REPORT

OF

THE NEED ASSESSMENT SURVEY

CONDUCTED AT

MALABAR FURNITURE CONSORTIUM, TALIPARAMBA

FRONT PAGE

DRAFT

DESIGNSCOPE

06 SEPTEMBER 2011

About Malabar Furniture Consortium

In 2006, a group of likeminded industrialists and entrepreneurs in Kannur came together

to form a Company / consortium in the Furniture Industry. As a result of constant

discussions and a vision to become the industry leaders, a consortium named MALABAR

FURNITURE CONSORTIUM Private Limited was formed in 2008.

It was registered with The Registrar of Companies as a Private Limited Company and got

the Registration No. U36101KL2008PTC021770 Dated 13.01.2008. The consortium has a

Director Board of 9 members including a Chairman, Managing Director and 7 Directors.

Subsequently, the consortium acquired 4.09 acres of land at Ammanapara, Pariyaram

Village. In 2009 Malabar Furniture Consortium got Cluster Registration from the

Department of Industries & Commerce, Trivandrum. Within this period MFC conducted

many activities such as Seminars, Study classes, Design Workshops etc. MFC actively

visited and participated in several furniture / Machinery exhibitions / fairs and visited

several Clusters for study purposes. Malabar Furniture Consortium also started a

common showroom for products from all consortium members.

(Common show room for the cluster members being inaugurated by Sri. Elamaram Kareem,

Honourable Minister for Industries, Kerala on 20.06.2009 )

( The showroom for products from Malabar Furniture Consortium)

Malabar Furniture Consortium is now getting actively involved in implementing the

design process into their manufacturing units. The aim is to develop the consortium as a

leading furniture brand to be reckoned in and outside India. Currently many activities

including workshops and seminars are conducted for the member units and actively

promote unit visits and trade shows.

(Sri. V. Gopakumar, Principal, Govt. Engineering College, Kannur addressing the seminar at Govt.

Engineering College, Kannur on 25.02.2010)

Sri. Dinesh Rai IAS, Secretary MSME, Govt. of India, addressing the interaction meeting with

various consortium members on 04.11.2010 at Kannur.

One day Design Sensitization workshop being inaugurated Mr. G S Prakash, Dy.Director MSME-DI,

Thrissur on 28.10.2010 at Hotel Broad Bean, Kannur.

Sri. M.C. Kanakambaran GM, DIC, Kannur, Inaugurating the CDCC Meeting of Malabar Furniture

Consortium at Hotel Malabar Residency

In 2010 Malabar Furniture Consortium prepared a Project Report for setting up a

Common facility Centre (CFC) for Rs.1279.43 lakhs and forwarded to the Govt. of Kerala

for their approval. The Govt. of Kerala approved the project, sanctioned Rs.255.89 lakhs

and has currently forwarded proposal for the approval of Govt. of India.

Current common facility building initiated by the Consortium

The consortium members already initiated small kinds of common facilitation to the

cluster members at their own fund and the Consortium plans to develop this facility as a

pioneering centre for product development in the furniture manufacturing industry.

The Hindu, 27 March 2010

Industry associations

The association spearheading SPV initiatives is the All Kerala Furniture

Manufacturers and Distributors Association (AKFMDA) and Malabar Furniture

Consortium is an integral part of it.

The association was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Ernakulam. It has over

105 members and is a catalyst for cluster development initiatives in the State of Kerala

as well as in Taliparamba Taluk. The association has taken the lead in pursuing several

initiatives for the benefit of the woodworking and furniture industry and members.

Some of these initiatives include:

Encouraging common participation of members in machinery and furniture fairs in

Bangalore (India Wood Exhibition), New Delhi, China (Shanghai Furniture Fair)

etc.

Encouraging members to opt for common transportation facilities, allocating

territories for marketing

Networking with support service providers, trade desks of East Asian countries at

Chennai and various International Chambers of Commerce facilitating global

benchmarking and sourcing of equipment to enhance competitiveness and

productivity.

organising networking visits to other clusters to benchmark best practices

In addition, a common facility is under final stages of commissioning at Ernakulam. The

SPV, the proposed agency to implement the CFC is essentially a project implementing

arm of this Association.

Structure and Components of MFC

List of Members in Malabar Furniture Consortium

1. MR. C. Abdul Kareem

Unit: Kakkanchal Wood

Industries, Taliparamba (PO),

Kannur-670 141.

2. MR.K.P. Raveendran

Unit: KP/IX/9, Parakadavu,

Anchampeedika (PO),

Kannur-670331.

3. MR. T.C. Vilson

Unit: Thaikkattu Wood Industries,

Pilathara (PO), Kannur-670 141.

4. MR. P.P. Sasidharan

Unit : Manna Plainers, Manna,

Trichambaram Road, Taliparamba,

Kannur-670 141.

MFC

Domestic

Furniture

Manufacturers

Saw

Mills

Secondary

Operators

B & C

Industry

Office

Furniture

Manufacturers

Traders

5. MR. P.P. Muraleedharan

Unit: Super Tech Engineering,

Anchampeedika, Mottammal (PO),

Kannur

6. MR. K. Narayanan Kutty

Unit: Sunitha Furniture, Sunitha

Tower, Thavakkara,

Kannur.

7. MR. Jimmi Joseph

Unit: Agro Steel Industries,

Kuttikkol (PO), Taliparamba-670

141.

8. MR. P.T. Ramesh

Unit: Cader Wood Crafts, Keeriyad,

Chirakkal (PO), Kannur-670 011.

9. MR. P.J. Thomas

Unit: St.George Furniture,

Odenthode (PO), Manathana,

Kannur- 670 677

10. MR. C.J. George

Unit: C.J.G Board Makers,

Dharmasala,

Kannur.

11. MR. P.P. Janardhanan,

Puthiya Purayil House,

Chengalayi (PO), Kannur

12. MR. Muhammed Rafi

Khayarunnissa Manzil, Mandur

(PO), Kannur 670 501.

13. MR. K. Soman

Unit: Arunima Furniture,

Manathana (PO), Peravoor,

Kannur.

14. MR. K. Rajan

Unit: Priya Traders,

Kovvappuram, Cherukunnu,

Kannur.

15. MR. A.U. Raju

Unit: Payyannur Wood Industries,

opp.Jasna Hospital, Keloth,

Payyannur.

16. MR. K. Janardhanan

Unit: Pranavam, Puliyool,

Thiruvattoor (PO), Pariyaram,

Kannur.

17. MR. K.P. Narayanan

Unit: K.P.Wood works,

Perinthaleri,

Koyyam-670 142.

18. MR. Krishnan Unnipravan

Unit: Sreerag Wood Craft Center,

Nareekkamvally (PO), Mandur

(via), Kannur

19. MR. V. Rajagopalan,

Unit: R.V.Wood industries,

Chithappilepoil(PO), Pariyaram.

20. MR. K. Chandran

Unit: Malu Furniture, Valakkai,

Koyyam (PO), Kannur-670141.

21. MR. V. Sugunan

Unit: Dayana Industries,

Nareekkamvally,

Mandur (PO), Kannur-670501.

22. MR. George Vadakara

Unit: Palace Wood Industries,

Syed Nagar, Manna,

Taliparamba(PO), Kannur

670141.

23. MR. V. Madhavan

Unit: Akshaya Wood Works,

CH/VI/57-1, Cheruthazham

Panchayath, Pilathara.

24. MR. T.N. Balakrishnan

Unit: Ever Shine Wood Industries,

Off: NP-XI-313A, Mundachal,

Karuvanchal, Kannur-670571.

25. MR. O.K. Sivaraman

Unit: PSJ Wood Industries,

CP/V/589, Vayattuparamba (PO),

Chapparappadavu, Kannur.

26. MR. K.P. Bhargavan

Unit: Chithanya Furniture,

Kurumathur (PO), Karimbam

(via), Kannur-670142.

27. MR. V.N Ajith Kumar

Unit: Archana Wood Industries,

Kadalayi (PO),

Kannur.

28. MR. S. Muhammed Ali

Unit: United Wood Industries,

Karyambalam,

Taliparamba, Kannur-670141.

29. MR. Jose Kumar

Unit: Central Furniture,

Highway, Perumba,

Payyannur

Kannur

30. MR.P.K. Dinesan

Unit: P.K Wood Industries,

Poomangalam, Panniyoor(PO),

Kannur

31. MR. V.P. Bhaskaran,

Unit: Sree Nilayam Wood

Engineering, Nellunni, Mattannur,

Kannur.

32. MR. Lakshmanan. K

Unit: Quality furniture and Wood

Workers, Mandur(PO),

Kannur-670501

33. MR. A. Rajan

Unit: Madhava Industries,

Vayattuparamba (PO),

Chapparapadavu, Kannur.

34. MR. K. Shivadasan,

Thalap, Pallikkunnu(PO), Kannur

About Kannur District

Kannur District is one of the 14 districts in the state of Kerala, India. The town of Kannur

is the district headquarters, and gives the district its name. The old name Cannanore is

the anglicised form of the Malayalam name Kannur. Kannur District is bounded by

Kasaragod District to the north and Kozhikode District and Wayanad District to the

south. To the east the district is bounded by the Western Ghats, which forms the border

with Karnataka state, in its districts of Kodagu and Chamarajanagar. The Arabian Sea

lies to the west.

Kannur is the most urbanised district in Kerala, with more than 50% of its residents

living in urban areas. Kannur has an urban population of 1,212,898, which is the second

largest in Kerala after Ernakulam district.

Kannur District is known as the land of Looms and Lores, because of the loom industries

functioning in the district and festivals held in temples. The district is a major centre of

Theyyam, a ritual dance of northern Kerala. Small shrines known as kavus associated

with the Theyyam dot the district. The district is set to have a new international airport,

the fourth in Kerala.

History

The earliest evidence of human habitation in the district is rock-cut caves and megalithic

burial sites of the Neolithic age. The Taliparamba-Kannur-Thalassery area abounds in

rock-cut caves, dolmens, burial stone circles and menhirs, all of megalithic burial order.

The district was part of the Chera kingdom, which ruled most of Kerala during the first

several centuries CE. Later Kannur was the capital of the Kolattiri Rajas, whose kingdom

had trading relations with Arabia and Persia in the 12th century and 13th centuries. In

his book on travels (Il Milione), Marco Polo recounts his visit to the area in mid 1290s.

Other visitors included Faxian, the Buddhist pilgrim and Ibn Batuta, writer and historian

of Tangiers.

It is also said that the ships of Solomon had anchored along the coasts of Kannur to

collect timber for building the Temple of the Lord. Kannur also finds mention as Naura in

the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a Greek work of great antiquity.

The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama visited Kannur in 1498, and shortly thereafter it

became a Portuguese settlement. The Portuguese led by Don Francisco de Almeda, the

first Portuguese viceroy for India, built the St. Angelo's Fort north of Kannur in 1505. In

1663 the Dutch captured the fort and in 1772 they sold the fort to Arakkal (King of

Kannur). In 1790 the British captured the fort. At present, the fort is under the control of

the Archaeological Survey of India. In the latter half of the 18th century, Hyder Ali and

Tipu Sultan, rulers of Mysore, conquered much of the district and came into conflict with

the British. In 1792, at the conclusion of the Third Anglo-Mysore War, the British took

over Kannur and the surrounding region, which became the new Malabar District of

British India's Madras Presidency.

Geography

The district lies between latitudes 11° 40' to 12° 48' North and longitudes 74° 52' to 76°

07' East and covers an area of 2,996 km² . Kannur can be geographically divided into

highland, midland and lowland regions. Highlands are the mountainous region forming

part of the Western Ghats and are covered by rainforests, plantations of coffee, tea and

different types of spices like cardamom. There are also timber plantations in this region.

The midland region lies between the highlands and lowlands and is made up of

undulating hills and valleys. The lowland is the narrow stretch containing rivers, deltas

and the coastal region. Six rivers drain Kannur, the longest being the Valapattanam river

with a length of 110 km. Other rivers flowing through Kannur district are Kuppam, Mahe

River, Anjarakandi, Thalassery, Ramapuram and Perumba.

Climate

The district has a humid climate with an oppressive hot season from March to the end of

May. This is followed by the South-West monsoon which continues till the end of

September. October and November form the post-monsoon [North-East Monsoon] or

retreating monsoon season.

During the months of April and May, the mean daily maximum temperature is about 35

°C. Temperature is low in December and January and the minimum temperature is about

20 °C. On certain days the night temperature may go down to 16 °C, although this is

extremely rare. The annual average rainfall is 3438 mm and more than 80% of it occurs

during the period of South-West monsoon. The rainfall during July is very heavy and the

district receives 68% of the annual rainfall during this season.

This climate plays an important role in the material selection for furniture, all across

Kerala. High humidity and rainfall are usually bad for wood alternates like particle boards

and hence this is one reason their low acceptance compared to Northern India.

Economy

A majority of the population of the district is dependent directly or indirectly on

agriculture for their livelihood. The main crops grown in the district are paddy, coconut,

pepper, cashew, tapioca, arecanut and plantation crops like rubber. Asia's largest

cinnamon estate producing cinnamon spice established by Lord Brown of British East

India Company in the year CE 1767 is located at Anjarakandy in Kannur district

Paddy occupies the largest area among annual crops. Under the high yielding variety

programme, substantial increase in paddy production has been achieved, even though

the percentage of area sown under paddy is decreasing year after year, due to

conversion of paddy fields to other purposes. The average yield of paddy is recorded as

2146 kg. per hectare. Next to paddy, coconut is the most important crop in the district.

Coconut is extensively grown throughout the district. An important cash crop grown in

the district is cashew nut. The district plays a unique role in its cultivation and

production. The vast stretch of suitable waste lands with low fertility status extends

scope for expansion of cashew cultivation and its allied industries.

Among spices, pepper occupies an important place. Pepper is mostly grown as an

intercrop with coconut, arecanut and various fruit trees. In the hilly areas of the district,

the inter-cultivation is done with rubber and cashew. Rubber is the most important

industrial cash crop among the plantation crops.

