RI furniture industry predicted to take off
RI furniture industry predicted to take off
JAKARTA (JP): Executives here believe Indonesia will become a
regional furniture center provided the domestic industry starts
using sophisticated technology, instead of traditional machines.
Teguh Tjia, the representative manager of Biesse Asia Pte Ltd,
a supplier of Italian woodworking machines, told The Jakarta Post
that Indonesia had several comparative advantages, including
abundant raw materials and low-cost labor, which would allow it
to lead the regional furniture market.
He said the country's furniture manufacturers had not taken
advantage of their place in the market because they were
reluctant to use sophisticated technology, causing the domestic
industry to lag behind other countries'.
"The mind-set of our manufacturers must be changed. They will
lose if they still believe furniture is craftmanship. They have
to apply a so-called 'scientific furniture', that is furniture
produced by sophisticated technology," he said during a break at
the Woodworking and Forestry Indonesia '96 exhibition at Jakarta
Kemayoran Fairground yesterday.
The exhibition, featuring about 270 participants from several
countries, ends Nov. 16.
Two other businessmen taking part in the exhibition, Luciano
Checco, the sales and marketing manager of Italy's Autec Asia,
and Werner Neubauer, the general manager of the German Machinery
and Plant Manufacturers Association, shared his view.
"Indonesia started developing the furniture industry much
earlier than its neighboring countries Malaysia and Thailand.
Yet, because Indonesian manufacturers fail to maintain the
quality of their products, the latter countries have left
Indonesia far behind," Checco said.
Poor quality results from traditional equipment, which can't
do things like modern machines. They are less precise, he said.
Neubaur cited data from the German Machinery and Plant
Manufacturers Association saying that Malaysia and Thailand spent
about US$130 million and $115 million respectively on German
machines alone in 1995, while Indonesia purchased about $75
million worth of German machines.
"In order to catch up with or even surpass Malaysia and
Thailand, Indonesia has to replace their traditional furniture
machines with sophisticated machines," Neubauer said.
Tjia said modern technology allowed some countries, like
Taiwan, which lacked raw materials, to establish a well-
performing furniture industry. Taiwan's total furniture exports
amounted to $2.72 billion in 1994, against Indonesian furniture
exports of less than $100 million.
Besides domestic furniture manufacturers being reluctant to
adopt sophisticated technology, Tjia said, that few businessmen
here were interested in the furniture industry because they
considered it to be "not prestigious like the car industry" and
that it required talented craftsmanship.
Tjia and another exhibitor, Rolf Kamper, managing director of
Germany's Siempelkamp, believe the furniture industry's regional
center will move to Indonesia because of rising labor costs in
Malaysia and Thailand. They said other countries in the region,
which had cheaper labor, lacked timber.
"Indonesia should become the center of the furniture industry
in the Asia-Pacific region. But, if we are late in replacing our
technology, I'm not sure it will happen," Tjia said.
Italy and Germany, two of the world's top producers of
furniture machines, are competing to sell to Indonesian
manufacturers. The countries were well represented at the
exhibition. (jsk)