Nov, 2018
post by Eugene
We have been working on this for many years. The dream is to create a
furniture company that can offer a solution for practically any
furniture needs, for home or for business.
ELINIC - Furniture Company Of The Future.
Mass Customization In Furniture
http://www.elinic.com/Project.aspx
In general, more and more people are becoming able to afford comfort and
convenience. Furniture may well be the most important consumer purchase
next to a house or a car, and thus the demand for furniture is very
robust. Despite its importance in our lives, advances in the furniture
industry have not matched those of cars and electronics in recent years.
What is really missing is the intelligent furniture solution for all
people's needs.
I am convinced that there is a way to make global transformation in how
furniture is sold and built and my idea could potentially be rolled out
to match the scale of companies like IKEA.
The Vision
For starters, assume you know nothing about how furniture is currently
manufactured and sold. Consider something much broader; think of the
complete solutions for all areas of people's modern lives - furniture
and furniture systems for their houses, offices, and stores, from a
simple set of shelves for a closet to a beautiful home office or a
library. Next, try to imagine a company - a Furniture Solution Centre -
that directly sells and builds its furniture, and features essentially
any style and design configuration imaginable, all through a
consumer-centric design and made-to-order experience.
Through Elinic furniture, you will be able to go online, start by
choosing between types of project, styles, and then you start picking
the actual component functionalities, then their dimensions, material,
colour, and finish. Every cabinet, desk or dresser that you have chosen
for your set can also be custom dimensioned. The level of customization
is almost unlimited, to the point where the customers feel that they can
come up with almost any configuration of their own, and it will be
realized and delivered.
An important point here is that the same component customized to a
particular furniture style and size can be utilized as part of an office
set or entertainment center. In essence, the same piece changes its
functionality just by changing its width and material for example.
To demonstrate the power of this model, take one type of bookshelf unit,
multiply it by 5 different styles then by 20 configurations (doors, no
doors, shelves, bottom closed, glass doors and so on) then multiply that
by 5 different materials (inexpensive melamine for storage in the
basement, oak, maple, birch or cherry veneered panels if it is going to
be a part of your home office, e.g.). Finally, multiply that by 20
stain colours and by another 20 combinations of hardware.
This sample alone would yield 200,000 combinations! Importantly, while
the degree of customer choice increases exponentially, it does not
increase the costs of production and materials because the core design
elements will be consistent throughout many styles and thus can be
mass-produced using standard, automated production techniques.
Every component is a parametrically designed, manufacturable unit ready
to be resized and cut on the CNC machinery.
Finally, there is never any inventory of pre-made furniture (zero
inventory costs) which would need to be salvaged if not sold.
Michael Dell was one of the first to implement such a system where
component flexibility was extremely high and thus gave the purchaser a
great deal of power over customization. Dell was able to radically alter
the way that computers are produced, marketed and sold. I hope to do
the same in the furniture industry.
No limit opportunities
Due to the nature of this flexible model, the product range is
practically unlimited; we can target the widest segments of the market,
from home furniture to modular kitchens, from commercial fixtures and
retail cabinets to hi-end office furniture.
What will drive this business is the modern, intelligent, highly
technological service together with an absolutely unique customer
experience that no company has ever offered in this industry.
ELINIC furniture
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