About 55% of the rubber cultivation of Kannur district is in Taliparamba taluk, followed

by Thalassery and Kannur taluks. The yield of rubber per hectare varies from 2000 kg to

4000 kg.

Divisions

Kannur district came into existence as an administrative unit on January 1, 1957, when

the erstwhile Malabar District and Kasaragod taluk of Madras state were reconstituted

into three revenue districts, viz; Kannur, Kozhikode and Palakkad. At the time of its

formation, the district consisted of seven taluks, viz, Kasaragod, Hosdurg, Taliparamba,

Kannur, Thalassery, North Wayanad and South Wayanad. Subsequently, the South

Wayanad taluk was included in Kozhikode district with effect from 15 March 1957. Later,

on first November 1980, Wayanad district was formed carving out South Wayanad and

North Wayanad taluks. The two northern most taluks of Kannur district, viz; Kasaragod

and Hosdurg were separated on 24 May 1984 for the formation of Kasaragod district.

There are nine development blocks comprising 82 panchayats. The development blocks

are Kannur, Edakkad, Irikkur, Iritty, Kuthuparamba, Payyannur, Peravoor, Taliparamba

and Thalassery.

The Municipal towns in the district are Taliparamba, Kannur, Thalassery, Kuthuparamba,

Payyannur and Mattannur.

Kannur district has three taluks, viz., Kannur, Taliparamba and Thalassery. Thalassery is

also known as Tellicherry.

The state legislative constituencies of the District are: Irikkur, Payyannur, Taliparamba,

Kalliasseri, Azhikode, Kannur, Dharmadam, Thalassery, Mattannur, Kuthuparamba and

Peravoor.

Industry

Kannur district has had industrial importance from very early days. Being blessed with a

variety of factors such as good soil, salubrious climate, rich forests, enormous fishing

potentials, minerals as well as infrastructural facilities like road, rail, inland water

transport, etc., the district offers ample scope for the development of industries.

Nevertheless, Kannur is an industrially backward district in the state. There is only one

major and five mini industrial estates in the district. Keltron Complex, Mangattuparamba

and Western India Plywood's, Valappattanam are the two major industries. The Western

India Plywoods is one of the biggest wood based industrial complexes in South East Asia.

The district has 12 medium-scale industries, most of which are either cotton textile or

plywood manufacturing.

Handloom Textiles, beedi and coir are the important traditional industries in the district.

About one lakh people depend on the textile industry for livelihood. The textile industry

which accounts for 40% of all Small Scale Industrial (SSI) units in the district was

introduced in early 19th century by the German Basel Mission.

The first ready-made garment unit in Kannur and the first hosiery unit in Kuthuparamba

were started around the end of the 19th century. The beedi industry provides

employment to about 50,000 people. The famous beedi co-operative „Dinesh Beedi‟ and

Private owned Sadhu Beedi companies are in Kannur district. The coir industry which

uses traditional technology provides employment to about 11,000 workers.

There are 6934 small scale industrial units in the district out of which only 4828 units are

working now. The district has 202 sick units which is about 9.3% of the sick units of the

state. 162 industrial societies and four power loom societies are also functioning here.

Kannur, Thalassery, Payyannur, Taliparamba and Edakkad have been identified as

growth centres, having potential for industrial development.

To find about the status of Furniture Industry in the District, queries were sent to various

panchayats / municipalities under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI). The data

compiled from the feedbacks is listed below:

In the period between 01-04-2010 to 31-03-2011, 26308 applications were received for

new building permits for houses. AT the same period, 23257 door numbers were allotted

in the district. This approximately shows the market size for furniture.

Regarding the growth of furniture industry, the figures show aggressive growth. These

numbers exclude the freelancers and craftsmen operating in the area. In the period

between 01-04-2010 to 31-03-2011, 488 new licenses were given for new furniture

manufacturing units, whereas 403 licenses were given for furniture retail shops in the

district.

(New houses completed between 01-04-2010 to 31-03-2011)

(New Manufacturing Units between 01-04-2010 and 31-03-2011)

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

Applications received for new housepermits (01-04-2010 to 31-03-2011)

Door numbers allotted for newhouses (01-04-2010 to 31-03-2011)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

No. of Licences given to Furnituremanufacturing units (01-04-2010 to

31-03-2011)

No. of Licences given to Furnitureshops (01-04-2010 to 31-03-2011)

Based on this data, we can estimate the furniture market in and around Kannur at

approximately ` 400,00,00,000 (In the period between 01-04-2010 to 31-03-2011). This

derived by multiplying the number of new house numbers allotted (23257) with `

1,50,000, which is considered as the average cost of furniture spent for each house.

Along with these, furniture purchases by all other establishments older than one year are

also added.

When this data is compared with `6,15,00,000 turnover of MFC production units, it

makes up for only less that 2 % of the domestic district market, which shows the

immense growth potential of this company.

If we consider the total wood-related industry output from Kannur District, which includes

dealerships, exports, other distribution channels, etc, the total output figure goes up by

six times, up to 2400 Crores.

They key findings from the survey are:

Malabar Furniture Consortium currently caters only 1.54 % of total domestic

demand for furniture products in Kannur

Malabar Furniture consortium currently covers only 0.26 % of total production

output from the furniture industry in Kannur District.

Both the above figures show a huge potential to grow within the local market as well as

the distribution and retails market.

(Demand for furniture products in the local market)

Malabar Furniture Consortium

Others

Furniture Industry in Taliparamba Taluk

In Taliparamba Taluk, wood for furniture are sourced from private plantation operators

and also auctioned through forest department depots of state governments. Saw mill

operators and related traders collect this timber and supply wood in required dimensions

to processors. Many of them also import wood from Myanmar and other locations.

There are a variety of firms operating in Taliparamba. Timber procured from plantations

and other sources including imports are cut by band saw in the form of wood logs or

planks as required. Seasoning plants typically apply open air or kiln seasoning. Air

seasoning takes much longer time vis-à-vis kiln seasoning. In the cluster, there is

inadequate capacity of such plants. Other input suppliers comprise adhesives, nails,

wood pins, toughened and float glass suppliers as well as machinery suppliers. The

equipment typically used are low technology and hand operated such as cutting

machines, edge banding, multi boring and post forming equipment. Other firms related

to core furniture manufacturers in the clusters include saw mills and plywood

manufacturers. Connections with forward linked players such as distributors and retailers

are present only in a fraction of units and the rest market the products locally.

Data in terms of number of processing activity related firms, their size, average turnover

and manpower are presented below:

The 500 odd largely MSE directly wood working units in the cluster at

Taliparamba taluk have a total turnover of about Rs. 1400 crore.

The value adding furniture manufacturing segment alone has a turnover of about

Rs. 100 crores.

The cluster is perhaps the leading cluster in the country following the clusters like

Yamunanagar in Haryana. In fact, the cluster region in the district of Kannur as a whole

has over 700 furniture manufacturing units, 300 plywood units, 225 saw mills and 69

peeling units has an estimated turnover of over Rs. 2400 crores. It is also interesting

that, In India there are two universities conducting courses in Wood Science, one is in

Dehradun and another is Kannur University. This may be used to advantage of the local

furniture industry.

Demography

The District has a population of 2,412,365 (2001 census). This is the most urbanised

district in Kerala. About 50.35% of the population reside in the urban agglomerations.

The total urban population of Kannur district is 1,212,898. This is the second largest

urban population in Kerala after Ernakulam and is more than the population of a metro

city.

Kannur city has, apart from Malayalees and Tamils, a small Konkani, Portuguese, French,

Punjabi and Gujarati speaking population too.

Migration of Labourers

Till the beginning of World War II Kerala was a net in-migration state, as it attracted

labour force and traders in large numbers from the neighbouring area, mainly the

Madras Presidency. Kerala‟s transition to a net out-migration state was during the

Second World War, when a large number of youth were recruited from the state for war

related jobs and sent to other parts of India and even to foreign countries like Burma,

Malaya and Singapore. Since independence, Keralites have migrated to almost all

countries. However, large scale emigration to the Gulf countries began in the 1970‟s

consequent to the oil boom. According to the Housing and employment survey

conducted by the Directorate of Economics & Statistics in 1980, 5.1 lakh Keralites

migrated outside the state and out of this 2.1 lakh were in foreign countries. The

1992/93 survey gave the number of Keralite migrants to Gulf countries as 6.41 lakh and

to other foreign countries as 0.27 lakh.

Emigration of Keralites remains strong, with a study conducted by CDS in 2004 showing

that the number of emigrants went up by 35 per cent in last five years from 13.6 lakhs

in 1999 to 18.4 lakhs in 2004. According to the latest study by CDS, international

migration has remained absolutely stationary during 2003-07 and it was 18.5 lakh in

2007. The number of return emigrants had been 8.9 lakh in 2003 and it was 8.9 lakh in

2007 also.

According to the study, labourers in non-agricultural sectors constituted the largest

proportion of emigrants from Kerala, 27.4 per cent of the total. Unemployed persons

were the second largest group (24.3 per cent). Workers from the private sector (16.0

per cent) and from self-employment sector (12.5 per cent) also emigrated in large

numbers.

The study further shows that out-migration (OMI) from Kerala to other states in India

has registered a significant decline, not only in terms of the rate as in the case of

external migration, but also in absolute numbers. OMI declined from 11.2 lakh in 2003

to 8.7 lakh in 2007. OMI per 100 households declined from 16.2 in 2003 to 11.5 in 2007.

In the past, Gulf countries used to be the principal destination of Kerala emigrants. In

1998, 95 per cent of Kerala emigrants went to one of the Gulf countries. By 2003 the

corresponding percentage declined to 91 per cent. In 2007 the proportion of Kerala

emigrants who went to the Gulf region has come down further to 89 per cent.

However significant changes are observed in the distribution of emigrants within the Gulf

region. Saudi Arabia had been the principal destination country in 1998. By 2003, it

yielded its first rank to the United Arab Emirates, which at that time received 37 per cent

of the total emigrants from Kerala compared to 27 per cent in Saudi Arabia. The UAE

continued its dominance and by 2007 it has received 42 per cent of the Kerala

emigrants. In the meantime, Saudi Arabia's share declined further to 24 per cent. Apart

from the UAE, Kuwait also continues to attract an increasing share of Kerala emigrants.

Outside the Gulf region, the United States of America is a major destination country. It

received 5.7 per cent of the total number of emigrants from the state. Its share had

been only 2.2 per cent in 1998.

Malappuram district had the distinction of sending out the largest number of emigrants

from Kerala in 1998, 2003 and in 2007. In fact in 2007, Malappuram district was the

place of origin of 336,000 emigrants or about 18.2 per cent of the total number of

emigrants from Kerala. The district next in importance with respect to emigration from

the state has been Kannur, with 254,000 emigrants. In 1998 only 6.5 per cent of Kerala

emigrants, had originated from Kannur, but by 2007 its share increase to 13.8 per cent.

During 2005, 1.25 lakh workers from Kerala went abroad in search of job, constituting

22.8 per cent of the 5.49 lakh emigrants from the country. The other leading states are

Tamil Nadu (21.3 per cent), Karnataka (13.7 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (8.8 per cent),

Gujarat (9.1 per cent), Maharashtra (5.3 per cent), Punjab (4.4 per cent) and Rajasthan

(3.9 per cent). More than 80 per cent of the emigrants went to West Asia of which 35.4

per cent went to UAE and 18.2 per cent to Saudi Arabia.

As of 2008, the Gulf countries altogether have a Keralite population of more than 2.5

million, who send home annually a sum of USD 6.81 billion, which is more than 15.13%

of Remittance to India in 2008. The largest number works in construction, although high

literacy allows Keralites to secure office work. Foreign remittances augment the state‟s

economic output by nearly 25 percent. Migrants‟ families are three times as likely as

those of non-migrants to live in superior housing, and about twice as likely to have

telephones, refrigerators and cars.

Effect on Industry

Due to this huge rush of workers out of the economy, Kannur and Kerala in general face

the greatest challenge in a developing economy: Lack of Manpower. I any developing

economy, cheap labour or the abundance of manpower is what help them compete

against big and industrialised countries. In the particular scenario of Kerala, there is not

enough skilled labour or highly developed industry to compete on a bigger market. In

case of the furniture industry that was surveyed, the primary feedbacks across all

sectors were the absence of skilled manpower rather than difficulty in finding the

market.

One positive result of employment abroad was the skilled training of workers on world-

class equipment and machines at their respective jobs. But once they return to Kerala,

the local industry in incapable utilising their skill due to lack of technology and also are

not able to remunerate at par with foreign firms.

As a result, Kerala is witnessing large inflow of migrant labour from different parts of the

country in recent years. Though labourers from states as far as West Bengal, Bihar,

Uttar Pradesh and Orissa now flock to Kerala, those from the neighbouring state of Tamil

Nadu out number others by a big margin. Higher wages for unskilled labour in the state,

large opportunities for employment and shortage of local labour, paradoxically despite

the high unemployment rate in the state, led to the massive influx of migrant labour to

the state. With signs of rapid growth of state‟s economy and the increase in activities

particularly in the infrastructure and construction sectors, the in-migration is expected to

grow faster in the coming years.

According to the Census 2001, 1.3 per cent of the population of Kerala are migrants (by

place of birth) from other states. The largest number of in-migrants in the state is from

the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. Significant number of migrants also came from

Karnataka. While 67.8 per cent of those who have migrated to Kerala from other states

had their place of birth in Tamil Nadu, 13.5 per cent had their place of birth in

Karnataka. Other regions from where people have migrated to Kerala include

Maharashtra (4.5 %), Andhra Pradesh (2.3 %), Pondicherry (2.1%), Uttar Pradesh (1.4

%) and West Bengal (1.0%).

Effect on Economics

The net state domestic product (NSDP) for Kerala is reported to be Rs 83,782 crore for

2003. The Keralite worker‟s remittances account about 22 per cent of the NSDP. The

importance of remittances to Kerala‟s economy is evident from a few other comparisons.

