AbstractAkhtar Furnishers Ltd. (AFL) is, the sister concern of the AKHTAR Group, one of the prodigious & luxury furniture brands of Bangladesh with a global aspiration. They are here to provide the people of Dhaka with an exceptional merit and Excellency that the furniture industry has to offer with innovative craftsmanship and extraordinary service. At Akhtar, each and every staffs are challenged everyday to create unique, comfortable, and sophisticated furniture to meet our signature style. They are expanding their segmentations into office interiors, designer wooden doors, steel furniture, rustic designs, upholstered, and home accessories to provide our clients with diversified selections. Loyalty to customer satisfaction, Sincerity in service, Commitment to teamwork, Professionalism, and Integrity are the core value of AFL. The foremost concern for the company is to substantiate that their customers are consistently having an elegant experience and are becoming regulars. The management will have to construct a potential team of employees to deliver topmost customer satisfaction. They manufacture, market, supply, provide transportation, installation, and after service to maintain our status quo. The company is fully equipped with European automatic wood working machinery. It has a modern and well-equipped finishing section where we use world famous timber coating Sayerlack and inchem. At Akhtar Furnishers, they believe that home defines us, home creates family, home embraces emotions, home creates memories, and thus we carving that piece of your memories with warmth and love. (Source: Skybazar.com)Background of Akhtar Furnishers LtdAkhtar Furnishers Ltd is one of the outstanding & extravagance furniture brands of Bangladesh with a global objective. Since 1976, they are manufacturing, marketing, and distributing high excellence wooden furniture to fabricate a home. If you are looking hand crafted solid wood furniture with distinctive design for your home or office, Akhtar Furnishers Ltd is the name for you. Akhtar has been one of the pioneer companies that have taken the local furniture company to global standards. (Source: company website)From intense passion in this industry, K M Akhtaruzzaman, President of Bangladesh Furniture Exporters Association (BFEA), initiated Akhtar Furnishers Ltd. with core values like ensuring top notch quality, sincerity in providing service, commitment to teamwork, professionalism and integrity. As recognition to Akhtar's assurance and good practice, the company has been awarded ISO 9001:2008 Quality Certification in 2001. The 140,000 square feet manufacturing plant are outfitted with modern technology and production facilities.There are 8 large showrooms in the capital city of Dhaka and 3 in the district metropolitans showcase Akhtar's offerings. They also perform as a terminal for client's custom orders. Apart from the furniture, Akhtar also offers a wide range of accessories to help you arrange your decor as you like. Akhter Furnishers has been given the responsibility to do the furnishing of several respectable projects including the Parliament Building (Jatio Shangshad Bhaban), National Museum, CDP, Ashugonj Fertilizer Project, Paksey Bridge Project office, Action Aid Bangladesh and several foreign Embassies in Bangladesh. After successfully catering the local market, Akhtar started exporting furniture to Australia, UK, and USA from 1996. (Personal communication, August 22, 2013)Akhtar furnishers ltd. has skilled and dedicated craftsmen creating masterpieces for generations. Furniture carries a unique signature of Akhtar's aesthetics and quality. Employees push themselves to outshine the quality benchmark set by them. Their design department is in constant pursuit for offering attractive furniture to our customers. The research and development (R&D) team concentrates on making the furniture long lasting and reduces production waste, thus remains environment friendly. (Company Brochure, 2013)The Furniture Industry in Bangladesh Traditionally furniture industry in Bangladesh developed as cottage based industry. It is in 90s when the furniture industry in Bangladesh has transited from cottage based industry to mechanized mass production oriented industries. Following that the furniture businesses began to grow accommodating modern machineries, innovative designs and use of diverse materials. Furniture industry of Bangladesh is shifting its focuses from dependency on teak for raw materials to processed wood. (Bangladesh economy, 2012)The main varieties of products are wood, processed wood & Medium Density Fiber board (MDF), and laminated board, particleboard, rattan/bamboo and wrought iron furniture. For a more personal domain as ones home, the preferred raw materials still remains solid wood, but combination of solid wood with other materials like cane, rattan, laminated boards, plywood and MDF are becoming very popular. But for offices furniture designs are usually focused on the more contemporary style and the preferred use of materials include plastic, MDF, laminated boards and wrought irons. Around 70% production of furniture sector of Bangladesh is home furniture and 30% is office furniture.One of the key strengths of the local furniture industry is diversity in product portfolio. According to CSIL (Centre for Industrial Studies), Bangladesh has a strong potential in linking home dcor craft items with the furniture industry. The export of furniture products from Bangladesh started from 1995. It is estimated that, by 2015 Bangladesh has export potential of crafts furniture accessories worth of USD 10 million along