Taiwan office furniture firm grows global footprint

2016/04/18

Como Furniture Enterprises Co. Ltd. in central Taiwan’s Changhua County is setting an example of global expansion for other local firms to follow.

The maker of office desks and chairs was an original equipment manufacturer for the world’s biggest names like IKEA from 2005 to 2008. It later blazed a new trail by establishing the Koplus brand in 2009. Como’s products are sold in more than 40 countries and territories worldwide.

Como Chairman Michael Ko said the secret of his firm’s success is an emphasis on R&D capabilities. “We’ve taken our customers’ health issues into consideration and made it a mission to produce the most comfortable chairs for work and home.”

This hard work has paid dividends. Como’s ergonomic office chair Bodyflex was awarded a Germany-based Red Dot Award in 2010, one of the highest-profile design competitions in the world.

“We also believe in a concept of living office,” Ko said. “The line between furniture for the office and home is blurring. More people may prefer working at home in the future, and we are striving to make a functional series with trendy colors suitable for all environments.”

Looking ahead, Ko said the company will springboard off the success of Koplus to tap into the children furniture market in Southeast Asia.

“Taiwan has seen a 60-year period of exporting furniture,” Ko said. “As local manufacturers continue moving to mainland China for lower labor and land costs, the only way to reverse the tide is to build up self-owned brands with high-quality and creative products made by automated processes.”

According to the latest furniture industry report by Kaohsiung City-based Metal Industries Research and Development Centre—a nonprofit organization for promoting technological innovation in Taiwan’s related sectors—the nation’s metal furniture exports, including office equipment, hit NT$17.2 billion (US$530.7 million) in 2013. This represents 74.6 percent of total furniture shipments abroad.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=243857&ctNode=2194&mp=9)