Remittances were 1.74 times the revenue receipts of the state, 7 times of the transfers

to the state from the Central Government and 1.8 times the annual expenditure of the

Kerala Government. Remittances were sufficient to wipe out 60 per cent of the Kerala

state's debt. The remittances in 2003 were 15 times of the export earnings from cashew

and 18 times of those from marine products. At the household level, it has contributed to

investments in education and health, accumulation both moveable and non-moveable

assets.

This general elevated economic stimulus in the market makes it easier for the producers

to sell their products. Here, cost is considered secondary with primary focus on quality

and design. The low end segment is generally catered by plywood and metal furniture

and the high end goes for exotic hardwoods. And due to this thriving consumer market,

the demand is always greater than supply with customers often find it difficult to get

local manufacturers follow their timelines.

Raw Materials

Kerala has been traditionally blessed with a green ecosystem, one result being

abundance of wood. This influence can be seen in Kerala architecture and furniture

designs, both being prominent in wood usage. Wood was an integral part of Kerala with

its uses in Building and Construction, Furniture, Utensils, Transportation, Apparels,

Cooking, etc.

Traditional Furniture designs and manufacturing methods still follow this criterion,

whereas the situation has changed a lot in Kerala. It has one of the highest population

densities, resulting in reduction of average household areas and in turn, domestic wood

production. There are stringent rules about exploiting forests and even domestic lumber

is traded with strings attached. This gradual decline of wood availability is encountered

with exploding population which increases the demand for wood derivatives. This results

in high quality wood being almost impossible to procure, and if available, too expensive

to buy.

(Above: A traditional house in Kerala; Note the extensive usage of wood for walls and columns)

( Left, Right: Extensive use of wood in traditional Kerala Architecture)

( Above: Extensive use of wood in interiors and furniture)

This demand for hardwood in Kerala market resulted in the now rapidly growing industry

of wood imports. Most of the imports are done from South-East Asian countries

especially from Malaysia and Indonesia, and the demand is for wood similar to local

varieties. Most of the imported woods are similar in colour and texture to popular woods

like Ironwood, Rosewood, Jack wood, etc. They are imported mostly at Mangalore Port

and then transported by road to Kannur. Although this bridges the gap of wood

availability, the cost of transportation makes it as costly or expensive than the local

products.

The wood types used currently for furniture manufacture are: Burma Ironwood (Irul),

Teak, Indian Rosewood, Sal, Mahogany, jackfruit wood, Jungle/Wild Jack (Anjili) Rose

wood, Rubber wood, Acacia, Brown Sal (Manjium) and various locally available woods.

Out of these, about 30% of total furniture manufactured is with Burma Ironwood (Irul),

20-25% in Mahogany, 20% Teak, 10% Rosewood, 10% Rubber wood and 5-10% in

various locally available woods. It is noted that while rubber wood is not used in its

native form, it is used as boards made after wood treatment.

Alternative wood materials like particle board, chemical wood, etc are being used in

Kerala, but the humid and wet seasons hamper its wide use. The high amount of

humidity in atmosphere along with the proximity to equator makes Kerala one of the

hardest regions for synthetic woods to endure. Mostly, the glue or resins which hold the

wood particles together absorb moisture from the air and leads to weakening of the

board. Continuous expansion and contraction of the wood or board eventually leaves the

furniture warped or blistered. This doesn‟t fare well in a wood-sensitive culture like

Kerala.

Another common problem is the delamination or failure of the skin-layer or laminate on

the surface of the board. Once this is damaged, it cannot be rectified and polished as in

case of hardwood furniture. All these factors weigh against synthetic lumber usage in

Kerala. The factor supporting their usage is comparative pricing, more colours and

textures and unavailability of hardwood.

Woods by Usage

Burma Ironwood (Irul)

Mahogany

teak

Rosewood

Rubber wood

Others

Woods by Cost

Customer‐Product‐Producer‐Market Relation

Kerala has a strong and wide spread unorganised sector of furniture manufacturers, who

still produce a large amount of products; especially in the domestic furniture sector.

Since most land area in Kerala consists of developed-rural areas, there is still ample

amount of wood that is grown in domestic premises and cut for own use. In such cases,

people prefer to have the furniture custom-made from their wood by the local carpenter.

It is the growing urban and small-scale land owners who primarily depend on branded

furniture products. High-technology and well-designed products offered by the branded

firms also makes them attractive against traditional wood working artisans. The lower

end of the consumer spectrum is service by plywood and metal products.

In the case of Malabar Furniture Consortium, it consists of all types of furniture firms put

together. Due to its de-centralised nature, they act as small individual components and

Teak, Indian Rosewood, etc

Sal, Burma Ironwood (Irul), etc

Mahogany, Jackfruit, Wild Jack, etc

Rubber wood, Acacia, Brown Sal (Manjium), etc Low

High

as well as a larger product system together. Currently, the marketing activities and sales

of member units are independent of one another, and there is no unified brand to be

correlated with.

Secondary

Operators

Manufacturing

Units

Retail

Outlets

Customers

Saw Mills

Present Status of the System

Material

Process

Resources

Marketing

Advantages

Locally Available

Culturally relevant

Suits current capability

Disadvantages

Not Sustainable

New Materials(wood

alternates) not manufactured

locally

Advantages

Traditional

Relevant to local designs

Low-Tech, Low

Investment

Disadvantages

Scaling-up is difficult

Too much wastage

Process doesn‟t allow usage

of alternate materials

Advantages

Product Customisation

Best fit for small scale

Craftsmanship;

Individuality in designs

Disadvantages

Hasn‟t moved to modern

Technologies & Designs

Lack of skilled labour

Huge Investments impossible

Advantages

Direct Marketing

Low expenditure

Disadvantages

No Brands

No Visual Identity

Cannot compete with

branded furniture products

Product Quality

Price

Raw Material

Design

Expected Life

Brand

Customisability

Value Parameters Affecting Buyers

Critical Value

Parameters

OR

Order Qualifiers

Secondary Value

Parameters

OR

Order Winners

Results from Unit-wise Design Audit

As a part of the Need Assessment Survey, a design audit was conducted in the 15

member units of the consortium. The major points that were researched were:

1. Unit description (Location, Contact information).

2. Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product development

and product diversification.

3. Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives.

4. Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication

design.

5. Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations.

6. Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design

perspective.

7. Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design.

8. Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction.

9. Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation.

10. Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise.

11. Packaging and logistics related design opportunities.

12. Exhibition /Display design opportunities.

13. Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective.

14. Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units.

15. Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level.

15 units under the consortium were studied and not surprisingly, majority of the units

had the same infrastructure, needs and problems. There was very little variance in

feedbacks and responses as summarised below:

Product Classification

The units were surveyed for the type for furniture / industry they cater for. While most

units cater for multiple segments, the results showed huge favour for the domestic

furniture segment with 87% of the units associated with finished products in furniture.

While 60% units also catered the building & construction industry in a major way, 7%

manufacture metal products and another 7% supply raw materials.

These results are in line with the national results which show majority consumption and

demand for the domestic furniture segment. A 2008 survey by KPMG notes that “As with

the global market, home furniture is the largest segment in the Indian furniture market,

accounting for about 65 per cent of furniture sales. This is followed by, the office

furniture segment with a 20 per cent share and the contract segment, accounting for the

remaining 15 per cent.”

Since Kerala has a booming real estate and construction market, it will be the safest bet

to focus on the domestic furniture segment. As illustrated from the demographics

section, the demand is very good in this market irrespective of the product quality,

pricing and classification.

Research and Development

As per the survey, various feedbacks were given about the future plans for the units.

Among these, Design for Manufacturing (DFM) was identified as the biggest need for

units under the Malabar Furniture Consortium. The greatest issues currently faced by the

consortium are the absence of skilled labour/high-tech machinery and long production

cycles. About 87% of the units wanted new designs to solve this issue whereas 73%

wanted new machines and tools to solve this issue. Since new machines and tools bring

about large investment burden to the SSI Units, it is advised best to device design suited

to DFM principles, which can be manufactured using the existing infrastructure.

Domestic

Building & Construction

Metal

Raw Materials

Other ideas that came up included new fitment techniques to reduce manufacturing and

assembly time, especially in the building and construction industry. Also, since each unit

produced a large amount of waste as wood chips and powder, another project to utilise

this waste was also discussed. It was felt that new processes like wood bending and

metal etching may be introduced into the consortium to expand the range of product

offerings. These new directions are discussed in detail later.

Visual Identity / Brands

Among all the units audited, none of the units owned or manufactured any brands or had

any visual identity associated with their respective products. One reason for this is the

marketing strategy adopted for the units; all units market their products individually,

through direct channels, which make the presence of brands unnecessary. But with the

plans of the consortium to grow bigger, it will eventually require some identification to

be attached with its product so that their products are recognised in the market. This

should be planned along with the new marketing strategy of the consortium.

New Fitment Techniques

Wastge reuse

New Designs

New Machines & Tools

New Processes

Workstation Design

Along with the Need Assessment Survey, another parallel study was done across the

furniture retails shops in and around Kannur. This study focused on the current trends,

demands and problems of the retailers. This study included shop owners outside the

consortium to get a more generic market feedback. Based on the survey, 58%

responded that there is a very good demand for branded products like Zuari, Damro,

etc. Also, about 17% preferred imported products, mostly due to design and cost. Close

to 80% chose locally manufactured products due to the traditional designs. But the

brands are quickly bridging this gap of traditional designs.

One big issue with brands that was revealed was the unavailability of all the designs in

the showroom. AT times, the customer may select a design from a brochure, but the

retailer might not meet the timelines while bringing over the product to the showroom /

customer. Due to the string local presence, Malabar Furniture Consortium can easily

solve this issue.

Visual Identity Present

Visual Identity Not Present

Along with the new marketing strategy, a brand name should be adopted for the designs

made under the Malabar Furniture consortium umbrella, which will help in establishing a

name for the company.

Current Tools and Machinery

As evident from the results, majority of the firms are in basic or medium levels of

capability regarding machinery and tools. This calls for a Common Facility Centre which

is strong in cutting edge machinery, which will be available to the member units. The

designs and products which are manufacturable will be limited as long as the units are

handicapped without required machinery.

Demand For Brands

Demand for Imported Furniture

Local Furniture/TraditionalDesigns

Basic Tools

Medium Tools

Advanced Tools

Scope for operations and process innovation

Even though most of the units are focused on traditional designs and the respective

processes, there is ample scope to bring about process innovations. One of the member

units, Akshaya Wood Works modified the traditional planing machine by adding a drill

bit to the other side of the drive motor and created a moving platform for the working

piece to move. This created a slot-cutting machine which could work at the same time

when the planing machine works. Since the drive motor is overdesigned for the planer,

this modification works without any issues. Such ‘jugaad’ innovations are rare to find

around here, but such cases give hope that units are willing to do experimentations

rather than waiting for a sole-purpose machine. With the right guidance, many such

small-but-useful solutions could be found for day-to-day manufacturing problems.

Drill bit for slot cutting

Controls to move the

platform in X & Y axes

Platform to hold the

work piece

Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design

Currently, there is little supervision given to workstation and tooling design in the

consortium mainly owing to the micro-small nature of business units. This could be

considered when a common facility centre is established, so that the new investment is

spent well and the small units do not have to bear any additional costs.

Details of market and competition study

The furniture industry is very wide owing to the general property boom in Kerala. The

total market size of furniture industry in Kannur District alone is estimated at

approximately 400 Crores. Out of this, Malabar Furniture Consortium covers about 1.5 %

of total market.

Even though the market is in high demand of furniture in Kannur, it is mostly serviced

through micro-small industries operating locally. Brands are establishing their own niche,

slowly but surely, starting with urban areas. Brands command a sizeable percentage of

the market, but pose only small threat to small scale industries in MFC owing to their

different product segments. The biggest competition to MFC is similar small units, with

almost 90% of responses validating this.

There is a growing threat from Chinese and south-east Asian furniture imports into the

market. But since they mostly play in different segments (Particle boards, Metal, etc)

they do not pose a great threat to MFC (whose strength is traditional hardwood

furniture) at this point. But going forward, this factor needs to be addressed.

Mostly, the advantages of the member units against competition are direct contacts and

cost. Due to the small scale of operations, the system works perfectly to satisfy the

production capability of the units in the consortium. And since a vast majority of

products are marketed locally, the overheads saved under packaging, transportation and

marketing are saved to make them more price-competitive.

Few firms have extended value chains like raw materials availability (backward

integration) as well as retail outlets and contract orders (forward integration). In future,

the consortium will need to resort to extended value chain system to be more

competitive.

Similar Units

Cheaper Local Products

Cheaper Imported Products

Branded products

Direct Sales

Cost

Extended Value Chain

Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation

Out of all the units studied, only 67% had basic skills only. 33% were capable of some

medium level skills. The responses unanimous among the units were the lack of skilled

labour and unavailability of even semi-skilled labourers. This, after low technology, is the

greatest obstacle for growth in Malabar Furniture Consortium.

Even though this problem is an apparent and a very obvious one, MFC hasn‟t been able

to tackle this problem. 100% the units voted for skill up gradation and training for their

existing employees as well as new recruits. Another problem that came out was the

dependency on particular employees for special operations. In most units, each of the

individual processes is undertaken by one or few skilled labourers and as a result, the

work stalls if even one of them is absent. Due to the lack of training, most cannot swap

jobs and hence this becomes a process bottleneck.

This problem may be solved by the establishment of the Common Facility Centre. It

should have a training division which should conduct skill training programmes for

employees in the member units. A training session of 3 to 6 months may be conducted

for new recruits, in which they will be trained in all the essential skills as well as all

different types of machinery. The consortium may also considering running this as a full-

time training school, and may associate with other furniture consortiums / organisations.

If there is good demand from the industry, this facility can work as a profit centre and

the best part is getting access to the top talent required by the units.

Basic

Medium

High

Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise

Currently, there is no Environment-Health-Safety (EHS) Standards applied in units‟

premises nor there is any ergonomic factors being considered in the factory premises.

This owes largely to the small-scale nature of operations and hence is impractical for

units to implement the standards. There is scope for implementing all these standards in

the new CFC and consortium can build it a centre of excellence.