with furniture worth USD 40 million. The potential can be materialized through exploiting low labor cost which is a vital factor in becoming competitive in the world market. In wood furniture manufacturing, labor accounts for up to 40% of the total costs. In Bangladesh labor costs account for 20% of the production. Here, the hourly wage rate in furniture is between $ 0.06- 0.40, less than in China ($0.50- 0.75) which is the largest furniture exporting country. (Bangladesh economy, 2012)Earnings from furniture exports grew by 27 per cent to $ 27.14 million in last fiscal year (2011-2012) exceeding the target of $22.45 million, officials said. Bangladesh earned $ 21.38 million through furniture export in 2010-11 fiscal years, according to a data of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). The demand is increasing in the USA and Europe due mainly to the restriction on Chinese products, president of Bangladesh Furniture Exporters Association (BFEA) KM Akhtaruzzaman told the FE. Bangladesh is now exporting furniture for dining room, kitchen room, garden, living room and home furnishing. Vice-chairman of EPB Shubhashish Bose said the furniture sector will be given special priority in the next export policy. To promote the sector, the EPB has taken up a national work plan to find out the problems and way-out to boost the sector, he added. He noted that the EPB has planned to build a strong furniture sector in order to expand the export market. We will organise more trade shows for furniture manufacturers to explore new markets and facilitate local furniture exports, he added. (The Financial Express, 12 August 2012)

According the officials of Bangladesh Furniture Industries Owners Association (BFIOA), there are 28,000 furniture factories in Bangladesh (including all SMEs) among them 1,952 companies are registered member of furniture owners association. However, according to the baseline survey of furniture industry in Bangladesh by Dr. Ali Nesar Khan (2011), there are a total of 9,913 wooden and 2,628 non wooden furniture manufacturers in Bangladesh employing around 1,19,810 workers. Also there are around 74,926 carpentry households employing another 1,54,285 workers. Adding to this, there are 1,20,000 craftsmen producing soft furniture and 200,000 suppliers supplying raw and semi-processed materials. Out of this huge employment, almost 1,00,000 workers are women . Among the employees working in furniture sectors, 20% are working in large industries and 80% are working in SMEs. There are a number of furniture clusters in Dhaka which are located at Badda, Sutrapur, Mirpur area of Dhaka. A number of large companies have their factory in Savar and Gazipur area. Number of large companies is few compare to the total number of furniture industry in Bangladesh. There are 15 large Furniture companies are doing their business in the country which includes Otobi, Navana, Hatil, Akhtar, Partex, Brothers etc. (Bangladesh economy, 2012)Table 1: Average sales and profit among different classes of furniture manufacturerFirm sizeNumbers of EnterpriseAverage Annual Sales (BDT)Gross Profit(%)Net Profit (%)

Micro7,9611,877,40021.69.87

Small1,6765,118,33325.7412.41

MSM 22768,571,42929.6714.67

MSM 14019,350,00032.1015.1

Large35104,100,00035.8015.8

Source: http://bfidexpo.com/furniture_association.phpIn both local and international market, the growth of Bangladesh furniture market is evident. The booming real estate sector in Bangladesh and the rising demand of furniture product in world market, lead the expansion of furniture sectors in Bangladesh. In fact, the demand is so elevated that the demand supply gap is evident in Bangladesh. While the industry is growing at a rate of 9.55%, the demand for furniture is increasing by 20%. Local production for furniture of USD 958 million along with USD 16.84 million imports. Bangladesh earned $19.26 million from exports of wooden furniture in fiscal 2009-10. Local manufacturers export to the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Middle East, Gulf countries, and other Asian countries, like India, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.An analysis of EPB data since FY2006-2007 indicating 53.55% decrease in the export of soft furniture over a period of last four years and this decrease is due to the lack of design and technology research, lack of initiatives to promote this industry and keep abreast with other parts of the world. Nonetheless, according to Bangladesh Furniture Industries Owners Association (BFIOA), real export is much higher than (20% higher) than the official figure.About 60% of raw materials of furniture sector are imported from different countries. Around 65% of wood comes through import. Most of the tic, gamar and hard wood come from Africa; oke wood and barmatic wood come from Myanmar. Around 100% of Wood coating and lock, 60% of ply board, 20% of particle board, 50% of adhesive is imported. (Bangladesh economy, 2012)The trade import shows that the import in 2006-07 was US$8.16 million, in 2007-08 it was US$5.49 million, and in 2008-09 it was US$4.44 million and in 2009-10 was US$ 3.79 million. [From http://bfidexpo.com/furniture_association.php (accessed on 29 August2013)]According to Bangladesh Furniture Industries Owners Association (BFIOA) one of the difficulties that the association (and government) currently faces is that maximum companies do not declare their real amount of sell; and that is why the figure of real trade volume is not available to the association or government for effective policy formulation. In addition to such problem, industries of this sector