Factories
Indonesia’s manufacturing sector has historically played a key role in the country’s economic development. The majority of businesses in the manufacturing sector are mostly located on the island of Java. The island accounts for 60 percent of the population and 58 percent of GDP. The main manufacturing hubs for furniture and handycrafts are in the provinces of Central Java province, East Java, and Bali.
Rattan:
The potential of the domestic furniture and handycraft industry is reflected in Indonesia as a producer of 80 percent of the world’s rattan raw material, with rattan producing areas in Indonesia spread across various islands, expecially in Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Sumatra, and finished products being made in Cirebon and Surabaya amongst other cities.
In additional to factories of all sizes and capabiloties the strength of production is also supported by the availability of abundant natural resources, skilled human resources and knowledge passed down from father to son. Furniture and handycrafts have been made in Indonesia for hundreds of years.
The production process starts with the raw materials being harvested and sent to the rough mills. Next the materials will go to one or more factories to be prepared for finished product production. After the assembling they are sent to the dealers or stockists and on to the end user.
Factories in Indonesia vary immensely in capability and sophistication, we deal with small and specialist boutique factories of less than 50 workers, with most work being done traditionally by hand, to super sophisticated factories with CNC machines and more than 2000 workers
Workflow
The timber is harvested from plantations, and transported to the mills under tight government supervision, to ensure that only ‘legal’ wood is being processed.
Usually the furniture factory will buy the sawn timber from the mills and dry in their own ovens to around 10%MC (water content). The dried wood is then either made into components in house or sold on to a smaller specialist furniture factory.
The furniture factories vary in sophistication. Some have fully integrated CNC production methods whilst others are more traditional and use less complex machines, and hand tools. Depending on what is the final requirement, we would chose the best ‘fit’ for the finished product.
Finishing is usually done in house and spray coated in a ‘waterfall’ environment to collect any excess chemicals. Finishes can be either PU, NC or water based, depending on the requirements.