Exhibition / Display design opportunities

Most of the firms do not participate in exhibitions or focus on display design, due to the

nature of marketing described above. Some firms, which caters primarily to the building

& construction industry does not require exhibitions and displays, since it is more of a

commodity business.

Not Participating

Not Required

Local Exhibitions

Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective

60% the companies come under Micro & Small Industries and their infrastructure and

tooling status is similar. All companies studied were unable to invest in a sole-owned

product design infrastructure setup. The focus in Malabar Consortium should be to form

a product design group at its common facility centre. Unlike other initiative proposed at

the CFC, the design group need not wait till the facility is setup. It can start working on

an ad-hoc condition with a team formed within the consortium. The sole purpose of this

team will be developing new designs and to make current designs economical. The

consortium can take a joint decision on which direction to work on.

Along with this, design projects may be undertook with Design For manufacturing (DFM)

principles. This will help the design team to develop new designs or modify existing

designs which will be economical, and which could be manufactured using the existing

infrastructure.

Micro & Small

Medium

Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units

Segmentation of Market, Products and Product Positioning

A market segment is a sub-set of a market made up of people or organizations with one

or more characteristics that cause them to demand similar product and/or services

based on qualities of those products such as price or function. A true market segment

meets all of the following criteria: it is distinct from other segments (different segments

have different needs), it is homogeneous within the segment (exhibits common needs);

it responds similarly to a market stimulus, and it can be reached by a market

intervention. The term is also used when consumers with identical product and/or

service needs are divided up into groups so they can be charged different amounts for

the services. The people in a given segment are supposed to be similar in terms of

criteria by which they are segmented and different from other segments in terms of

these criteria.

Some of these segments to be considered might be based on:

1. Price Bracket

2. Usage (Furniture / B&C)

3. Composition (Knock-down / Fixed)

4. Materials (Hardwood / Rubber wood / Particle Board / Plywood / Metal)

Once a market segment has been identified (via segmentation), and targeted (in which

the viability of servicing the market intended), the segment is then subject to

positioning. Positioning involves ascertaining how a product or a company is perceived in

the minds of consumers.

This part of the segmentation process consists of drawing up a perceptual map, which

highlights rival goods within one's industry according to perceived quality and price.

After the perceptual map has been devised, the consortium should consider the

marketing communications mix best suited to the product in question. For example, if

the segmentation is done based on price and the brand signifies high-quality-at-low-

price, then it should produce marketing collaterals and schemes for customers at the

lower end of the buying spectrum.

This should be clubbed with the segmentation of furniture products made by the

consortium as well. Establishing separate brands for these sub-classes will ensure that

their individual marketing will not cannibalise one another.

A chart for product segmentation is given below with four basic segments. It is ideal to

have four brands to represent these as well.

High volume, less difference in

design and manufacture

High volume, major

differences in design and

manufacture

Low volume, less difference in design and

manufacture

Low volume, major

differences in design and

manufacture

Low Volume

High Volume

Low Price

margin &

Low Risk

High Price

margin &

High Risk

1

2 3

4

Follow Design Stages

To promote a design culture in the consortium, units should dedicate a product design

team, at least a small one to exclusively take care of development activities. The

different stages of design are listed below:

Design Brief

Concept Development

Modelling & Crafting

Testing & finalisation

Manufacturing

Marketing & Sales

Based on the feedback from the market and users,

a list of necessary and desired properties of the

product is made. This is called the Design Brief.

Based on the Design Brief, multiple product

concepts are made, out of which the best one or

two is selected after deliberation and discussions.

Mock-ups or prototypes of these concepts are

made for visualisation. Here, the final concept is

selected for further development.

The selected design is engineered and tested. It is

modified based on test results and drawings are

frozen for manufacture.

The engineering drawings are sent to production

and the production starts. Design may assist

production in initial phases.

Marketing collaterals are made for the new product

and they are shifted to retail showrooms for

exhibition and sales.

Adopt a Competitive Strategy

An organisations competitive strategy defines a basic approach to markets and products

with respect to competitors. The choice of which opportunities to pursue can be guided

by this strategy. Most firms devote much discussion at senior management levels to

their strategic competencies and the ways in which they aim to compete. As per Product

Design & Development, some possible strategies are:

Technology Leadership: To implement this strategy, the firm places great

emphasis on basic research and development of new technologies and on the

deployment of these technologies through product development.

MFC Perspective: This requires great investment in technology research which

can be clubbed with Common Facility Centre. A small unit designated for

exploring and researching new possibilities in Product Design and Manufacturing

may be setup. This unit need not have all the high-end technical facilities in-

house; instead it can find sources and develop a blue-print for future

developments.

Cost Leadership: This strategy requires the firm to compete on production

efficiency, either through economies of scale, use of superior manufacturing

methods, low-cost labour, or better management of the production system.

Design for manufacturing methods are therefore emphasised in the product and

process development activities sunder this strategy. Tata Nano is an example

which was carried on a strategy of cost leadership. Cost control was identified as

a key area for success of the Nano project.

MFC Perspective: This also can be achieved through the CFC, where cutting

edge processing machines can be setup, which will work on a time-sharing basis

for individual member units. This will reduce the production cost; at the same

time will make high technology accessible to smaller units.

Customer Focus: To follow this strategy, the firm works closely with new and

existing customers to assess their changing needs and preferences. Carefully

designed product platforms facilitate the rapid development of derivative products

with new features or functions of interest to the customers. This strategy may

result in a broad product line featuring high product variety in order to address

the needs of heterogeneous customer segments.

MFC Perspective: This can be clubbed with the functions of the Design Unit,

which will create design which are platform-based and will keep up the consumer

survey to release variants.

Imitative: This strategy involves closely following trends in the market, allowing

competitors to explore which new products are successful for each segment.

When viable opportunities have been identified, the firm quickly launches new

products to imitate successful competitors. A fast development process is

essential to effectively implement this strategy.

MFC Perspective: This is the current process, although not fully functional. For

this process to be successful, MFC needs a strong market survey team and

market intelligence inputs along with a fast engineering-prototyping team. This

may be planned as a function for the R&D Unit at CFC.

Adopt Design for Manufacturability (DFM)

Design for manufacturability is the process of proactively designing products to:

(1) Optimize all the manufacturing functions: fabrication, assembly, test, procurement,

shipping, delivery, service, and repair, and

(2) Assure the best cost, quality, reliability, regulatory compliance, safety, time-to-

market, and customer satisfaction.

Design for Manufacturability can reduce many costs, since products can be quickly

assembled from fewer parts. Thus, products are easier to build and assemble, in less

time, with better quality. Parts are designed for ease of fabrication and commonality with

other designs.

DFM encourages standardization of parts, maximum use of purchased parts, modular

design, and standard design features. Designers will save time and money by not having

to "re-invent the wheel." The result is a broader product line that is responsive to

customer needs. Malabar Furniture consortium needs to explore the market for more

technologies available, like simple machines, fitment methods, fasteners, adhesives,

paints and finishes and new materials for manufacture. This alone may help reinvent

many of the current product lines.

Key Design for Manufacturability Guidelines

1. Understand manufacturing problems/issues of current/past products

2. Design for easy fabrication, processing, and assembly

3. Adhere to specific process design guidelines.

4. Avoid right/left hand parts.

5. Design parts with symmetry.

6. If part symmetry is not possible, make parts very asymmetrical.

7. Design for fixturing.

8. Minimize tooling complexity by concurrently designing tooling.

9. Specify optimal tolerances for a Robust Design.

10. Specify quality parts from reliable sources.

11. Minimize Setups.

12. Minimize Cutting Tools.

13. Understand tolerance step functions and specify tolerances wisely.

Wastage Reuse

All units under Malabar Furniture consortium produce a large amount of wastage in the

form of wood chips and wood powder every day. This wastage is usually given over to

local firms like bakeries for burning. Given the wood waste from 30 odd units are a huge

amount, this could be thought as a viable spin-off operation. Currently, there are few

industries which convert wood dust into logs or blocks for burning.

But the idea here is to recycle and reuse this waste by the consortium itself. One

possible direction is the manufacturing of particle boards or composite boards which

could be used in the furniture products of the consortium. Since the raw material is got

free-of-cost, the total cost of the product equals the manufacturing cost only.

Other applications for wood waste include in western countries include:

Power generation

landscape mulch,

soil conditioner,

animal bedding,

compost additive,

sewage sludge bulking medium

(The manufacturing cycle showing the wastage production)

Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level

1. Development of new products & designs suited to the local market and using

consortium‟s existing infrastructure

2. Development of designs using low-tech processes like wood bending, metal

etching, etc.

3. Development of a brand identity for Malabar furniture consortium with logo,

visual identity in products and marketing collaterals.

4. Development of B&C products with modular and easy to assemble designs.

5. Development of cheaper, simple machinery and tools.

6. New products / designs incorporating wood waste from the units.

7. Design of product display spaces and retail outlets for MFC.

8. Design of workstations for the common facility centre.

Raw material

(Saw Mills)

Manufacturing Units

Waste

Secondary

Operations

Delivery to

Customer Retail Shops

Appendix I:

FEEDBACKS FROM UNIT-WISE DESIGN

AUDITS

Unit description Name: K.P.Narayanan Unit: K.P.Wood Works

Address: K.P.Wood works, Perinthaleri, Koyyam Kannur-670 142. Phone: 09744732257 • Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product development and product diversification

The main products include Door and window frames, Door and windows, Chairs, Dining table, Cot, Sofa set, shelf etc. The redesigning or new product development is welcome while considering the future of the unit. • Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives There exists a wide scope for the development of new designs. The future development calls for cheaper and simple machines which are not available at present. • Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design The products own no brand or visual identity. But there is an opportunity to device a new marketing plan for branding of the product and their design while considering their quality and popularity.

• Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations. The current machines available are

1. Thickness planer, 2. Surface planer, 3. Router, 4. Spindle moulder and 5. Cutter.

The introduction of new sophisticated tools for this unit alone is not economical. Keeping this in view the need is to reduce the production cost and better quality of the products.

The development of a Common Facility Center (CFC) will enable the unit to work in collaboration with other units. CFC will also enable the setting up of a central facility for design which will be affordable for these small units. • Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective.

Apart from implementing new designs to the products, new fitment processes may be explored to make the production more economical. These innovations will greatly help in reduction of wastage caused by the old techniques.

• Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design As this is a small scale unit, they are not able to implement the full standards in workstation design. But the CFC can help in making this possible by providing advanced equipments within their reach.

• Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction The direct contacts are the sole marketing activity and they have been able to supply their products at costs which are acceptable. The major competition is faced from similar units which manufacture the same range of products. The implementation of new designs & developments can help in

taking an advantage over the units that follow the old patterns. • Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation. Training for the employees and their skill up-gradation is required for the future growth of the unit. • Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise.

There are no efficient Environment-Health-Safety (EHS) systems present and workers are exposed to wood dust. The ergonomic and environmental factors need an urgent shakedown and their implementation should be considered with immediate effect. • Packaging and logistics related design opportunities The unit requires no long distance transportation and packaging considering their present consumer circle. • Exhibition /Display design opportunities. There is no active display of finished goods but there are opportunities present for their exhibition in future. • Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective

As the unit is in small level, it supports only the basic infrastructure facilities. The intervention of advanced design will require a better working environment with more facilities. • Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units The introduction of new designs and fitment techniques will lead to the production

of newer products that are economical for the unit and hence help in their future expansion. It can also help in implanting simple and cheaper equipments which will make the unit more profitable. • Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level. There is an immense opportunity for design at MSME unit level which is yet to be explored. The scope of design covers whole of the products, machinery and the processes involved. And the usage of new materials and finishes should be encouraged which will help in opening a new product window.

Unit description Name: C.J.George Unit: C.J.G Board Makers,

Address: C.J.G Board Makers, Dharmasala, Kannur. Phone: 09447482043 • Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product development and product diversification The main products include Chairs, Dining table, Cot, Sofa set, shelf etc. Further

expansion of the product ranges can be made possible in the future with more advanced tools. • Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives Development of new product designs can be made with the use of advanced machinery. The future development calls for cheaper and simple machines which are not available at present. • Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design The products own no branding or visual identity. But there is an opportunity to device a new marketing plan for branding of the product and their design while considering their quality and popularity.

• Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations. The current machines available are:

1. Thickness planer 2. Spindle moulder 3. Jigsaw 4. Lathe

Keeping in view the need to reduce the production cost and better quality of the products, the development of a Common Facility Center (CFC) should be made to enable the unit to work in collaboration with other units. CFC will also enable the setting up of a central facility for design which will be affordable for these small units.

• Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective. Along with the implementing of new designs to the products, new processes may be explored to make the production more economical. These innovations will greatly help in reduction of wastage caused by the old techniques.

• Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design As this is a small scale unit, they are not able to implement the full standards in workstation design. But the CFC can help in making this possible by providing advanced equipments within their reach.

• Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction The unit supplies good quality products at reasonable rates to the consumers.

The major competition is faced from similar units which manufacture the same range of products. The implementation of new designs & developments can help in taking an advantage over the units that follow the old patterns. • Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation. Training for the employees and their skill up-gradation is required for the future growth of the unit.

• Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise. There are no efficient Environment-Health-Safety (EHS) systems present and workers are exposed to wood dust. The ergonomic and environmental factors need an urgent shakedown and their implementation should be considered with immediate effect.

• Packaging and logistics related design opportunities The unit requires no long distance transportation and packaging considering their present consumer circle. • Exhibition /Display design opportunities. There is no active display of finished goods but there are opportunities present for their exhibition in future. • Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective As the unit is in small level, it supports only the basic infrastructure facilities. The intervention of advanced design will require a better working environment with more facilities. • Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units

The introduction of new designs and fitment techniques will lead to the production of newer products that are economical for the unit and hence help in their future expansion. It can also help in implanting simple and cheaper equipments which will make the unit more profitable. • Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level.