are also facing shortage of land. In the past, Furniture industry association demanded to have enough land so that an industrial cluster can be established where at least fifty companies can be accommodated. Though specific land was allocated in Kachpur area of Narayangonj district, the amount of land was quiet few (around 20 acre) compare to the Associations original demand. In the end, land was not given to furniture association. However, a new location has been identified near Faridpur area where amount of land is much higher than land area of Kachpur area. (Bangladesh Furniture Industries Owners Association, 2012)Furniture associations of Bangladesh participated in several fairs in Japan. Recent fair in Japan took place 2008; but the outcome of that fair is not as expected. One of the main reasons is the weakness of design of furniture products manufactured in Bangladesh. Therefore, this area needs much consideration for positive intervention. At the same time more marketing development in outside Bangladesh is necessary.At present, there are no rules and regulation addressing standard of products from furniture sector is available. Hence, for effective export promotion of furniture product, it is necessary to maintain certain standard. In this regard, Katalyst, a foreign donor agency, is working on the development of furniture sector of Bangladesh. Moreover, the agency is also giving support to the sector in terms of market exploration and development. But their assistance is very short term and has no direct connection with the association. (Katalyst, 2010)Furniture industry is facing face shortage of wood supply from domestic forest. This is one of the great threats to the industry. To confront the constraint, initiatives have been taken both from government and from some private companies. In addition to that, Furniture Associations regularly organize programs to encourage people for tree plantation. The association also demanded to the government to lease certain amount land for tree plantation. Another severe problem which the industry is facing is shortage of electric supply which forced factories to maintain generator. As the cost of fuel of generator is getting higher, the production cost is going up. There is no tax incentive for export of furniture product at the moment. However, the industry is discussing with EPB so that tax incentive can be applied to the sector. Under the circumstances, EPB has given certain export target to this sector, which the association expects to achieve by this year. (Bangladesh economy, 2012)Current situation of the furniture industryFurniture is one of the most rapidly growing sectors in Bangladesh, graduating in the last 15 years from a cottage-based to a manufacturing industry. The manufacturing of wooden furniture accounts for 0.29% of the countrys GDP, and in 2008-09 the value addition amounted to BDT1.8b with an export volume of USD1.8m. The industry employs more than 250,000 workers. The sector, growing at 19.5% pa, aims to export USD40m by 2015, along with an additional USD10m in exports of accessories and furniture textiles. This has the potential to increase to USD1b by 2020 provided productivity increases, market linkage improves, and compliance standards are met. The effective demand-supply gap in the domestic urban market by 2014 is estimated to be USD 60m. (Wikipedia, 2012)A comparison of the growth rates of enterprises and employment indicates that on average, a 1% growth in firms employing more than five workers results in labor force growth of above 1% (Katalyst, 2009). Moreover, each USD1000 of export sales requires an additional 2.03 laborers in large firms (Katalyst, 2010). About 7% of the workforce in the large firms of Dhaka and Chittagong are women, concentrated mainly in finishing and sanding. Lately, manufacturers have started employing women workers not only for their skill in manufacturing itself, but also because the finesse of the finished products, which is comparatively better than that of the male workers. (Katalyst, 2010)It was found that majority of the raw materials used in the sector are import based and the import duties are quite high on processed wood (92.30%), which is becoming the main raw material to produce furniture in the world furniture Industry. The duty on Solid wood is 10.72%, which is low but due to the cost and environmental reasons, use of solid wood in furniture is getting reduced in all over the world in recent years and processed wood is taking place of solid wood gradually. Therefore, the high import duties on major raw materials may hinder to achieve competitiveness in export marketThe furniture industry is one of the most potential sectors in Bangladesh and the overall condition of the sector is very good in recent years. A large section of people are considering quality furniture as part of their living standard rather necessity. Different furniture outlets, individual and corporate, in recent years are working to brand quality furniture as a part of lifestyle and they have succeeded. Many furniture makers are doing well in the market and some are meeting corporate demand but they are managing growth despite some odds. Now the local makers are focusing on the world market and planning to launch exclusive export-oriented factories. Some policy support from the government is very much needed for the furniture industry at this stage. The furniture market becomes large mainly with the individual-level effort of businessmen. To take it to the next level we need some support from the government. The Bangladesh Furniture Exporters Association proposed the