the past decade or so.

Since 1995, imports of furniture and parts have grown from US$19 million to US$30 million in 2000. During the same period, exports of furniture fell steadily from a high of US$3.4 million to a low of US$344,000. The domestic production of furniture, wood and cork products have consistently declined from J$117 million in 1995 to J$84 million in 2001.

Much of this decline can be attributed to the growing intensity of international competition. A similar decline is being experienced in the US. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, the wood-furniture manufacturing industry has lost 34,700 or 27 per cent of its jobs since 2000. Increasing competition, particularly from imports of wooden furniture from China, has led to business closures, downsizing, mergers and acquisition. In response, a coalition called the American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade expressed their intent last month to petition US trade officials to investigate and possibly impose Anti-Dumping duties on Chinese-made furniture.

While trade remedies such as Anti-Dumping and Safeguard measures can be used to provide some assistance to face fierce international competition, local furniture producers must engage the task of transforming the industry and restructuring production to meet the competitive challenge. It is not business as usual! Dark stain, heavy, solid, mahogany, antique furniture cannot be the only game in town. The challenge will require the local industry to produce unique, flexible designs to suit the demands of the modern lifestyle.

But, at the heart of the transformation and restructuring process is the need for members of the industry to come together and craft strategies that can enable them to compete. This, arguably, is the greatest challenge facing the industry. Distrust, selfishness, and individualism are difficult traits to overcome. But it must be done to effectively rise to the awesome challenges of globalisation.

Over the past five years or so, a group of local furniture producers have been quietly facing this challenge. In the midst of the onerous task of staying alive and struggling to meet their weekly paybills, these producers have come together and established the Jamaica Furniture and Wood Products Association (JaFWA). In an effort to turn the industry around, JaFWA has undertaken a range of activities including:

* Preparing a Plan of Action outlining the steps to be taken by local producers to rebuild the industry;

* Forging a strategic alliance with the Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA) and the Small Business Association of Jamaica (SBAJ), the Jamaica Craft Producers Association (JCPA) and other small business associations;

* Initiating dialogue with regional counterparts to develop a Caribbean Furniture Association;

* Contracting the services of an international expert to do a preliminary assessment of the developing machine-assisted woodcrafts in Jamaica and the region;

* Contacting local and international designers in seeking assistance for a design-led transformation of the industry;

* Organising a special showing of local furniture for the international furniture giant, Rooms To Go;

* Meeting with ministers Paulwell and Assamba to seek government support and assistance for developing a long-term adjustment plan for the industry and assistance in developing a Resource/Design Centre (which was identified in the National Industrial Policy since 1996); and

* Requesting assistance from the following institutions: HEART, Jamaica Business Development Centre, Bureau of Standards, JAMPRO, Anti-Dumping and Subsidies Commission, Scientific Research Council, Forestry Department, University of Technology, University of the West Indies and Northern Caribbean University.

In the face of very little official institutional support for the industry, JaFWA has persisted in its efforts to transform the local industry to meet the challenges of global competition.

The trade show, Our High Point, is but the most recent attempt of the industry to ‘pull itself up by its own bootstraps’. The show, organised by Ainsley Henriques in collaboration with the JaFWA, showcased furniture designs in wood, wood with corian, wood with metal, bamboo, metal, upholstery, and more. “It was refreshing to see the mix of materials used,” remarked interior designer, Wanda Stephenson. “It was great to see new ideas in colours and design of wicker furniture displayed,” she added.

Jeff Knott, vice-president, International Rooms To Go, declared the event a successful new beginning for the local industry to come together. Fitz Jackson, the minister of state in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, also gave the event thumbs up. He promised to use his position as chairman of the Economy and Production Committee of Parliament to pull together the relevant Government institutions to shore up support for the local industry.

JaFWA’s next major event is a furniture/accessories auction at the Knutsford Court Hotel on Tuesday, August 26, 2003, at 6:00 pm. After years of fighting against the odds to rebuild the local furniture industry, these events mark an important milestone for the industry players. Indeed, the efforts truly encapsulate the furniture industry’s High Point.

Dr Rosalea Hamilton is a trade policy consultant and CEO of the Institute of Law & Economics, www.ilejamaica.org

E-mail: rosaleahamilton@hotmail.com