Furniture Industries: Challenges of Regionalisation, Customisation and New Paradigm of Pricing

Abstract

The chapter is designed to discuss the preconditions for the competitiveness of the furniture industry, global networks and regional perspectives, as well as the competitive advantages of different regions such as the USA, Europe and the East. The challenges created by customisation and the needs of consumers for individual products are also discussed. As consumers become more and more focussed on furniture designed exclusively for them, the furniture business has to reorient its production and has to deal with a number of management issues. It is necessary to reconsider not only how to involve consumers but also how to keep prices competitive because even for an individual order, the customer is less and less willing to pay more. The issue of new product development is also discussed. It delves into the management of furniture companies, the characteristic organisational structures, and management models that could ensure the sustainability of the business. Particular attention is paid to the digital issues of furniture manufacturing and enterprise resource planning (ERP) in particular. An examination of how the furniture sector evaluates prices and costs, which are the most popular methods and which can be used for forecasting, looks at the most important global trends. Such cost estimation methods as cost-based, competition-based, analogous-based, and expert-based are discussed, highlighting the limits of their applications. Then discusses current trends and the current IT supply, which unfortunately does not fully meet the needs of customised furniture production, and digitisation within a small company becomes more difficult. So, companies have to recognise the limits of digitisation.

Citation

Mockevičienė, B. and Vedlūga, T. (2024), "Furniture Industries: Challenges of Regionalisation, Customisation and New Paradigm of Pricing", Mockevičienė, B. (Ed.) Participation Based Intelligent Manufacturing: Customisation, Costs, and Engagement, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 47-100. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83797-362-020241003