government that it cut 20-per cent duty for the development of the sector and for going to the global market. Most of the raw materials of this industry are imported. At least the manufacturers who produce quality furniture products import raw materials. The government should reduce import duty on these raw materials in order to facilitate the manufacturers and thus customers. (The Daily New Age. June 9, 2013)Uniqueness of Akhtar FurnishersThe idea of core competences is one of the most important business ideas currently shaping our world. Each business needs to have something that customers uniquely value if they're to make good profits. If one company in a particular industry has nothing unique to its own, the company will lack superiority in profit making which is considered the essence of business. Cutting down cost can be a healthy strategy but if all the companies do the same the profit margin will go lower for all of them. That is why each company who wants to survive in an industry & who wants to position the company to its expected profit growth it has to build unique selling points (USP) in business. If one company is able to offer something uniquely good, customers will want to choose its products and will be willing to pay more for it. By creating value in the products a company can hold completive advantage which in case of Akhtar is amazing. Akhtar, being a solid wood furniture maker other than relying on plywood or particle boards has been successfully producing furniture that have been creating value for the customers. For achieving this completive advantage Akhtar is allocating its resources and utilizing capabilities successfully. They know how to manage their funds properly and encouraging their members in achieving their strategic target. (Personal communication, August 22, 2013)So the unique reasons that earned the trust to the Akhtars customers are solid wood made furniture, conventional design that holds local heritage, exclusive design made by their hard working carpenters, environment friendly lacquer finish, durability by guarantying termite proof guaranty, furniture academy & last but not least there after sales service. Akhtar depends on nearly 1500 workers all around the country to design, produce, distribute and maintain relationship with the customers countrywide. They are from different regions of Bangladesh but are given the same instruction regarding the wood cutting and manufacturing process. The timber mills outside Dhaka do supply necessary wood that is required for the production process maintaining all the necessary criteria thus provide good support to the management in case of the decision making as well as formation of the future strategies for the company. (Personal communication, August 22, 2013)Wood has been one of the best materials used for making furniture since ages. Different kinds of trees produce different kinds of woods that vary in hardness, color and texture. By knowing the fact Akhtar uses solid wood for their furniture, the furnisher leader expresses that they are the only one that use 80% solid wood timber in making their furniture. They assured us they mainly use Mahogany which is a hardwood for assembling the furnitures. Mahogany wood is a richly colored lumber that is among the more valuable wood species in the world. It is known for its unique pink coloring, which develops into a deep reddish-brown as the wood ages. Unlike alternative wood products, such as oak or pine, mahogany features very few knots or voids. This gives the wood a smooth, even grain pattern, which makes it ideal for fine furnishings and wood craft. They also use teak (Shegun) wood in their furnitures but depletion of Teak wood in our forests especially in Chittagong they could not use the most favorable wood demanded by customers. Shegun wood itself has oil so the furniture lasts long without varnishing. Other than these woods they use gamari, koroi timbers if available but mostly depend on Mahogany wood. (Bangladesh economy, 2012)The traditional design and feature can be seen on Akhtars furnitures that gave them the separate look with versatility. We observed the furniture mostly are handmade designed which is holding the tradition for ages. Though u might find some of the furniture are heavily designed still the demand for these elegant products are huge. And, for making this exceptional design they have both employed & contractual carpenters. These men have been giving their fullest efforts to assemble each & every furniture according to the plan. The production facility of Akhtar is well equipped with modern technology that ensures environment friendly lacquer finish that gives the finished goods more attractive & durable. Termite free guarantee is given to each product as long as the product is kept in a suitable environment. After sales service is 10 years for Akhtar which is quite remarkable for any furnisher and they assures their customers furnitures are durable, require low maintenance, and have an imperishable value. (Personal communication, August 22, 2013)The Furniture maker focused their efforts so that they can develop a unique level of expertise in areas that really matter to their customers. Because of Akhtar is focused on their core competences, and continually worked to build and reinforce them, their products were more advanced than those of their competitors, and customers were prepared to pay more for them. And if can switch effort away from areas where they are weak and further focus on areas of strength, their products build up more and more of a market lead.Two policies that are strictly maintained