Shortcomings at Company Level to Export-2

Design

Much of the value of furniture is made in the design phase. Manufacturing or carving is supposed to transform a drawn design into a functionally and/or aesthetically performing product. Proper design training is non-existent.
Design capacity in Pakistan is declared as being very fragile and mostly based on ancient traditional ones (sold “as they are”), or copied designs from buyer’s photographs or magazines. Usually detailed design or technical drawings are not deployed to convey the design onto wood components.
Clear and uncomplicated are the words currently used to describe the wooden household furniture fashion. Rustic or country designs have fallen out of style in the last couple of years. Asian themes appear to be appreciated, what may be a positive notion for Pakistan. But reddish, shiny lacquer finishes are a past trend to a large extent. The interpretation of such current design trends should be expedited in Pakistan, if a modernization of furniture trends is sought for.
Function also continues to influence design at market as LCD/plasma TVs are incorporated into home entertainment and bedroom pieces. Taller dressers offer better viewing of the TV from the bed. Home entertainment centers are made with taller TV carts to raise the unit to a better viewing height and allow more storage underneath.

Finishing and lacquering

Finishing tends to be a common bottleneck for furniture coming from developing countries. The quality of final polishing of carvings needs to be improved, as well as the consecutive painting and lacquering. It should be understood that these work processes are none less important than the actual carving. On the contrary, a bad finish can lower the value of the product, and downgrade unnecessarily the carver’s skilled input. Too much variation in blending the colors, paints and solvents is routinely observed. These should follow controlled standard procedures for uniform quality.
Matte finishes are currently well accepted in decorative small furniture items (so-called occasional furniture). But in larger household furniture items the situation is more mixed. Antiquated or natural (visible grain patterns) surfaces have been in fashion in the recent years, and this trend has certainly not been marked by all producers. The shiny or satin lacquered surfaces are still the common norm in many producer countries, but pretty much out-dated in the overseas markets.
Closely linked with the former observation is the technical inadequacy of some key equipment. For instance, if the compressors used for spraying the lacquer is too weak, no proper finishing quality can be achieved. Brush-painting consumes more lacquer and should be avoided. Human health is a growing concern in wood lacquers, and it should be taken seriously into account by exporters to Europe, for example.