Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry Research Articles

Quality Expectations in the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry: The Foreign Buyers Perspective

Although, the ISO quality management system is often perceived to be marketing tool within the manufacturing industry its implications on the design-sensitive wooden furniture industry remain unknown. Therefore, a survey of 500 foreign furniture buyers was conducted at the Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF) to establish the status and perceived benefits of the ISO-certification in the furniture industry. The results revealed that although furniture purchase decisions is made on the basis of ten major attributes, ISO certification emerged as one of the more important attributes. Nevertheless, the influence of the ISO system on the product marketability is limited to specific markets, especially in Japan, Korea and East Asia which are markets most demanding for ISO certification. On the other hand, ISO certification generally improves the overall performance of the furniture companies and foreign furniture buyers prefer to purchase their merchandise from such companies due to their higher degree of confidence and product consistency. Despite the benefits to be derived, the lack of awareness prevalent among the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the furniture sector explains the low adoption level of the system in the furniture sector. Therefore, market demand alone is not sufficient to boost the adoption of the ISO quality system among furniture suppliers. It appears a concerted effort must be drawn up to boost the awareness of benefits to be gained, if ISO certification is to be expanded throughout the industry in the future.

Unsteadiness of the Resource-based Competitive Advantage in Absence of Competitive Strategy: Lessons from the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry

Unsteadiness of the Resource-based Competitive Advantage in Absence of Competitive Strategy: Lessons from the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry

Competitive Strategy Trends among the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry: An Strategic Groups Analysis

The competitiveness indexes of the Malaysian furniture industry are declining regardless of the strong growth of the over two last decades. Although there are nominated factors to analyze this conflict from resource based view, other factors from competitive strategy view should be considered to attain a comprehensive image of the industry's structure in the current situation. This study developed a strategic group analysis based on Porter's competitive business level strategy to examine the industry structure and its likely association with the current situation of the industry as well strategic trends in the future. The obtained results demonstrated that: There are at least four logical strategic groups in the industry. Major groups that form main body of the industry do not pursue a distinctive competitive strategic orientation and so the industry is placed in a fragile position in terms of the competitive strategy. The industry is significantly under force from intensive competition and bargaining power of buyers. Differentiation is the most efficient and Cost leadership is the least efficient strategy in the industry. The industry significantly attempts to develop its strategic activities toward distinct strategic orientations in general and differentiation more than two other competitive strategic orientations. Hence, moving from dispassionate groups toward differentiation group will be main strategic effort in the future of the industry.

Migrant Contract Workers and Occupational Accidents in the Furniture Industry

Studies on the rate of occupational accidents among migrant contract workers is sparse, although they are increasingly used in the furniture manufacturing industry in Malaysia. Therefore, the rate of occupational accidents among migrant contract workers in the Malaysian wooden furniture industry were studied in sixty furniture manufacturing factories, using a structured questionnaire. The two-part questionnaire were aimed at collecting data on comparative accidents rates among the foreign workers and local workers, while identifying the main factors that lead to occupational accidents. The findings of the study show conclusively that the migrant contract workers are less prone to occupational accidents compared to their local counterparts and hence, are more productive. Further, the results also revealed that the migrant contract workers have a more positive attitude towards the work and hence, pick up the essentials of safe working quickly. It must therefore be recognized that the production oriented mentality prevalent in the industry which has been argued to compromise occupational safety and health standards in the industry may be debatable. In this context, it is essential for the policy makers to re-examine the employment of migrant contract workers for the furniture manufacturing industry, as changing the psycho-economic parameters of the industry may be warranted before the industry is deemed attractive to the local workforce.

Determinants of Occupational Accidents in the Woodworking Sector: The Case of the Malayasian Wooden Furniture Industry

Studies on occupational accidents in the value-added wood products industry, particularly the wooden furniture industry is grossly lacking. Therefore, the risk factors for injuries to workers in the Malaysian wooden furniture industry were studied in fifty wood-furniture manufacturing factories, using a structured questionnaire. The three primary risk factors for accidents in the wooden furniture industry were: Nature of work, workers characteristics and prevailing safety climate, while the use of dangerous machinery and poor layout were found to be secondary accident causing risk factors. The findings of the study show conclusively that the prevailing safety climate and workers’ characteristics have the strongest influence on accident rate in the wooden furniture industry. It must also be recognized that the production oriented mentality prevalent in the industry appears to contribute towards the compromised occupational safety and health standards in the industry. In this context, it is essential for the policy makers to implement binding legislations that would safe guard the safety and health of the workers, while mandating the factory management to show commitment towards the workers health and safety to ensure a safe working environment in the wooden furniture manufacturing industry.

Technical Efficiency of the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry: A Stochastic Frontier Production Approach

Wood furniture industry is an important component in our manufacturing sector for it significantly contributes to the industrialization of Malaysia’s economy. Evaluating wood furniture industry’s level of efficiency is important to assist and provide a relative direction to small and medium firms on their business. The objective of this research is to examine the efficiency of wooden furniture industry by determining the technical efficiency using stochastic frontier production model. Results show that firm output is 54 per cent less than the maximal output which can be achieved from the existing inputs. The technical inefficiency on individual firm varies from 1.63 to 94.69 per cent and so does the potential to increase firm output from the existing inputs. This evidence suggests that many firms still operate below the efficiency level, confirming the conventional view that labor-intensive firms are most likely inefficient.