by Akhtar are environmental & corporate social responsibility. There is a growing awareness among general public that we must protect our global resources. Our forests are threatened by a variety of ways. Destruction of global rainforests is a global concern. This heightened concern is welcomed by those who are part of the forest product industry. Akhtar Furnishers is committed to the conservation of our natural resources by minimizing waste and reducing energy consumption. (Personal communication, August 22, 2013)Their environmental policy is a key element of their corporate philosophy. Akhtar Furnishers has been socially responsible about natural environment and so committed to reducing the environmental impact through intelligent design, conservation, and recycling. We believe the best way to conserve environmental resources is to design and manufacture furniture of such impeccable quality that it will last for generations. Nothing is more wasteful than disposable furniture. We believe in renewable energy and we design our production in such a manner so that there is minimum waste of raw materials and maximum utilization (source: www.AkhtarGroup.com).Finally, Akhtar Furniture Academy (AFA) which is a strategic business unit of Akhtar Group tends to produce expert carpenters and build better working force in the future. This academy strives to make quality products by establishing reliability & excellence. Akhtar Furnishers Academy (AFA), a sister concern of Akhter Furnishers Limited, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SkillFUL Project of Swisscontact at South Asia Regional Office (SARO) in Dhaka with the aim to strengthen skills development in the Furniture Sector. Its purpose is to enhance its capacity and improve skills of the unemployed and underemployed workers in furniture sector. ( Swiss contact SARO, 2012, April 16).The span of work under this MoU will focus on identifying gaps and exploring the need and demand of different types of workers in existing furniture workshops / industries for developing Competency Based Training (CBT) Curriculums, improving quality of on-the-job training being conducted at the furniture sector, improving productivity of the workers by promoting better practices, increasing the earnings of existing workers and creating opportunity for new workers ( Swiss contact SARO, 2012, April 16). Product Portfolio of AFLThe vision of Akhtar Furnishers in the Bangladeshi furniture sector is to increase the competitiveness of furniture and carpentry households for the domestic and export markets and by doing so gaining a solid competitive edge over other rivals and also maintain a good relationship with their customers and stakeholders. While responding to market demand, Akhtar is expected to adhere to compliance standards, follow environment-friendly measures and proactively encourage and create environment friendly products and appliances. By 2013, Akhtar aims to develop sustainable market mechanisms by stimulating some major changes in their day-to-day activities like shifting the factory to Savar where there is less chance of creating any harm to the environment. (Source: company website)Akhtar, from the beginning of their journey, maintains high price and thus come up with high product quality which makes sure customers fulfill their desired needs with less difficulty and also prefer Akhtar for future purposes too. They mainly focus on creating maximum value for pricing strategy, which reflects to their furniture with high price range. Akhtar has products of more than 150, consisting mainly home furniture as well as decoration furniture and utility furniture. They previously used to produce customized products for their clients, though they last produced such type of customized products in 2010. (Personal communication, August 22, 2013)The company offers best quality furniture at relatively high price, as they use separate units for production of different types of products thus ensuring good outcome at each and every way possible. Akhtars wide range of furniture and fittings are divided category wise and mainly focuses on home furniture, the reputation reflects to what they are strong at over these years. They look aside and deliver furniture for living room, dining space, kitchen, and for home decoration also. The nice, stylish and comfortable swivel chairs made for corporate use are one of Akhtars biggest trademarks. Strapping and shock proof chairs are classy and elegant as these are now the first choice in the corporate houses not only in Dhaka but also all over the country. They hold the tradition of designing furniture with their own factory designers who work hard to produce some elegance in designing. Akhtar concentrates to keep 80% solid wood, consisting handmade designs by the carpenters who follows traditional and age old style to manufacture their products, their signature is that they hold to the age old heritage. Furniture is mainly made from Mehogoni, Gorjon, and Shegun woods which come from the timber mills outside Dhaka like GM timber and Shuchona timber mill. Akhtar concentrates only on manual based production, which is supervised by managers of each department though some lapses may sneak through but Akhtar offers after sale service for 10 years. Such strategies do help getting the positive mindset from the consumers about a company.Akhtar has several products which they offer to customers according to their demand and preferences. Akhtar mainly covers sofa, divine, dining table/chairs, bedroom decorations/bed, Computer table/chairs, living room decorations/sofas, kitchen fittings and materials, wooden shelf for home decoration etc. They also have different options for kids rooms consisting wall decorations, different types of bed fittings and dressing tables etc. Akhtar also covers wooden doors section where various designs and colors enrich the functionality as well as the look. As they prefer to make designs by their own carpenters, customers can select designs and get it done as they want with changes necessary. Their luxurious collection of designs is unique and thus fulfills all the preferences of the customers as they order their furniture. (Source: company website)