The future expansion of the unit is dependent on the design projects that will make new design products at lower cost. The scope of design covers whole of the products, machinery and the processes involved. And the usage of new materials and finishes should be encouraged which will help in opening a new product window for the unit.

Unit description Name: K.P.Bhargavan Unit: Chithanya Furniture,

Address: Chithanya Furniture, Kurumathur (PO), Karimbam Kannur-670142. Phone: 09446776492 • Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product

development and product diversification The main products include Door/window frames, Door/windows, Chairs, Dining table, Cot, Sofa set, shelf etc. • Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives There exists a wide scope for the development of new designs. The future development calls for cheaper and simple machines which are not available at present. • Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design The products own no visual identity. But there is an opportunity to device a new marketing plan for branding of the product and their design while considering their quality and popularity.

• Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations. The current machines available are:

1. Thickness planer 2. Surface planer 3. Router 4. Spindle Moulder 5. Cutter

The introduction of new sophisticated tools for this unit alone is not economical. Keeping this in view the need is to reduce the production cost and better quality of the products.

The development of a Common Facility Center (CFC) will enable the unit to work in collaboration with other units. CFC will also enable the setting up of a central facility for design which will be affordable for these small units. • Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective.

Apart from implementing new designs to the products, new fitment processes may be explored to make the production more economical. These innovations will greatly help in reduction of wastage caused by the old techniques.

• Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design As this is a small scale unit, they are not able to implement the full standards in workstation design. But the CFC can help in making this possible by providing advanced equipments within their reach.

• Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction The unit has been able to supply their products at costs which are acceptable to the consumers. The major competition is faced from similar units which manufacture the same range of products. The implementation of new designs & developments can help in

taking an advantage over the units that follow the old patterns. • Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation. Training for the employees and their skill up-gradation is required for the future growth of the unit. • Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise.

There are no efficient Environment-Health-Safety (EHS) systems present and workers are exposed to wood dust. The ergonomic and environmental factors need an urgent shakedown and their implementation should be considered with immediate effect. • Packaging and logistics related design opportunities The unit requires no long distance transportation and packaging considering their present consumer circle. • Exhibition /Display design opportunities. There is no active display of finished goods but there are opportunities present for their exhibition in future. • Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective

As the unit is in small level, it supports only the basic infrastructure facilities. The intervention of advanced design will require a better working environment with more facilities. • Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units The introduction of new designs and fitment techniques will lead to the production

of newer products that are economical for the unit and hence help in their future expansion. It can also help in implanting simple and cheaper equipments which will make the unit more profitable. • Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level. There is an immense opportunity for design at MSME unit level which is yet to be explored. The scope of design covers whole of the products, machinery and the processes involved. And the usage of new materials and finishes should be encouraged which will help in opening a new product window.

Unit description Name: JOSE KUMAR M.O Unit: Central furniture

Address: Perumba, Payyanur Kannur- 670 307. Phone: 04985 202571 09447093443.

• Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product development and product diversification The main products are Cot, Dining Table, Chair, Teapoy, Shelf, Dressing Table,

Doors, Windows, Door/Window frames etc. They also manufacture miscellaneous hard wood furniture. • Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives There is good scope for mechanization of the unit with the introduction of new machines which are advanced.

• Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design The product has no branding at present. But there is an opportunity to device a new marketing plan for branding of the product and their design while considering their quality and popularity.

• Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations. The current machines available are:

1. Re saw

2. Plainer 24” and 18” 3. Surface planer 4. Thickness planer 5. Router 6. Jig saw 7. Lathe 8. Chain motoriser

9. Tanning motoriser The development of a Common Facility Center (CFC) will enable the unit to work in collaboration with other units. CFC will also enable the setting up of a central facility for design which will be affordable for these small units. • Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective. The need is to develop newly technically advanced processes that reduce wastage of raw materials. By the identification of potentially new wood based materials and the plenty of raw wood available the unit may export texture in future.

• Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design The unit requires new workstations with more standards and a new Work flow

design is needed for the profitable production of goods.

• Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction They have been able to supply their products at costs which are acceptable. The major competition is faced from similar units which manufacture the same

range of products at much lower cost. The implementation of new designs & developments can help in achieving lower cost. • Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation.

Skilled manpower is not available at the unit. The training of employees is necessary for the development of expansion of the unit.

• Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise. Work stations and demarcate spaces should be set up with advanced facilities. There are no efficient Environment-Health-Safety (EHS) systems present and workers are exposed to wood dust. So the ergonomic and environmental factors need an urgent implementation.

• Packaging and logistics related design opportunities Packaging opportunity should be developed to prevent surface damage and to enhance stack ability.

• Exhibition /Display design opportunities. There is no active display of finished goods but there are opportunities present for their exhibition. They may look into marketing of the finished goods in future with the expansion of the unit.

• Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective The infrastructure standards are not very high. They are mainly dependent on manpower. The intervention of advanced design will require a better working

environment with more facilities. • Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units The introduction of new furniture and workstation design will help in wastage reduction. Thus the production of newer products can be carried out more economically.

• Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level. The scope of design projects should be evaluated for the manufacture of premium and life style products. The scope of design covers whole of the products, machinery and the processes involved. And the usage of new materials and finishes should be encouraged which will help in opening a new product window.

Unit description Name: K.P.Narayanan Unit: K.P.Wood works,

Address: K.P.Wood works, Perinthaleri, Koyyam-670 142. Phone: 09744732257. • Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product

development and product diversification The main products include Door/window frames, Door/windows, Chairs, Dining table, Cot, Sofa set, shelf etc. The redesigning or new product development is a good option while considering the future of the unit. • Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives There exists a wide scope for the development of new designs. The future development calls for cheaper and simple machines which are not available at present. • Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design The products own no visual identity. But there is an opportunity to device a new marketing plan for branding of the product and their design while considering their

quality and popularity. • Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations. The current machines available are

1. Thickness planer 2. Surface planer 3. Router 4. Spindle Moulder 5. Cutter

The introduction of new sophisticated tools for this unit alone is not economical. Keeping this in view the need is to reduce the production cost and better quality of the products.

The development of a Common Facility Center (CFC) will enable the unit to work in collaboration with other units. CFC will also enable the setting up of a central facility for design which will be affordable for these small units. • Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective.

Apart from implementing new designs to the products, new fitment processes may be explored to make the production more economical. These innovations will greatly help in reduction of wastage caused by the old techniques.

• Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design As this is a small scale unit, they may not able to implement the full international standards in workstation design. But the CFC can help in making this possible by providing advanced equipment within their reach.

• Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction The unit produces good quality products at reasonable rates and has set a standard for itself. The major competition is faced from similar units which manufacture the same products. The implementation of new designs and developments can help in taking an advantage over the units that follow the old patterns.

• Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation. Training for the employees and their skill up-gradation is required for the future growth of the unit. • Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise. There are no efficient Environment-Health-Safety (EHS) systems present and

workers are exposed to dust and other problems. The ergonomic and environmental factors need attention and their implementation should be considered with urgency. • Packaging and logistics related design opportunities The unit requires no long distance transportation and packaging considering their present market. • Exhibition /Display design opportunities. There is no active display of finished goods but there are opportunities present for their exhibition in future. • Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective As the unit is in small level, it supports only the basic infrastructure facilities. The intervention of advanced design will require a better working environment with

more facilities. • Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units The introduction of new designs and techniques will lead to the production of newer products that are economical for the unit and hence help in their future expansion. It can also help in implanting simple and cheaper equipments which will make the

unit more profitable. • Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level. There is an immense opportunity for design at MSME unit level which is yet to be explored. The scope of design covers whole of the products, machinery and the processes involved. And the usage of new materials and finishes should be encouraged which will help in development of new product designs.

Unit description Name: Krishnan Unnipravan

Unit: Sreerag Wood Craft Center, Address: Sreerag Wood Craft Center Nareekkamvally (PO), Mandur (via), Kannur • Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product development and product diversification

The main products include all kinds of furniture, Door, Window frames, Doors and windows. • Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives The scope for development requires a tie up with Common Facility Center which will make available costly machinery which is not affordable by the unit alone. • Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design The products own no visual identity. But there is an opportunity to device a new marketing plan for branding of the product and their design while considering their quality and popularity. • Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations.

The current machines available are:

1. Thickness Planer 2. Surface planer 3. Tanning motoriser 4. Chain motoriser 5. Lathe 6. Jig saw

The development of a Common Facility Center (CFC) will enable the unit to work with advanced machines in collaboration with other units. CFC will also enable the setting up of a central facility for design which will be affordable for these small units.

• Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective. Inventory optimization can be considered with process innovation by the use of the newly designed machinery. By the implementation of new designs the production can be made more economical.

• Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design There exists opportunity for the execution of design in workstation and tooling to implement full standards in the unit. This can be made possible with the CFC.

• Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction The major competition is faced from similar units which manufacture the same range of products. The implementation of new designs & developments can help in

taking an advantage over the units that follow the old patterns. • Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation. There is a need to collaborate with other small units for the up-gradation of skills. This can help in the training of the workers in operating highly advanced machinery.

• Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise. There are no efficient Environment-Health-Safety (EHS) systems present and workers are exposed to wood dust. The ergonomic and environmental factors need an urgent shakedown and their implementation should be considered with immediate effect. • Packaging and logistics related design opportunities The unit requires no long distance transportation and packaging considering their present consumer circle • Exhibition /Display design opportunities. There is no active display of finished goods but there are opportunities present for their exhibition in future.

• Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective As the unit is in small level, it supports only the basic infrastructure facilities. The intervention of advanced design will require a better working environment with more facilities

• Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units With the development of a central resource for design and manufacturing, the unit will be able to produce new products that are economical. It can also help in implanting simple and cheaper equipments which will make the unit more profitable.

• Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level. There is an immense opportunity for design at MSME unit level .Focus should be on specified products and its development. The use of superior machinery and designs will enhance production and thus help in its expansion.

Unit description Name: Lakshmanan. K Unit: Quality furniture and Wood Workers,

Address: Quality furniture and Wood Workers, Mandur (PO), Kannur-670501 • Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product development and product diversification The main products include all kinds of furniture, Door, Window frames, Doors and

windows. They own showrooms for their sale and marketing.

• Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives The scope exists for developing new designs at low price and the manufacturing of high volume products for further expansion of the plant.

• Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design The products own a brand with retail outlet for their selling. But they have no visual identity. There is a good opportunity for better branding design which is identifiable.

• Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations. The current machines available are:

1. Thickness Planer 15” and 9” with design reaper

2. Surface planer 3. Jig saw 4. Lathe 5. Drill machine

The introduction of new sophisticated tools for this unit alone is not economical. Keeping this in view the need is to reduce the production cost and better quality of

the products. The development of a Common Facility Center (CFC) will enable the unit to work in collaboration with other units. CFC will also enable the setting up of a central facility for design which will be affordable for these small units. • Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective. After the implementation of new designs, faster production and good quality will be resulted. The improved machinery can reduce human labour thus making production more economical. • Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design Modifications in tools and machine need to be implemented. These can help in producing good quality products at low expenses.

• Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction The unit has a good consumer circle of its own. But there is a need to increase production to meet the current demands. The unit has a scope for expansion in the

coming years. • Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation. There exists non availability of skilled workers at present. The training of worker and their skill up-gradation is necessary. • Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise.

The ergonomic and environmental factors are not considered with due importance at the unit. It requires more furnished workstations and material flow systems that will ascertain the safety of the workers. • Packaging and logistics related design opportunities Modular furniture may be explored which can be effectively packed and transported. This should be aimed at minimum surface damages.

• Exhibition /Display design opportunities. For the exhibition of the finished goods the retail outlet may be redesigned to make it more attractive.

• Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective The unit needs versatile machines for further development of its infrastructure. It shows a scope for growth having its own procuring-manufacturing-sales outlet system which is self reliable.

• Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units The introduction of new designs and techniques will lead to process optimization thus decreasing the cost. Low technology manufacturing Technique is to be replaced with the highly sophisticated machinery to make the unit profitable. • Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level.

Low cost furniture can be made available to the customers with the help of CFC and by the design projects implementing new materials for production. New product design, machinery and processes should be encouraged for the uplifting of the unit in future.

Unit description Name: V. Madhavan Unit: Akshaya Wood Works,

Address: Akshaya Wood Works CH/VI/57-1, Cheruthazham Panchayath, Pilathara. Kannur- 670 307. Phone: 09387531016 • Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product

development and product diversification The main product includes doors, Windows, Door/Window frames. They have also specialized in wood furniture. • Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives By process innovation, a wide scope for the development of new designs Products are available. The future development calls for cheaper and simple machines which will help in faster production. • Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design There is no branding and the products own no visual identity. But there is an opportunity to device a new marketing plan for branding of the product and their design while considering their quality and popularity.

• Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations. The current machines available are:

1. Surface planer 2. Thickness planer 3. Drill machine

The introduction of new sophisticated tools to reduce the production cost and better quality of the products needs the development of a Common Facility Center (CFC) that will enable the unit to work in collaboration with other units. CFC will also enable the setting up of a central facility for design which will be affordable for these small units.

• Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective. The scope for innovations in processes and operations are low, since they cater to the building and construction industry. These should be aimed at reduction of wastage and lower cost.

(Above) Tooling Innovation where a planning machine was modified as a slot cutter.

• Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design As this is a small scale unit, they are using low technology tooling machines which has hindered its development. But the CFC can help in making this possible by providing advanced equipment within their reach.

• Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction Speed is main advantage of this unit. Further implementation of new designs and developments can help in taking an advantage over the units that follow the old techniques. Thus the competition from similar units can be overcome.

• Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation. There is a need for technology up-gradation and skill training of the employees for the future growth of the unit. • Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise. There are no efficient Environment-Health-Safety (EHS) systems present and workers are exposed to wood dust. The ergonomic and environmental factors

should be taken care of and their implementation should be considered with immediate effect. • Packaging and logistics related design opportunities The unit requires no long distance transportation and packaging considering their present consumer circle.

