Fine Furniture recently announced that the Fine Furniture Design factory in Shanghai will not be impacted by the manufacturing shutdown imposed by the Chinese government, beginning the end of June through mid-September. The forced stoppage is part of government efforts to reduce heavy pollution prior to the G20 Leaders Summit in Hangzhou in early September.

“Our facility meets government standards, which exempts us from the shutdown,” says Eric Graham, president of Fine Furniture Design. We have been contacted by many dealers, and we want to assure our industry partners that Fine Furniture Design production and our ability to deliver product will not be affected as a result of the environmental initiatives implemented at our manufacturing facility last year.”

Fine Furniture Design upgraded the boiler system to all natural gas, which burns clean and produces very little pollution. In keeping with new government standards, the company also converted the finish line from oil-based to water-based finishes, at a cost that exceeded $1 million.

“Throughout the conversion process we conducted extensive quality testing to ensure that the new finishes meet the highest environmental standards,” he says. “To our customers and to the consumer, the new finishes will be virtually indistinguishable from the previous oil-based finishes, and consumers will have the satisfaction of knowing that the products they are purchasing are environmentally responsible.

“Our ongoing philosophy to invest in areas that advance our quality, production efficiencies and environmental footprint keep us one step ahead of the competition, and ultimately result in improved delivery to our customers,” Graham says. “The payoff speaks for itself, as we will continue to operate at a time when other manufacturers will be forced to stop production for three months.”

According to Marisol International, a provider of international trade services, an estimated 1,000 factories are expected to close prior to the G20 Summit, which begins September 4.

(Source: Furniture World Magazine )