Strategies developed by AFLAkhtar has various ranges of products for the home purpose and these products have superior quality, value and built with long term perspective. As Akhtar make traditional design based home furnitures its cost of producing those delightful furnitures is higher than its competitors. If we compare furniture made by Akhtar with less expensive Chinese or local none branded furniture we can easily find the difference in between them in terms of robustness and build quality. In order to stay competitive Akhtar always strive to utilize its resources. The product market for Akhtar has been targeted to specific niches from the past which ranges from higher middle class to higher income class people. Despite the fact their products are expensive; Akhtar is planning to beat OTOBI by launching new economy furnitures to penetrate other market niches. OTOBI has three lines of products and amongst them basic line of products are affordable and targeted to middle class customers. According to Akhtars Accounts officer Mr. Azam, We are trying our level best to compete with HATIL and OTOBI and we have decided to launch economy products but not compromising our traditional design (personal communication, August 22, 2013). Wood timbers used by Akhtar in their production are mostly provided by local suppliers named Suchana timber, Rajani timber & Al helal& brothers. Akhtar do not import timbers from abroad like Red Oak wood which is imported by Hatil furnishers. Akhtar mostly relies on Mehogany and Teak timbers though teaks (Shegun) timber is not always available in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Akhtar uses 80% solid wood in their furnishers and all products are assembled in factory. Most attracting features of Akhtars furniture is their traditional handcraft design made by skilled carpenters and therefore pricing strategy of Akhtar is value pricing which tends to be higher price. As the price is higher due to high cost structure Akhtar targets to specific niches of the furniture industry. Their products in terms of style are limited to customization and all furniture are made keeping in mind that they will be well suited in the interior of houses. (Summary of Personal communication, August 22, 2013)While producing this conventional home furniture Akhtar has an efficient manufacturing system. The system is developed to produce according to estimated demand, moving finished products when they are required, starting next production in timely manner and all components, work-in-progress and finished products are monitored & processed. Also useful design process and manual machinery tools assembling make their products quite defect free. The furniture maker also has a distinctive strategy in case of Akhtar has a separate division of foam & mattress which are complementary with wooden furniture. So a customer purchasing a bed or sofa does not need to buy mattress & cushions from outside. This strategy has attracted many customers to come into Akhtars outlets and Akhtar tries to minimize the price of mattress or cushion if their furniture is bought with it. Akhtar has own outlets, no distributors and uses own covered van to distribute the finished products with their own people own and costing. Uses own warehouse and centralized distribution process, totally computerized.Akhtar do not went for mass production since the evolution of the company and they always tried to produce furniture made of superior value and performance. So cost structure of Akhtar remained high due to more labor and less automated tools. The handmade portable tools made the furniture more artistic and custom design made its product portfolio stronger in solid wood furniture segment of this industry. The wages for the labor in the factory is also better than others competing in the market and labors are distributed to different units of assembling process according to their skills in the required process.The current 140,000 square ft manufacturing plant is equipped with modern technology and production facilities. They have automatic wood seasoning and chemical plant. The machining section is fully equipped with European automatic wood working machinery and is managed by skilled operators. Dust free controlled environment of the finishing section ensures pristine finish of furniture. Moreover, they have quality control management which ensures sudden inspection system and thus quality is controlled by regular monitoring. Inventory management is productive as they use JIT (just in time) inventory system which is fully computerized. Raw materials saved in warehouse based on the daily job chart, with product id, and with all relevant details. (Source: company website)In case of promotions they use bill board ads, TVCs, newspaper teasers etc. They have attended various furniture fairs in Bangladesh and also in India. And the most furniture fairs are sponsored by Akhtar furnishers as the chairman of Akhtar is also the chairman of the furniture makers association of Bangladesh.

