Jeffrey Yong serves as vice president of Eurosa Furniture Co. (Pte) Ltd.
Eurosa Praises Quality Of American Timber
By Lucas Ngu
Singapore—Established 20 years ago, Eurosa Furniture Co. (Pte) Ltd. has come a long way since the first piece of furniture rolled off its production line. To these who happen to pass through this industrial region of Singapore quite frequently, it does appear that not much has changed at the 3.5 acre furniture plant through the years. But looks can be deceiving. Although the size of the factory has remained unchanged, the company’s furniture making operation has expanded by many folds with production facilities being set up in neighboring Malaysia and China.
Founded by Tony Lin, a member of Singapore Furniture Industries Council, Eurosa actually has its roots in Taiwan. In 1982, the company decided to relocate to Singapore, taking advantage of the less expensive labor cost that the island republic had to offer. In the early days, the plant employed mostl
Located in Singapore, Eurosa is 20 years old and its furniture plant is situated on 3.5 acres.
y Malaysian workers and used Rubberwood to produce furniture for the home and office.
Jeffrey Yong, the company’s vice president recalled, “Fifteen years ago, we decided to move our production facility to Malaysia. This resulted in the setting up of Eurosa Furniture (M) Sdn Bhd. The factory is 2.5 acres in size and it is located at Sungei Buloh near the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur.”
The plant employs 200 people for a six-day per week operation.
Ten years ago, the company decided to set up another factory in China. This resulted in the setting up of Eurosa Furniture (Kunshan) Co. Ltd. at the Singapore Furniture Industrial Park near Shanghai. The 5-acre factory employs 300 workers, specializing in the production of high-end furniture for the modern home, especially bedroom and dining sets.
Altogether, the company employs a workforce of 500 people while its annual revenues stand at $25 million. Armed with ISO 9000 certification, the company emphasized product design and quality control.
Over the years, Eurosa has evolved to become one of the le
Many categorize Eurosa’s Walden Series as country and provincial.
ading manufacturers and exporters of classic American, as well as European furniture, that incorporates a total living concept. Through its commitment to quality, the company has been able to gain international recognition for its range of high-end furniture products, thus enabling it to penetrate new markets overseas.
The company also operates several “Gallery Concept” stores to showcase its elegantly crafted furniture, which is marketed under the Arts & Crafts Series, East Wind Series, Walden Series, Circa Series, as well as the Kensington Dining Set, Versailles Set and Tudor Dining Set.
Yong explained that the Arts & Crafts Series gained popularity towards the end of the 19th Century while the East Wind Series was distinguished by the purity of textures and patterns of wood grains as well as its elegance and rustic simplicity. He went on to say that from the American Southwest, and across the plains into the mining and logging camps of that century, the furniture was designed to meet the demands of the frontier.
According to Yong, 80 percent of furniture items produced by Eurosa are exported to the U.S. The other markets are Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, Scandinavia, Middle East, Taiwan and Malaysia.
The bulk of the furniture is produced at Eurosa’s main factory in
Eurosa’s East Wind Series reveals the pride of the Marco Polo monarchy in its rich details.
China. It is capable of producing 60 containers of furniture each month. “For the China factory, the furniture items are produced entirely for the U.S. market and Eurosa is among a handful of Chinese companies that enjoy lower anti-dumping duties in the U.S.,” said Yong.
In contrast the Singapore plant produces only two to four containers of furniture products each month for the Australia, Taiwan and Thailand markets. The Malaysian plant produces 40 containers each month with the export markets being U.S. and Australia. In China, much of the production was outsourced. If these figures are included, the company’s production capacity would have reached 300 containers per month, Yong explained.
William Pee, the plant manager of Eurosa in Singapore, said, “The company imported six to 10 containers of wood from the U.S. each month. As a matter of fact, U.S. timber has become an item that is easier to get than Rubberwood.” He added that the company favored U.S. timber because of the higher level of wood utilization, which stands at 90 percent compared to 70 percent for tropical wood and 60 percent for wood supplied from China. As a result, the company is expected to import even more timber from the U.S. in the coming years.
For Eurosa, U.S. timber, comprised mainly of Oak and Cherry, accounts for 70
This is an example of Eurosa’s Arts & Crafts Series.
percent of raw material consumed by the Malaysian and China factories. The rest is comprised of Rubberwood and China Oak.
Raw material from the U.S. arrives in the form of sawn timber strips, which come in varying sizes, most of which are six inches in width and 25 to 40 centimeters in thickness. Pee said different grades and sizes of U.S. timber were used and that this depended very much on customer orders.
Like most other furniture manufacturers, the choice of raw material is customer dictated. At Eurosa, the switch to U.S. timber occurred about 15 years ago. Since then, the company’s founder and chairman, Tony Lin, has established a close relationship with the American Hardwood Export Council.
It is hardly surprising that Eurosa is another satisfied user of American timber. In the words of Yong: “We are very happy with the kind of U.S. timber that we are getting. We need good timber to suit the good design so that we can fulfill the needs and expectations of our customers, especially those in the U.S.”
Elegance is obvious in Eurosa’s Kensington Dining Set.
