American Visu revives avant-garde line
Product debuting in High Point this week
Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, April 10, 2008
AT THE MARKET — American Visu, a U.S.-made furniture line that has resurrected a number of avant-garde contemporary designs from a defunct Canadian producer that was called Visu, is making its debut here this week.
The high-end line is produced at the Dale, Ind., headquarters of Thermwood Inc., a 40-year-old company best known for its CNC routers and a variety of other production software.
The company plans to produce the furniture in automated manufacturing cells, eschewing traditional assembly lines that, according to the company, have made it nearly impossible for U.S. furniture producers to compete with Asian factories.
“Our technology makes it easy to handle a complex product line like furniture,” said Thermwood founder and CEO Ken Susnjara.
Susnjara said virtually any piece of wood furniture can be built using Thermwood technology. All that’s needed are the electronic design files and finish mix numbers.
“Our technology is an alternative to cheap foreign labor,” he said.
The debut line includes two bedroom groups and three entertainment wall systems.
The company’s market showroom is space H-724 of the International Home Furnishings Center.