Escalating the business scopeKatalyst has been working for the development of furniture industry in Bangladesh since 2004. The core objective of the project was to help local furniture makers in exporting their products to abroad preferably western countries where there is a huge demand for wood made furnitures. As Reported by Nahid (2010). The initial activities were in the Mirpur furniture cluster and manufacturers were supported to compete effectively against the imported products in terms of product quality (new finishing: lacquer, furniture making with alternative to wood: MDF), with better marketing practices (sales promotion in the cluster, after-sales service, customer responsiveness) and through more cooperation amongst the cluster member (p.1).Akhtar have done exporting to foreign countries which started from 1996 which ended on 2008. They exported only rigorously designed furnitures to Australia particularly, slightly in England.But due to lack of proper linkage with global furniture exporters and rising tariff they stopped exporting goods to those countries. Also they made solid wood furniture and these products are not easy to cart compared to MDF (medium density fiberboard) or laminated particle board made furniture. Therefore, while interviewing with the management, Azam (2013, 22 August) admitted that, We are planning to import MDF from China and make knock down furnitures that would ease our exporting process (personal communication). Ready-to-assemble furniture (RTA), also known as knock-down furniture or flat pack furniture is a form of furniture that is purchased in multiple pieces and requires assembly (Ready-to-assemble furniture). This form of furniture generally arrives in a box and contains instructions for the buyer to follow in order to assemble it after purchase. This type of furniture is already popular in our country and to capitalize on the market share Akhtar has decided to produce these types of products very soon. Meanwhile, Akhtar shifted their factory from Bhatara, Notun bazar in Dhaka to Fortnagar, Savar and the new factory comprises of 3000 acres of land. They are in the process to procure automated furniture machineries of worth 3 crore and hire more skilled labor from rural areas for extensive manufacturing. Thus their production process will be more dependent on automated machineries rather than manual handmade production. Besides they are planning to penetrate office furniture segment of the furniture industry which is mainly piloted by OTOBI. They believe proper promotion of office furniture and making exclusive deals with the large businesses of the country can make their products popular at the same time increase their profit growth. (Personal communication, August 22, 2013)According to Katalyst report made by Nahid (2010, June), the team envisaged that Bangladesh could possibly export USD 50 M by 2015 provided there is favorable tariff structure, firms improve working conditions and be more responsible to environment. So the primary concern of the furniture maker should be starting exporting again starting from neighboring countries i.e. India where some of the furnishers of Bangladesh are exporting. At the same time Akhtar need to have better marketing strategies for customer responsiveness and as the Chairman of Akhtar is the head of Furniture association of Bangladesh he can collaborate with other furnishers to help to industry grow outside Bangladesh. So the business horizon of Akhtar is ever growing but they need to make useful business practices to take the best out of it. (Katalyst, 2010)The Company is also expanding their offerings into office interiors, designer wooden doors, steel furniture, rustic designs, upholstered and home accessories to provide their clients with diversified options.CSR Activities of AFLAkhtar Furnishers Academy (AFA), a sister concern of Akhter Furnishers Limited, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SkillFUL Project, on 15 April, 2012 at Swiss contact, South Asia Regional Office (SARO) in Dhaka with the aim to Strengthen Skills Development in the Furniture Sector. Its purpose is to enhance its capacity and improve skills of the unemployed and underemployed workers in furniture sector.The span of work under this MoU will focus on identifying gaps and exploring the need and demand of different types of workers in existing furniture workshops / industries for developing Competency Based Training (CBT) Curriculums, improving quality of on-the-job training being conducted at the furniture sector, improving productivity of the workers by promoting better practices, increasing the earnings of existing workers and creating opportunity for new workers.Environmental policy is a key element of their corporate philosophy. Since the beginning of Akhtar Furnishers has been socially responsible about our natural environment. They are committed to reducing the environmental impact through intelligent design, conservation, and recycling. They believe the best way to conserve environmental resources is to design and manufacture furniture of such impeccable quality that it will last for generations. Nothing is more wasteful than disposable furniture. At the same time, they design our production in such a manner so that there is minimum waste of raw materials and maximum utilization. We strive to meet or exceed all regulatory or industry standard in terms of safety and potential emissions to the environment. We set and continually review objectives and targets to protect our global-environment. It believes in renewable energy. We will continue our efforts to reduce energy use by combusting scrap wood and sawdust to generate power for our manufacturing facilities. (Source: www.AkhtarGroup.com).Areas to improveDespite the fact Akhtar has a total of eleven outlets in the country; Akhtar does not have dealers or distributors of their products. Their sales channel is limited to retail outlets which are also inadequate considering the growing demand of furniture in the local market. Akhtar has only been targeting the affluent class of customers but they need to produce more basic lines of products. Their raw materials are mostly procured by local suppliers but due to supply shortage often they cannot go for mass production which would also reduce their cost per unit production and lead them to economies of scale. Akhtar previously made customized