La-Z-Boy boosts China office
Growing staff will help communications between U.S. divisions, Chinese factories
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, October 10, 2005
Dongguan, China — La-Z-Boy Global Ltd. reaffirmed its commitment to China this past May by opening a new office in this city of about 8 million people.
The 5,000-square-foot office replaced one about a third its size. It has room for over 50 workers, including account managers for Pennsylvania House, Kincaid, American Drew and Lea. Others will work in information technology and Web design, quality control, logistics management, engineering and administrative support.
Nine were on board in late August, but that number is expected to grow. The old office had six staff members, said Jack Wang, La-Z-Boy's vice president of China operations.
Currently, La-Z-Boy imports about 40% of its product, and 70% on the case goods side. Of that 70%, about 80% is made in China, Wang said.
Along with helping to manage production in China, the office will help the company communicate between its U.S. divisions and its manufacturing partners in China. Such communication will be important as the business grows in China.
"We tend to form long-term business relationships, with our vendors," Wang said in an interview in Shanghai last month. "That office will play a significant role in managing the business (in southern China)."
One goal is to help vendors increase their efficiency, further reducing production costs.
"We're not inspectors or agents; we're partners," Wang said. "We point out where problems are and help pass along solutions and how to make them more efficient in order to pass those savings along to our customers."
The company also hopes to use La-Z-Boy's size to combine sourcing in key plants, thereby adding purchasing power for its individual divisions. In turn, that will help keep plants working to capacity so they won't need to seek business from others.
"A lot of companies are spending a lot of money going out there and hunting for business," Wang said.
A China presence is important for another reason: the ability to sell eventually to one of the biggest markets in the world — China itself. La-Z-Boy currently doesn't have any stores in China, but hopes to build its brand name there. A major office in Dongguan is a start.
"I'm really very excited about the prospect of being able to be one of the participants in the opportunity to sell to one of the largest markets in the world," Wang said, noting China's current population is about 1.3 billion. "Any percentage of that is big."