• Exhibition /Display design opportunities. There is no active display of finished goods but there are opportunities present for their exhibition in future

• Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective The unit supports only the basic infrastructure facilities. The production is carried out with no designing done. Advanced design will require a better working environment with more facilities and machinery. • Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units With the intervention of design, faster production can be carried out that will be

economical for the unit and hence help in their future expansion. It can also help in implanting simple and cheaper equipments which will make the unit more profitable. The design projects can replace the low technology mechanization of the unit with highly advanced techniques. • Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level. Designing of simple machines and process innovation can be done to meet the increasing demands of the consumers. This will help the manufacture of new building and construction products. The scope of design covers whole of the products, machinery and the processes involved. And the usage of new joineries will help in opening a new product window that will take the unit to higher profits.

Unit description Name: K.Chandran Unit: Malu Furniture,

Address: Malu Furniture Valakkai, Koyyam (PO), Kannur-670141. Phone: 09947189010 • Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product development and product diversification

The main products include Door/window frames, Door/windows, Chairs, Dining table, Cot etc. There is a wide scope for product diversification considering the market of the products. • Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives There exists a wide scope for the development of new designs. The future development calls for cheaper and simple machines which are not available at present. • Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design The products own no visual identity. But there is an opportunity to device a new marketing plan for branding of the product and their design while considering their quality and popularity.

• Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations. The current available machines are:

1. Lathe 2. Router 3. Cutter

The introduction of new sophisticated tools for this unit alone is not economical. Keeping this in view the need is to reduce the production cost and better quality of the products.

The development of a Common Facility Center (CFC) will enable the unit to work in collaboration with other units. CFC will also enable the setting up of a central facility

for design which will be affordable for these small units. • Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective. Apart from implementing new designs to the products, new fitment processes may be explored to make the production more economical. These innovations will

greatly help in reduction of wastage caused by the old techniques. • Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design As this is a small scale unit, they are not able to implement the full standards in workstation design. But the CFC can help in making this possible by providing advanced equipments within their reach.

• Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction The unit has set its own level of standard in product manufacturing which has gained customers.

The major competition is faced from similar units which manufacture the same range of products. The implementation of new designs & developments can help in taking an advantage over the units that follow the old patterns. • Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation. Training for the employees and their skill up-gradation is required for the future growth of the unit.

• Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise. Environment-Health-Safety (EHS) systems present are not effective and workers are exposed to wood dust. The ergonomic and environmental factors need development and their implementation should be considered with immediate effect for the benefit of workers.

• Packaging and logistics related design opportunities No long distance transportation and packaging are required considering their present consumer circle. • Exhibition /Display design opportunities. There is no active display of finished goods but exhibition of products can be made possible in future by expansion of the present unit. • Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective Only very basic infrastructure facilities are available at the unit .A better working environment with more facilities can make the unit more profitable. • Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units By the intervention of design, new product designs and techniques can be

developed that are economical for the unit and hence help in their future expansion. It can also help in implanting simple and cheaper equipments which will make the unit more profitable. • Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level. New product Designs are to be developed using the newly innovated design

projects. There is an immense opportunity for design at MSME unit level yet to be explored. And the usage of new materials and finishes should be encouraged which will help in opening a new product window.

Unit description

Name: P.P.Muraleedharan Unit: Super Tech Engineering, Address: Super Tech Engineering Anchampeedika, Mottammal (PO), Kannur Phone: 09447954655.

• Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product development and product diversification The main products include T.V. Stand, Dining Table and Table Tops etc. New product development is being planned for its diversification and expansion.

• Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives There exists good scope for the development of premium product designs. It requires new joineries and wood bending processes to be introduced with the help of design for meeting the future initiatives.

• Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design The products own no visual identity. But there is an opportunity to device a new marketing plan for branding of the product and their design while considering their quality and popularity.

• Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations. The current available machines are:

1. Planer

2. Router 3. Auto copy lathe 4. Cutter

With the development of a Common Facility Center (CFC), the unit will be able to implement the new advanced tools along with the other small units. This will help in the developing of new designs economically.

• Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective. At present some cold bending of wood is done at the unit. The innovations with designs can help in implementing hot bending technique and new designs can be developed more effectively. • Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design As this is a small scale unit, they are not fully equipped at workstation design. But the CFC can help in making this possible by providing advanced equipments at affordable rates in collaboration with other units. • Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction

They have been able to supply their customers with products at acceptable prices and according to their needs. The major competition is faced from units which manufacture the same range of products. The implementation of new designs & developments can help in taking an advantage over the units that follow the old patterns. • Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation.

Skill up-gradation of the workers is required for the future growth of the unit. They should be given proper training on machinery. • Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise. There are no efficient Environment-Health-Safety (EHS) systems present. The ergonomic and environmental factors need to be developed and their

implementation will relieve the workers from the existing problems. • Packaging and logistics related design opportunities The unit requires no long distance transportation and packaging considering their present consumer circle. • Exhibition /Display design opportunities. There is no active display of finished goods but there are opportunities present for their future exhibition. • Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective The introduction of advanced design will require a better working environment with more facilities rather than the basic infrastructure facilities available at present.

• Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units The introduction of new bending techniques will lead to the production of products that are superior in quality. The introduction of design will produce newer designs at lower cost which will make the unit more profitable.

• Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level. The usage of new techniques and finishes should be encouraged which will help in opening a new product window. The scope of design covers whole of the products, machinery and the processes involved. There is an immense opportunity for design at MSME unit level which is yet to be explored.

Unit description Name: P.T.Ramesh Unit: Cader Wood Crafts,

Address: Cader Wood Crafts Keeriyad, Chirakkal (PO), Kannur-670 011. Phone: 09447448920. • Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product

development and product diversification The main products include chairs, Dining table, Cot, Sofa set, Shelf, School and College furniture etc.

• Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives There exists a wide scope for the development of new designs. The future development calls for cheaper and simple machines which are not available at present.

• Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design The products own no visual identity. But there is an opportunity to device a new marketing plan for branding of the product and their design while considering their quality and popularity.

• Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations. The current machines available are:

1. Thickness planer with circular saw 2. Spindle moulder

3. Jigsaw 4. Lath 5. Grinder 6. cutter

Keeping in view the need to reduce the production cost and better quality of the products the development of a Common Facility Center (CFC) will enable the unit to

work in collaboration with other units. CFC will also enable the setting up of a central facility for design which will be affordable for these small units. • Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective. The innovations in the manufacturing processes will greatly help in reduction of wastage caused by the old techniques. New designs can be incorporated to make the product more attractive and economical.

• Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design They are not able to implement the full standards in workstation design as it is a small unit. But the CFC can help in making this possible by providing advanced equipments and facilities within their reach.

• Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction They have been able to supply their products at costs which are reasonable. But competition is faced from similar units which manufacture the same products at reduced prices. The implementation of new designs & developments can help in taking an advantage over the units that follow the old patterns.

• Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation. Training for the employees and their skill up-gradation is required for the future growth of the unit. • Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise. As it is a small level unit, there are no efficient Environment-Health-Safety (EHS)

systems present and workers are exposed to wood dust. The ergonomic and environmental factors needs attention and their implementation should be considered with immediate effect. • Packaging and logistics related design opportunities The unit requires no long distance transportation and packaging considering their present consumer circle. The future expansion will require an efficient packaging and transporting system that has minimum surface damage. • Exhibition /Display design opportunities. There is no active display of finished goods but there are opportunities present for their exhibition in future. • Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective

The unit supports only the basic infrastructure facilities. The intervention of advanced design will require a better working environment with more facilities. • Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units New designs and techniques will lead to the production of newer products that are economical for the unit and hence help in their future expansion. The introduction

of simple and cheaper equipments will make the unit more profitable. • Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level. The scope of design covers whole of the products, machinery and the processes involved. New designs and machinery has to be developed with the support of design projects. The usage of new materials and finishes should be encouraged which will help in opening a new product window.

Unit description Name: MR. P.P. Sasidharan Unit: Manna Planers,

Address: Manna, Trichambaram Road, Taliparamba, Kannur-670 141. Phone: 09846935736.

• Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product development and product diversification

The main products include building and construction related items and furniture. Secondary operations on wood are also done. • Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives There exists a wide scope for technology up gradation with the support of design considering the present scenario. The future initiatives require facility scaling up that will help in meeting the

increased needs of the market. • Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design The products own no visual identity. Orders are taken mainly through contractors and also directly from the customer.

• Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations. The current available machines are:

1. Plainer 18” 3 in 1 - 2 Nos

2. Plainer 13” 2 in 1 - 1 No.

It is uneconomical for the unit to get all the machines themselves. Keeping this in view the need is to reduce the production cost and better quality of the products. Common Facility Center (CFC) will enable the setting up of a central facility for design which will be affordable for these small units when working in collaboration with other units.

• Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective. There is a need to develop the mechanization of the whole operating process of the unit. These innovations can help in implementing faster process with less labour that will reduce the cost of production.

• Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design Full standards are not being implemented in this unit. They lack the advanced tools which should be made available at low cost with the incorporation of CFC.

• Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction Skilled labour is the current advantage which enables them to produce goods of superior quality as per the demands.

Similar units have posed the major competition and the implementation of new designs & developments can help in taking an advantage over the units that follow the old patterns. • Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation. The employees should be provided with cross functional training at Common Facility Centre (CFC) that will help develop their skills further.

• Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise. The ergonomic and environmental factors need an urgent shakedown and their implementation should be considered with immediate effect. The employees are exposed to wood dust and there is no efficient Environment-Health-Safety systems present for their protection.

• Packaging and logistics related design opportunities The unit requires no long distance transportation and packaging considering their present market. The need is for a highly damage proof and stackable design to meet future requirements. • Exhibition /Display design opportunities. There is no active display of finished goods but there are opportunities present for their exhibition in future.

• Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective Only basic infrastructure facilities are available at present. In future, steps may be taken to use a centralized design resource that can be made possible in a CFC.

• Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units The introduction of new designs will lead to the production of newer products that are economical for the unit and hence help in their future expansion. It can also help in implanting simple and cheaper equipments which will make the unit more profitable. • Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level.

The intervention of design projects can help in imparting skilled training which will help create a new product window. The use of mixed materials with simple and faster joints should be encouraged for the future developments of the unit.

Unit description Name: K. Shivadasan, Unit: Prathibha Industries

Address: Prathibha Industries Dharmasala-Kannur. Phone: 09447817446 • Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product development and product diversification

The main metal products include steel cupboards, Chairs, Hospital cot, Wheel Chairs, Roof Structure etc. The diversification of the products has to be considered for the development of the unit.

• Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives Future initiatives like new texture and advanced processes have to be undertaken for the expansion of unit. Trend analysis will help in understanding the current market requirements and hence the future of unit.

• Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design The products own no visual identity. But there is an opportunity to device a new marketing plan for branding of the product and their design while considering their quality and popularity.

• Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations. Only basic fabrication setup is available in this unit. But the introduction of new sophisticated tools for this unit alone is not economical. Keeping this in view the need is to reduce the production cost and better quality of the products.

The development of a Common Facility Center (CFC) will enable the unit to work in collaboration with other units. CFC will also enable the setting up of a central facility for design which will be affordable for these small units. • Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective. Rather than the introduction of new designs, man power and machinery should be

exploited to maximum for making the production more economical.

• Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design As this is a small scale unit, they are not able to implement the full standards in workstation design. But the CFC can help in making this possible by providing advanced equipments within their reach.

• Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction The unit’s distinction is the reasonable pricing and good quality of the manufactured goods. The major competition is faced from similar units which manufacture the same range of products. The implementation of new designs & developments can help in taking an advantage over the units that follow the old patterns

• Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation. Technical skill up gradation of the employees is required for the future growth of the unit.

• Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise. There are no efficient Environment-Health-Safety (EHS) systems present and workers are exposed to wood dust. The ergonomic and environmental factors need an urgent shakedown and their implementation should be considered with immediate effect.

• Packaging and logistics related design opportunities The packaging and transportation options have to be designed to minimize the surface damage and also to have reduced cost. • Exhibition /Display design opportunities. There is no active display of finished goods but there are opportunities present for their exhibition in future. • Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective As the unit is in small level, it supports only the basic infrastructure facilities. A better working environment with more facilities will make the intervention of designs possible more effectively.

• Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units The introduction of new colours, texture and designs will lead to the production of newer products that are economical for the unit and hence help in their future expansion.

• Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level. Modular designs have to be developed at MSME unit level with the support of design project which will help in the introduction of new product ranges. And the usage of new materials and finishes should be encouraged which will help in opening a new product window.

Unit description Name: V.Sugunan Unit: Dayana Industries,

Address: Dayana Industries Nareekkamvally, Mandur (PO), Kannur-670501. Phone : 09349202946 • Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product

development and product diversification The main products include all kinds of furniture like cot, dining table, chair, almirah, Door and Window frames, Doors and windows. • Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives There exists a wide scope for marketing a premium product. But it requires more sophisticated machines which are not available. • Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design Currently the products are made as per orders. What makes them unique is the fact that every product is made in different design. And there exists a wide market for the goods considering their quality.

• Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations. The machines available are:

1. Thickness Planer 2. Surface planer

The introduction of new sophisticated tools for this unit alone is not economical. Keeping this in view the need is to reduce the production cost and better quality of the products. The development of a Common Facility Center (CFC) will enable the unit to work in collaboration with other units. CFC will also enable the setting up of a central facility for design which will be affordable for these small units.

• Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective. As the unit follows the ordering system in their marketing, they obtain a low margin. Ways should be found for low cost production and also for improving the quality. The innovations can help in developing new designs that will help make more profit.

• Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design They are not able to implement the full standards in workstation and tooling design. There exists opportunity to develop simple wood machining tools and simple machines for reducing the cost of production.

• Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction The major competition is faced from similar units which manufacture the same range of products. The implementation of new designs & developments can help in

taking an advantage over the units that follow the old patterns. The major business is local consumer based and they have been manufacturing products at reasonable rates. • Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation. Training should be given in materials and their usage. The employees could be

trained in traditional designs and craft for the future growth of the unit. • Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise. The Environment-Health-Safety (EHS) systems are lacking as it is a micro enterprise. The ergonomic and environmental factors need an urgent shakedown and their implementation should be considered with immediate effect.