Malaysian wooden furniture industry: study of safety standards, compliance and consequential implications

The improvement of health and safety standards within the organisational context is an important issue of global concern. The traditional approach to managing workplace safety in Malaysia has focused on the technical aspects of engineering systems and processes, and it has attributed the majority of workplace accidents and injuries to unsafe working conditions instead of the unsafe work practices of employees. However, there has been a fundamental shift in the safety management research carried out in many countries and across diverse industries, which aims to measure the impact of attitudinal, organisational, cultural and social dimensions on occupational safety. The factors affecting the safety level in the Malaysian wooden furniture industry was studied in 30 wooden furniture manufacturing factories, using a structured questionnaire. The study found that although there were four determinants of the prevailing safety climate in the work environment, it was the management responsibility and safety precautions that had the strongest influence on safety climate. Further, the primary health and safety concerns among workers in the wooden furniture manufacturing industry were the air-borne dust, noise, chemical exposure, materials handling and occupational accidents. In this context, it is essential for the management to show commitment towards health and safety and incorporate safety precautions into the operational system, to ensure a safe working environment in the wooden furniture manufacturing industry. Further, in order to improve the safety level within the wooden furniture industry, the economics and policies that govern the implementation of safety and health precautions must be emphasised, as the wooden furniture industry is a cost sensitive industry.

The Safety and Health of Workers in the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry: An Assessment of Noise and Chemical Solvents Exposure

This study was carried out to evaluate the noise and chemical solvents exposure among workers in the wooden furniture industry in Malaysia. Portable noise-level measurements showed that the rough-milling operations recorded the highest noise-level in the furniture factories. Personal dosimeter measurement results showed that 43% of the workers were exposed to noise-levels higher than the permissible limit, while audiometric tests revealed that 34.7% of the workers suffered from hearing handicap, hence strongly recommending the use of noise protection gadgets among workers. As for the chemical solvents, the study found that the current exposure levels for both chemical solvents and formaldehyde in the Malaysian wooden furniture industry were higher than the Permissible Exposure Levels (PEL). Hence, workers in the surface coating departments must be provided with masks with filters, to ensure their exposure to chemical solvents are minimized. This study also revealed that despite the existent of occupational health and safety regulations in Malaysia, its implementation and enforcement within the wooden furniture industry must be improved to ensure the workers safety and health.

Determinants of Workers Health and Safety in the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry

Determinants of Workers Health and Safety in the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry

Export Performance on the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry: An Empirical Study

There has been a significant increase in the quantity and quality of international and export marketing research with respect to effective solutions toward export performance. However, an investigation on the impact of marketing strategy and export performance in a single industry is lacking. In addition, the influence of environmental factors to moderate the relationship between export marketing strategy and export performance has received little agreement. This research aims to investigate the relationship between export marketing strategy and export performance in the Malaysian wooden furniture industry as well as the influence of the moderating role of environmental factors on the relationship between export marketing strategy and export performance. Personal, mail, and phone interview methods were used to measure export marketing strategy, newly developed environmental factor variables (which consist of the global economic situation and certification), and export performance. The findings show that there is no direct relationship between export marketing strategy and export performance. Uniquely, the moderating effect of certification appears to moderate a few relationships between product and promotion adaptation, distribution strategy, design strategy, and target market specification on export performance. Managerial implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

The Impact of ISO 14001 on Production Management Practices: A Survey of Malaysian Wooden Furniture Manufacturers

A study was undertaken to evaluate the deterrents to the adoption of the ISO 14001, environmental management system and also analyze the transformation in production processes that had taken place among the certified companies in the Malaysian wooden furniture industry. The adoption of ISO 14001 environment management system among wooden furniture manufacturers in Malaysia is limited, primarily due to its high implementation cost as well as the low market demand. However, the ISO 14001 certified-companies value the cultural and technical manufacturing factors and hence, are inclined towards employee training for continuous improvement and high-technology application in furniture manufacturing. Further, the certified-companies are also focused on better product design, logistics services and environmental-friendly production processes, which leads to cost-effective manufacturing. Contrary to common belief, the adoption of ISO 14001 environment management system contributes towards cost competitiveness in wooden furniture manufacturing, which may encourage more manufacturers to adopt the system.

Dust-Emission from Abrasive Sanding Processes in the Malaysian Wooden Furniture Industry

A series of sanding experiments were carried out in a large dust tunnel, using an orbital sander with an aluminum oxide abrasive of 150 grit size, on twelve different hardwood species. Dust concentration measurements were taken using gravimetric isokinetic air-quality samplers. A field survey of 25 wooden furniture-manufacturing mills to ascertain the dust exposure levels at the sanding sections and also evaluate the labor productivity losses encountered among workers as a result of dust exposure. The results found that dust emission in the sanding process was primarily determined by the amount of wood removed. Further, the dust exposure levels at the sanding section in the furniture-manufacturing mills were above the standard 5 mg m-3 level and hence, control of dust emission and the use of dust protection gears by the workers must be enforced in the furniture-manufacturing mills to ensure the health and safety of the workers. Without such measures, labor productivity among the workers would be reduced.

Green manufacturing practices among wooden furniture manufacturers in Malaysia

The adoption of green manufacturing practices by the Malaysian wooden furniture industry is limited as is shown by a questionnaire-based survey of wooden furniture manufacturers. The lack of price premium for green furniture products and the high cost involved in adopting such practices have been identified as the major restraints. Currently most green manufacturing practices are related to the use of environmental-friendly materials.