Two promotions, new facility aim to boost Pulaski imports
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, August 11, 2003
Pulaski, Va. — Pulaski Furniture is looking to grow its already strong import business by promoting two executives and opening a new distribution center.
About half of Pulaski's $200 million in annual sales comes from imported goods now, said Larry Webb, president and chief executive officer. The Top 25 case goods manufacturer expects that to grow with the new responsibilities for Henry Whitehurst and Bill Reece.
Whitehurst has been promoted to director of Asian operations. He has 20 years of industry experience, primarily in quality engineering, in both North America and Latin America.
"We have made major strides in quality," said Whitehurst, who has made numerous trips to China to work with Pulaski's vendors on quality-improvement projects.
Reece, who has been in the industry for 30 years, recently was placed in charge of Far East special projects after serving as general manager of Asian operations. He has experience in Taiwan and China in engineering and quality control for plants, including design and construction of equipment and product lines.
The two men report to the general manager of the import division, Sekar Sundararajan, who joined the company two years ago after working for such companies as Stanley Furniture, Whirpool, Ford, General Motors and Kraft Foods in logistics, strategic plans and operations.
Sundararajan is based in Virginia, but will spend about three months a year in Asia, including China, where Pulaski employs 30 people in an office that opened in 1998.
He said key management people and engineers have continued traveling to China, on a strictly volunteer basis, even during the peak of the SARS scare.
"Our people are committed to putting our customers first to produce quality furniture in China," Sundararajan said.
Jim Stout, vice president of manufacturing and quality assurance, is a 32-year Pulaski veteran and has been involved from the start with the company's imports. In the past two and a half years, Stout has traveled to Asia 13 times. He said an American-trained quality-control staff with at least one inspector is dedicated to every major factory.
"Despite SARS, we have not missed a beat on quality or delivery even on products introduced at the April market," said Sundararajan. "In fact, quality and delivery have improved, exceeding industry standards, in recent months."
He said the average lead time on receiving imports is 90–120 days. It's important to flow the goods efficiently to give quicker delivery to retailers while not having too much money tied up in inventory. Working at Whirlpool and Kraft, Sundararajan had to find a similar balance between shipping time and inventory dollars. Right now, Pulaski's inventory is turning about five times a year.
The company has about 1,000 SKUs in its Premier Performers line — representing about 20% of its product line, but 80% of sales — where delivery is guaranteed within 14 days. It must keep enough of those goods on hand.
The company started its imports line first with accents, but has found the best success with bedroom furniture, said Webb. "We are well-positioned to leverage our sourcing expertise further as business improves," he said.
Most of the furniture is made in China, with some from Vietnam and the Philippines. The Dawson Furniture division imports solid-wood furniture from Brazil to sell to big-box retailers like Sam's and Costco.
The company has found good sources for those items, Webb said, and is looking at factories to produce home entertainment and home office furniture.
Throughout the industry, about half of the wood furniture sold in the United States today is imported.
"It's only going up from there," said Keith Hughes, an analyst for Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey, an investment banking and research company. "Nobody really knows where it will stop, but up to 80% of wood furniture being imported is realistic."
Some categories don't lend themselves to importing. Webb said Pulaski still makes about 90% of its curios and 95% of its Ridgeway clocks domestically.
Those figures likely will come down in the future, although curio cabinets have lots of fragile glass doors and shelves, and their shapes mean companies would ship a lot of air, he said. What curios and clocks are imported now have labor-intensive hand carvings and hand-rubbed finishes that make up for the shipping costs.
Meanwhile, Pulaski has leased a 500,000-square-foot facility in Madison, N.C., that it will develop into its primary distribution center over the next few months.
About 35 jobs from the company's distribution center in Martinsville, Va., will be moved to Madison, which is 35 miles north of High Point and about 100 miles from company headquarters in Pulaski, Va. Webb said he is optimistic furniture sales will increase within the next 12 months, and when that happens, employment at the center will increase.
Asian-made bedroom, dining and occasional furniture will flow through the Madison center, along with grandfather clocks and curios made in Ridgeway, Va., less than 20 miles away.
Roger Shumate, a 12-year veteran of Pulaski, is manager of the distribution center.