• Packaging and logistics related design opportunities The unit requires no long distance transportation and packaging considering their present consumer circle. • Exhibition /Display design opportunities. A very efficient marketing plan is required for the exhibition of the finished goods which will increase its popularity and demand. • Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective It supports only the basic infrastructure facilities. A centralized design resource like Common Facility Center (CFC) can help in the advancement of the current setup to a great extent. • Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units

The Crafts and skills training will lead to production of newer products that have better quality and designs. The imparting of a more efficient marketing plan will make the unit more profitable in future. • Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level. There is an immense opportunity for design at MSME unit level which is yet to be

explored. The scope of design covers whole of the products, machinery and the processes involved. And the usage of new materials and finishes should be encouraged which will help in opening a new product window.

Unit description Name: VILSON T.C. Unit: Thaikkattu Wood Industries,

Address: Thaikkattu Wood Industries Pilathara (PO), Kannur - 670 501. • Description and scope for existing Products, redesign, new product development and product diversification The main products include Cot, Dining Table, Chair, Teapoy, Shelf, Dressing Table,

etc. New developments in Table and Chair designs are being made as a part of its diversification.

• Scope for research and development direction for future initiatives There exists a wide scope for the development of new designs. The future initiatives are to be aimed at reducing the wastage of raw materials. • Existing status and opportunity for visual identity, branding and communication design Current status is word of mouth publicity. The products own no visual identity. But there is an opportunity to device a new marketing plan for branding of the product and their design while considering their quality and popularity.

• Scope for technology, modernization and design collaborations. The current machines available are:

1. Thickness Planer 2. Surface planer

3. Spindle 4. Jig saw 5. Lathe

The urgent need is to reduce the production cost and better quality of the product. For this, the development of a Common Facility Center (CFC) will enable the unit to work in collaboration with other units. CFC will also enable the setting up of a

central facility for design which will be affordable for these small units. • Describe the scope for operations and process innovation from design perspective. Steps may be taken to optimize shop layout which will make the production more economical. The innovations in the manufacturing processes will greatly help in reduction of wastage. • Design opportunity in workstation and tooling design As a micro unit, the unit needs to develop further for implementing full standards. Simple tooling modification as in the case of Routers and Millers are to be brought out. The CFC can help in making this possible by providing advanced equipments within their reach.

• Details of market and competition study for design advantage and distinction The main market is the imported furniture which are made available at low cost. The major competition is faced from similar units. The implementation of new

designs & developments can help in taking an advantage over the units that follow the old patterns. • Study for the need of training and skill up‐gradation.

No Skilled labour is available and training for the employees and their skill up-gradation is required for the future growth of the unit.

• Description of ergonomic and environment factors in MSME premise. There are no efficient Environment-Health-Safety (EHS) systems present and workers are exposed to wood dust. The ergonomic and environmental factors need an urgent shakedown and their implementation should be considered with immediate effect.

• Packaging and logistics related design opportunities More design opportunities are to be implemented in the packaging area to prevent surface damage and to enhance stackability.

• Exhibition /Display design opportunities. There are mostly local exhibitions of finished goods and there exists a vast retail design opportunity in future. • Study of infrastructure setup from design perspective As the unit is in small level, it supports only the basic infrastructure facilities. The intervention of advanced design will require a better working environment with

more facilities.

• Scopes for design intervention for benefit of MSME units The introduction of new designs and techniques will lead to the production of newer

products that are economical for the unit and also help in wastage reduction. It can also help in process optimization and faster production. • Design project opportunities in detail at MSME unit level. Projects for the manufacture of low cost furniture may be started at MSME unit level. There is an immense opportunity for design and the usage of new materials

and finishes should be encouraged which will help in opening a new product window for the small units.

Appendix II: Data received from various panchayath / Municipality for the period from 01-04-2010 to 31-03-2011

Sl. No. Name of Panchayath

Applications

received for building permits

Door number given

No. of Licence given to

Furniture manufacturing

unit

No. of Licence

given to Furniture

shops

1 Alakode Grama Panchayath 499 816 2 18

2 Anjarakandy Grama Panchayath 223 261 1 3

3 Aralam Grama Panchayath 340 374 5 2

4 Ayyankunnu Grama Panchayath 618 394 0 0

5 Azhikode Grama Panchayath 524 496 13 7

6 Chapparapadavu Grama Panchayath 436 534 10 9

7 Chelora Grama Panchayath 474 320 2 6

8 Chembilode Grama Panchayath 378 374 2 2

9 Chengalai Grama Panchayath 478 355 0 2

10 Cherukunnu Grama Panchayath 202 36 1 2

11 Cherupuzha Grama Panchayath 311 601 0 0

12 Cheruthazham Grama Panchayath 422 518 17 24

13 Chirakkal Grama Panchayath 265 409 15 4

14 Chittariparamba Grama Panchayath 210 204 7 3

15 Chockli Grama Panchayath 386 218 7 8

16 Dharmadam Grama Panchayath 261 211 12 3

17 Edakkad Grama Panchayath 487 482 16 5

18 Elayavoor Grama Panchayath 261 396 6 11

19 Eramam Kuttoor Grama Panchayath 342 433 1 10

20 Eranjoli Grama Panchayath 194 194 6 6

21 Eruvassi Grama Panchayath 298 163 0 0

22 Ezhom Grama Panchayath 206 225 3 15

23 Irikkur Grama Panchayath 101 70 0 8

24 Kadamboor Grama Panchayath 194 176 3 5

25 Kadannapalli Panapuzha Grama Panchayath 248 369 6 1

26 Kadirur Grama Panchayath 319 278 9 8

27 Kalliyasseri Grama Panchayath 422 349 7 4

28 Kangol - Alapadamba Grama Panchayath 466 303 3 3

29 Kanichar Grama Panchayath 180 235 2 0

30 Kannapuram Grama Panchayath 218 187 6 2

31 Karivellur Grama Panchayath 299 248 14 3

32 Kariyad Grama Panchayath 272 202 4 1

33 Keezhur Grama Panchayath 551 474 13 7

34 Kelakam Grama Panchayath 235 207 0 3

35 Kizhallur Grama Panchayath 270 235 2 6

36 Kolachery Grama Panchayath 295 298 2 5

37 Kolayad Grama Panchayath 209 220 1 1

38 Koodali Grama Panchayath 290 317 4 5

39 Kottayam Grama Panchayath 220 188 6 3

40 Kottiyoor Grama Panchayath 121 260 0 5

41 Kunhimangalam Grama Panchayath 254 230 9 2

42 Kunnothparamba Grana Panchayath 503 342 5 4

43 Kurumathur Grama Panchayath 453 399 11 11

44 Kuthuparamba Muncipality 541 403 9 16

45 Kuttiattoor Grama Panchayath 394 240 3 5

46 Madayi Grama Panchayath 130 126 4 7

47 Malappattam Grama Panchayath 93 190 2 0

48 Malur Grama Panchayath 311 241 5 2

49 Mangattidam Grama Panchayath 334 255 27 4

50 Mattannur Muncipality 918 501 6 10

51 Mattul Grama Panchayath 385 190 6 1

52 Mayyil Grama Panchayath 308 250 10 8

53 Mokeri Grama Panchayath 136 173 18 2

54 Munderi Grama Panchayath 341 356 2 9

55 Muzhappilangad Grama Panchayath 120 100 12 4

56 Naduvil Grama Panchayath 334 357 1 9

57 Narath Grama Panchayath 276 223 12 3

58 New Mahi Grama Panchayath 129 123 8 3

59 Padiyoor Grama Panchayath 209 260 0 3

60 Pallikunnu Grama Panchayath 284 212 4 7

61 Panniyannur Grama Panchayath 161 196 10 2

62 Panoor Grama Panchayath 120 167 0 8

63 Pappinissery Grama Panchayath 545 433 6 4

64 Pattiyam Grama Panchayath 406 311 13 1

65 Pattuvam Grama Panchayath 200 176 6 0

66 Payam Grama Panchayath 465 349 7 5

67 Payyannur Muncipality 1130 982 5 2

68 Payyavoor Grama Panchayath 254 184 2 3

69 Peralassery Grama Panchayath NA NA 9 2

70 Pinarayi Grama Panchayath NA NA NA NA

71 Puzhathi Grama Panchayath 400 254 8 3

72 Ramanthali Grama Panchayath 322 280 8 4

73 Taliparamba Muncipility 980 875 NA NA

74 Thalassery Muncipality 882 NA 35 29

75 Triprangottur Grama Panchayath 162 284 2 1

76 Udayagiri Grama Panchayath 129 241 0 4

77 Ulikal Grama Panchayath 518 232 4 4

78 Valapattanam Grama Panchayath 60 80 4 7

79 Vengad Grama Panchayath 396 412 7 4

Total 26308 23257 488 403

NA = Data Not Available

REPORT OF

DESIGN CLINIC WORKSHOP

CONDUCTED FOR

MALABAR FURNITURE CONSORTIUM, TALIPARAMBA

December 24-29, 2011

CONDUCTED BY

DESIGNSCOPE, COCHIN

OBJECTIVE

The Design Workshop at Malabar Furniture Consortium was conducted from 24 December 2011 to

29 December 2011 at Western India Plywoods LTD, Valapattanam. The main objective of this

workshop was to train the consortium members to create original designs for manufacture. The

results of the need assessment survey was used to choose relevant topics to work on, and during the

5-day workshop, the participants learnt the design process and created some designs. Since there

was an overwhelming participation from students and general public, the workshop was tailored for

creating awareness in participants about the design process and its importance.

About Western India Plywoods Ltd., Valapattanam, Kannur

From the humble beginnings in 1942 as a sawmill and a tea chest manufacturing facility, Western

India Plywoods Ltd. grew steadily adding the latest in machinery and incorporating new

manufacturing techniques. Products ranged from Plywoods, Block boards, Flush door, Shuttering

and Marine Plywood, Aircraft Plywood etc. The Company planned and executed the hardboard plant

between the years 1956 and 1958 with an initial installed capacity of 12.5 tonnes of hardboard per

day. The Company also installed its own synthetic resin unit in 1959 with a capacity of 200 tonnes

per annum, which gradually increased to 2400 tonnes per annum, by 1975. Manufacture of densified

Wood was commenced on a small scale initially as a part of the plywood plant. An Industrial Licence

was obtained in 1974 for manufacture of Densified Wood with a capacity of 2000 M.T. per annum.

Since then, the Company has been producing components of densified wood required mainly by the

electrical, textile and chemical industries, Railways, etc. In 1974 a plant for manufacture of furniture

was added.

STRATEGY

Based on the survey results, the need for new designs was identified as the most important

requirement. Also, there was a significant demand for traditional designs over modern designs.

Keeping this in mind, two products, (a) Sofa and (b) Dining Table were selected for designing. The

idea was to throw a real-life challenge to the participants and supplementing them with training on

design process.

SCHEDULE

Day 1: Furniture Design: Design Process

0900-1200: Workshop Inauguration

1200-1300: Presentation of Need Assessment Survey Results: Manu T., Designscope

1400-1600: Guest Speaker: Mr. Rahul M Purushothaman, Faculty, NID Bangalore,

Topic: “Furniture Design: Design Process and New Developments”

1600 onwards: Breakout session: Need Assessment

Day 2: Furniture Design: Design in Kerala

0900-1300: Guest Speakers: Mr. Anil Kumar & Mr.Sujith, Mi-Home Cochin

Topic: “Furniture Trends in Kerala: Past and the Future”

1400 onwards: Breakout session: Creating Design Brief

Day 3: Furniture Design: Conceptualisation (All Day)

Day 4: Furniture Design: Design Selection & Engineering

0900-1100: Industry visit at Western India Plywoods LTD.

1100 onwards: Design Selection & Engineering

Day 5: Furniture Design: Prototyping (All Day)

Day 1: Furniture Design: Design Process

All the participants, including 15 from member units of Malabar Furniture Consortium and 33

students, from it is and Polytechnics in the area participated in the Design Workshop. Since almost

all the member units had similar problems in design and development, it was decided to conduct a

general awareness workshop to equip the participants to be self-sustainable in design and

development activities of their respective units. Hence no particular unit was taken up for the

workshop and instead, general issues, concerns and need of the consortium were discussed.

The Workshop was inaugurated in the presence of members of state legislative assembly, Malabar

Furniture Consortium members, Western India Plywood officials and general public interested in

design. All speakers discussed in depth about the problems facing the industrial segments in Kerala,

focusing on the furniture industry. There were good representation form political activists,

industrialists, forest officials, environmentalists, academia and design industry.

There was a strong emphasis on developing the design and development activities of industrial units

in Kerala and the speakers applauded the initiatives by National Institute of Design Ahmedabad, and

MSME-DI Thrissur in helping the cause. Many speared their experience, which were very useful in

getting a good glimpse of the furniture industry and helped the participants to understand the real

needs of the industry.

Shri.K.P.Raveendran, State General Secretary, All Kerala Furniture Manufactureres and Distributors

Association addressing the audience

Shri.Manu T, Industrial Designer, presenting the report of the Need Assessment Survey under DCS

Shri.Manu T, Industrial Designer, presenting the report of the Need Assessment Survey under DCS

Honourable Guests on Stage

Shri.C Abdul Kareem, Chairman, Malabar Furniture Consortium addressing the audience

Shri.K.M.Shaji , MLA, releasing the newsletter

Shri.K.P.Kamaluddin, General Manager, Western India Plywoods ltd., addressing the audience

Shri.James Mathew, MLA, addressing the audience

Shri.K M Shaji, MLA, addressing the audience

Shri.A Bijila, HOD, Wood Science, Kannur University, addressing the audience

Shri.C Abdul Kareem, Chairman, Malabar Furniture Consortium addressing the audience

Invited faculty Lecture

Topic: “Furniture Design: Design Process and New Developments”

Guest Speaker: Mr. Rahul M Purushothaman, Faculty, NID Bangalore

The first lecture on design awareness was presented by Mr. Rahul M Purushothaman,

Faculty, National Institute of Design, Bangalore. The content of the lecture was about the new

designs and process in the field of furniture design. Mr. Rahul shared many case studies illustrating

the advances in technology, materials and design standards.

