Almost 150 furniture industry representatives participated in the 2nd National Furniture Congress, which took place on 13 September 2017 as part of the Drema, Furnica and Sofab Fairs. In the atmospheric interiors of the fair trade Spire, the participants sought answers to the question "How to become number one in Europe?"
- Until 2030, we want to become number 1 in the furniture manufacture in Europe. It means that we need to increase the value of sold production by 150 percent. To succeed, such factors as productivity, innovation of our products, added value, as well as activities for intensive expansion, building the brand of Polish furniture in foreign markets and active seeking customers need to be taken into consideration. The fairs organized in Poland are one of the most important elements supporting foreign expansion - said the Manager of the Polish Furniture Programme coordinated by the Polish Development Fund (Polski Fundusz Rozwoju - PFR), Tomasz Wiktorski.
Many discussions were dedicated to the issue of innovation in the furniture industry, and especially the progressive robotisation. Industry 4.0. in the furniture industry means not only intelligent, automatic production process and transport operation, but also "smart furniture" - i.e. furniture allowing you to easily change the interior arrangement and combining many different functions. These are global trends which in the coming years will surely have an impact on the Polish furniture market.
The lecture by the Schattdecor CEO Mirosław Wolski on process management also inspired great interest. Revolutionary solutions applied for 1.5 years in the company's factory in Tarnów Podgórny deliver measurable positive results. Their basic assumption is a change in the employee position management system, where an employee being an object of the management become its active subject, co-responsible for the position and work process design.
Grzegorz Błażewicz from SALESManago drew the attention to the benefits of e-commerce as a method for innovative customer contact. The future of the furniture industry is online sale, which is growing at a very high rate. Although the selection and evaluation of available products will continue to take place mainly in the real world (e.g. in showrooms), more and more transactions will be made online, i.e. in an environment that allows easy comparing of prices and choosing the most advantageous offer.
Another speaker, Vice President of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, Krzysztof Senger, discussed the possible models of foreign expansion (from promotion, through investment, to potential acquisitions). The Congress ended with a lecture by Jerzy Osika from the Promedia company: How to use the healthy lifestyle trend in the furniture industry?
The organizers of the Congress included the Polish Chamber of Commerce of Furniture Manufacturers, Institute for Market, Consumption and Business Cycles Research and Międzynarodowe Targi Poznańskie.
Strategic Partners included: SCHATTDECOR, STAUFEN, the Polish Investment and Trade Agency and KPMG.
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