It was enlightening for the participants to know about many materials and processes, which were

unheard in the rural parts of Kerala. Many processes like wood bending, wood-metal composite

furniture manufacture, etc. generated great interest among the participants.

Many participants also were interested in different materials used in furniture design, such as

Medium density boards, high density boards, particle boards, etc. There was a good discussion with

the audience about protecting artificial wood in humid climates like Kerala and the design

precautions to be taken into account for such markets.

Shri.Manu T, introducing the guest speaker, Mr.Rahul MP from NID Bangalore

Mr. Rahul M.P., Faculty, National Institute of Design, Bangalore addressing the audience

Day 2: Furniture Design: Design in Kerala

Invited faculty Lecture

Topic: ““Furniture Trends in Kerala: Past and the Future”

Guest Speaker: Mr. Anil Kumar & Mr.Sujith, Mi-Home, Cochin

The second day started with another invited faculty lecture by Mr. Anil Kumar & Mr. Sujith, Mi-

Home Cochin, who gave a lecture on the topic: “Furniture Trends in Kerala: Past and the Future”.

The aim was to give the audience an idea about the current status of furniture design in Kerala and

the past and future trends affecting the design paradigm.

The lecture covered current trends in Kerala furniture industry along with architectural and interior

design aspects. The discussion mostly centred on cultural changes in the society and how

architecture and furniture design is influenced by them. These helped the audience in creating a

better understanding of the current design sensibilities of Kerala community and also chart a better

approach in product design and development.

Mr. Anil also shared his experiences from his wide experience in Kerala as an interior designer and

furniture designer. He also mentioned the importance of keeping up to date in material and

processing trends and being in touch with the consumer base for better understanding of their

requirements.

Shri.K.P. Raveendran, introducing the guest speaker, Mr.Anilkumar P.K. from MiHome, Cochin

Mr.Anilkumar P.K. from MiHome, Cochin addressing the audience

Mr.Anilkumar P.K. from MiHome, Cochin addressing the audience

Breakout session: Creating Design Brief

Initially, the participants were inducted into the design process by explaining each step as per the

need assessment survey report:

Design Brief

Concept Development

Modelling & Crafting

Testing & finalisation

Manufacturing

Marketing & Sales

Based on the feedback from the market and users, a list

of necessary and desired properties of the product is

made. This is called the Design Brief.

Based on the Design Brief, multiple product concepts are

made, out of which the best one or two is selected after

deliberation and discussions.

Mock-ups or prototypes of these concepts are made for

visualisation. Here, the final concept is selected for further

development.

The selected design is engineered and tested. It is

modified based on test results and drawings are frozen for

manufacture.

The engineering drawings are sent to production and the

production starts. Design may assist production in initial

phases.

Marketing collaterals are made for the new product and

they are shifted to retail showrooms for exhibition and

sales.

Present Status of the System

The participants were briefed about the results from the need assessment survey and further

discussion was done on the current status of the industry. This capability audit was used as a

benchmark for the design brief.

Material

Process

Resources

Marketing

Advantages

Locally Available

Culturally relevant

Suits current capability

Disadvantages

Not Sustainable

New Materials(wood

alternates) not manufactured

locally

Advantages

Traditional

Relevant to local designs

Low-Tech, Low Investment

Disadvantages

Scaling-up is difficult

Too much wastage

Process doesn’t allow usage of

alternate materials

Advantages

Product Customisation

Best fit for small scale

Craftsmanship; Individuality in

designs

Disadvantages

Hasn’t moved to modern

Technologies & Designs

Lack of skilled labour

Huge Investments impossible

Advantages

Direct Marketing

Low expenditure

Disadvantages

No Brands

No Visual Identity

Cannot compete with branded

furniture products

Group Discussion

Based on the discussions within the audience and with the leadership of Malabar Furniture

Consortium, it was agreed upon to focus on two products: (a) Dining Table and (b) Sofa. The

participants were divided into two groups respectively and their task was to develop the product in

the next three days and learn the design process hands-on.

Each team was assigned a team lead, due to the size of the individual teams and the team broke out

on discussions on what becomes an ideal product. The team lead was assigned to capture the

essence of the discussions and present the views to the whole audience. Each team member was

asked to share his views on the product and the market and was then asked to give their idea of the

best design.

The ideal requirements were then compared along with production capabilities and limitations and

were trimmed down to practical and marketable functions. The final design was to be marketed as a

product after the developments. The final lists of requirements were discussed within the whole

group and the key criteria were selected to form the design brief.

Group Discussion on Need Assessment and creating Design Brief

Group Discussion on Need Assessment and creating Design Brief

DESIGN BRIEF

Based on the interactive discussion, the teams identified the final product to be having the following

desired characteristics:

Dining Table:

1. Space for Storage

2. Easy to move around

3. Less maintenance

4. Centre piece for bowls

5. Good aesthetics

6. Should be able to conceal chairs while not using

7. Water/stain/heat proof materials to be used

8. Multi-function options to be explored

Sofa:

1. Aesthetics

2. Comfort

3. Less Maintenance / More Life

4. Easy to Handle

5. Modular

6. Provision for storage

Day 3: Furniture Design: Conceptualisation

Based on the design brief, the participants were asked to generate concept sketches of the products.

These were to include as many of the design brief points and more ideas as they came by. This phase

also gave the audience an idea about the practical aspects of furniture manufacture, the physics

related with the product, engineering aspects and usability of the furniture.

All participants generated concepts, which were then discussed among the group for feedback.

Based on the discussions, the concepts were selected or modified. The selected designs were further

refined through group discussions and design inputs from group members.

Conceptualisation in progress

Conceptualisation in progress

CONCEPTUALISATION

Based on the design brief, the team came up with the following concepts; they were modelled in 3D

CAD software and rendered for visualisation.

Sofa:

Sofa concept, with modular construction. This sofa splits into three individual units and storage

space is provided with each unit.

Dining Table:

Multi-function Table with Top closed, provision for storage; Chairs can be kept under the table

unobtrusively while not in use.

Multi-function Table with Top open; Heat-resistant centre pad for hot dishes

Glass-Top Concept with storage, variant 1

Glass-Top Concept with storage, variant 2

Wood Top Concept, with hot pad and glass storage

Modern Design, two-tone, simplistic

Traditional Design, Glass-top

Day 4: Furniture Design: Design Selection & Engineering

Based on the concepts generated, the designs were engineered and rectified for production. This

included selection of right materials, usage of available lumber sizes, standards as per market

requirements etc. Based on this process, engineering drawings were created for the prototyping

stage.

Day 5: PROTOTYPING

Since creating a real product was an objective of the product, the dining table was selected for

prototyping. This design was selected from the multiple concepts and ideas generated during the

conceptualisation phase, after discussion within the Malabar Furniture Consortium participants.

Based on the drawings, the materials for manufacturing were selected and cut to size. This was also

a great experience for all the participants to learn the application of various advance wood-working

machinery only available with large scale industries.

.

Participants with the final prototype

Closing Session

Shri. Manu T addressing the participants at the closing session

Shri.K.P.Kamaluddin, GM, Western India Plywoods Ltd, addressing the participants at the closing session

Shri.K.P.Kamaluddin, GM, Western India Plywoods Ltd, distributing participation certificates

Shri.C Abdul Kareem, Chairman, Malabar Furniture Consortium, distributing participation certificates

Participants of the workshop with participation certificates

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS:

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS FROM MFC UNITS

Sl.No. Name Unit Address

1 P.P. Sasidharan Manna Plainers, Manna, Trichambaram Road, Taliparamba, Kannur-670 141.

2 P.P.Muraleedharan Super Tech Engineering, Anchampeedika, Mottammal (PO), Kannur

3 P.T.Ramesh Cader Wood Crafts, Keeriyad, Chirakkal (PO), Kannur-670 011.

4 P.J.Thomas St.George Furniture, Odenthode (PO), Manathana, Kannur- 670 677.

5 Muhammed Rafi Khayarunnissa Manzil, Mandur (PO), Kannur - Trader

6 K.Soman Arunima Furniture, Manathana (PO), Peravoor, Kannur.

7 K.P.Bhargavan Chithanya Furniture, Kurumathur (PO), Karimbam (via), Kannur-670142.

8 V.P.Bhaskaran Sree Nilayam Wood Engineering, Nellunni, Mattannur, Kannur.

9 K.Chandran Malu Furniture, Valakkai, Koyyam (PO), Kannur-670141.

10 A Rajan Madhava Industries, Vayattuparamba(PO), Chapparapadavu, Kannur.

11 C.J.George C.J.G Board Makers, Dharmasala, Kannur.

12 Jose kumar Central Furniture, Highway, Perumba, Payyannur.

13 O.K. Sivaraman PSJ Wood Industries, CP/V/589, Vayattuparamba (PO), Chapparappadavu, Kannur. 670 582.

14 A.U.Raju Payyannur Wood Industries, opp.Jasna Hospital, Keloth, Payyannur.

15 K.Janardhanan Pranavam, Puliyool, Thiruvattoor (PO), Pariyaram, Kannur - Trader

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS OUTSIDE MFC

Sl.No. Name Address Mob

1 Dhanyesh.C.K Valiya Parambath(H) Nedumparamb(PO) Kallachi(via) Kozhikode(dt.) 673506(pin)

9645010045

2 Mrudun.M Malarima Meethal House, Adoor, P.O.Kadachira, Kannur-670621

9847864636, 9567397572

3 Nijilesh.K.P K.P.House, Chelora, Kappad(PO), pin:670006

9544615752, 9947995809

4 Sanoop.C.M Koolothum Kandy House, Koyyode, pin:670621

9656977595

5 Midhun.K Kunnumaz House, Thuvakkunn(PO), Kannur-670693

9446284867, 04902465173

6 Roshin.P.K Puthyottum Kandy House, (PO) Ayitharamambram, Kuthuparamba

9947025303, 9946415394

7 Anoop.P Haritha Nivas, (PO)Malur, (via)Mattannur, pin:670702

9744038908, 04902400807

8 Sibith.P.P Puthanpurayil House, Near G.H.S.S. Pattiam, PO Pathayakkunnu, Pin:670691

8901084926, 04903245587

9 Sayanth.K.P K.P.House, PO Kandakkai, Mayyil(via)-670602

9567578929, 04602829655

10 Shithul Surendran.M.P

Sree nilayam, Kakkara, PO:Ponniyano Chundaga Poil, Pin:670641

7736438402, 7403230797

11 Pranavam.B.M Pranavam Nivas, (PO) Muthiyanga, (via)Pathayakunnu, Pin:670691

9809973770, 9847777267, 04902360978

12 Mithun Lal.K.P Narayaneeyam, Ponniam Palam, Thalassery, PO:Ponniam East, Pin:670641

9847847988, 9567776628

13 Deepaj.E.V Sreeshylam, Mealur, PO:Palayad 9656467064, 04902346456

14 Ashwin.A.V Vadakinyil House, Thilanure, PO:ThazeChovva, Kannur-670018

9562936314

15 Vijeesh.C Vijeesh Nivas, PO.Mooriyad, Kuthuparamba, Pin:670643, Kannur

9656364064

16 Arun.K Kuduvan House, Poovalapu street, PO.Temple Gate, Thalassery-670102

9895580470, 9947511457

17 Jithin.K.M Thapasya, Andalur Kadavu, PO.Pinarayi 9995422182

18 Nikhil.K Karayil Thazha(H), PO.Thiruvangad, TLY-3, Pin:670103

9895376069, 9746176745

19 Sreerag.P.P Pazhaya Purayil House, Kacherppara, PO.Azhikode, Kannur-9, Pin:670009

9895797196

20 Prajil.V.Sivanand Vadakkedath Puthen Veedu, Payam, PO Edoor, Pin:670704, Kannur

9809828679, 9048031138

21 Agesh.M.C Mutharichal House, Paleri, PO Mamba, Kannur

9747527656

22 Nidhin.P.K Chaiti House, PO:Koyyode, Pin:670621 9847801404

23 Nidhin.M Theerthann, Po:Kottayam Malabar, Koovappady, Kannur

8129963439

24 Nidheesh.N.M Saritha Nivas, Adoor, PO:Kadachira, Pin:670621,Kannur

9961004648, 9633452505

25 Jishil.K Chandrathil House, Porolam, PO:Kuttiyattur, Pin:670602, via:Mayyil

9809937358, 04602829679

26 Sushanth.P.K Pullatt Kunnel(H), Edappuzha PO Payam Vazhy, Kannur dt., Pin:670704

9526396482, 9496421107

27 Pranav.K Kochen Thevide Thaze Koniel, PO Panoor-670692

9544141358

28 Vyshak.M Samoosyam, PO:Poduvacherry, Kannur-670621

9746694219, 9495755647

29 Agesh.R.K Aswathi, Kayalode, PO:Pachapoika, Pin:670643

9747708052, 9562949459

30 Prajeesh.K Kundan House, Po:Muzhappilangad, Kannur

9567326149

31 Anurag.P Kunnumal House PO Kuttikkakam 8129902522

32 Akhil.K Kalathil House, Vesala, Po:Chattukappara, via:Koodali

9744638884

33 Kirandev.K.P Kizhekkayil House, PO:Thaze Chovva, Thilannur

9526792633

PROJECTS RECOMMENDED FOR MALABAR FURNITURE CONSORTIUM

1. Setting up of a design management department for the consortium. The initial activities of

this may include induction of new designs, cataloguing of existing designs, collect and

analyse market data regarding products, manage marketing-communication activities and

skill upgradation of MFC member units.

2. An extensive user and market study for furniture industry in Kerala

3. Design and development of traditional designs with modern machinery and fasteners.

4. Design and Development of combination furniture

5. Product Design to utilise wood/organic waste from MFC units

6. Designs to include new materials like composites, bamboo, coconut, veneers, screw pine,

etc.

7. Design of ultra-low-cost products for the bottom of the pyramid.

8. Develop a unified design language, branding and marketing strategy for Malabar Furniture

Consortium.