furniture for their customers but they stopped it few years back and their justification was the customized furniture does not match with the customers preferences sometimes which actually affect the customers perception toward the company as a whole. But as other furnishers are not doing the same Akhtar can make a separate department for the customized furniture which will also ensure their brand to capture the minds of the customers. The percentage of usage of imported timber is growing every year as the availability of timbers locally is getting reduced due to lack of reforestation process. Moreover, the import duty on timber is just 10.72%, which makes the imported timber more accepted in the market. Therefore, Akhtar should start importing timbers especially from African countries to reduce its cost structure.Lastly, the shipbuilding industry of Bangladesh has created a market for the local furniture manufacturers who supply furniture to the export-oriented shipbuilders. It could become the third largest foreign exchange earner in less than ten years if everything goes fine and the government supports and provides with the necessary bank guaranty, access through green channels and declares export-oriented shipyards as export processing zone. Again, Akhtar has future possibility to assemble ship furniture. (Personal communication, August 22, 2013)SetbacksGovt. Export bureau is not enthusiastically serving furniture sector for exporting their goods. The export bureau is not able to contract lobbyist to importer countries so that our furniture makers can provide samples of furniture to them. Also the furniture makers are not getting chance to collaborate with the global furniture exporters association. So all together furnishers like Akhtar is incapable of maximizing their profits in a consistent demand of wooden furniture in the global market. Timber used in the furniture sector is mostly obtained from local forestry and import sources. Usage of timber from local forestry is assumed as less than 20% of the total usage. The percentage of usage of imported timber is growing every year as the availability of timbers locally is getting reduced due to lack of reforestation process. Moreover, the import duty on timber is just 10.72%, which makes the imported timber more accepted in the market. Still Akhtar is relying on local timber suppliers which are a major drawback of the company.Also, designing the furniture by hand, there may be some problems that arise with the products. Though they are very few like technical faults due to handmade process.There is no private institute that provides education exclusively on furniture. So they cannot train their employees on furniture manufacturing, marketing, general education (like English course) and technical courses (like driving, electrical instrument repairing, electronics, computer education etc) to increase productivity and efficiency. The challenges facing by the Akhtar Furniture limited are many. Among them one of the issues is employee recruitment and retention. Young people, like us in the Bangladesh, are looking more at 'high-tech' industries to provide them with a career. Everybody is doing management, and those who are not qualified for tertiary education are looking to 'buss' in the music industry. Many of our secondary schools, which once offered woodwork classes, have withdrawn the course. Thus they are now looking at building technology. Akhtar Furniture is perceived as a low-tech, low-income company that does not offer bright prospects. (source: www.AkhtarGroup.com).Furniture manufacturing is labor-intensive. The industry in Akhtar faces a shortage of skilled local artisan due to high turnover and the absence of a rich artisanal woodworking tradition. Furniture manufacturers used to hire unskilled workers earlier and train them training on-the-job in order to fill the skill gap. But, these workers often shift to other higher-paying jobs after acquiring basic woodworking skills. Therefore, Akhtar furniture is now shifting their production to generic furniture as it does not require high levels of woodworking skills.

ConclusionFrom the beginning of 1976, AFL has been committed to the ideal of creating furniture of such impeccable quality that it brings joy not only to the people who own it, but also to the craftsmen who build it and the professionals who sell and deliver it. Today, every employee feels its a brand created by them and each of them is dedicated to earning our confidence and building on this tradition of excellence. They are about 1,500 people who care about their customers, about the furniture they make, about our environment, our community and each other. Hand shaping and craving are still an integral part of making furniture at AFL using time honored techniques by the highest level of craftsmen. Besides the traditional design, modern design made their simply unparallel. Hand-applied, multi-step finishes of the highest quality protect and enhance the beauty of wood furniture. Hand and machine polishing and lacquer give smooth, clean finishes to highlight the beauty and character of the wood. Careful hand sanding is crucial to a fine finish. Final touches such as hand striping and highlighting of carving give additional emphasis to artistic details, hardware is custom designed to complement each piece. Having own seasoning capacity for 3000 cft. solid wood a month, They assure high quality by meticulous inspections. The way their customers evaluate them can be expressed like A needful for precious living. (Source: company Brochure, 2013).References:AKHTAR FURNISHERS BANGLADESH: Skybazar.com. 2013. AKHTAR FURNISHERS BANGLADESH: Skybazar.com. Retrieved on August 22, 2013 from http://www.skybazar.com/store/akhtar-furnishers-bangladesh/11155.htmlAzam, M. O. Personal interview. August 22, 2013Company Brochure. Akhtar furnishers ltd, Personal interview. August 22, 2013Dr. Ali Nesar Khan (2011). Bangladesh Furniture and Interior Dcor Expo-2012. Retrived on September 05, 2013 from http://www.bangladeshconsulatela.com/docs/Booklet_bfidexpo-2012.pdfExport data. Bangladesh Furniture Export Association. Retrieved on August 22, 2013 from http://bfidexpo.com/furniture_association.php [Table -2 ]Furniture makers net in $27m inFY12. (12 August, 2012). The financial express, p.18Furniture industry needs govt support to be export-oriented. (June 9, 2013). The Daily New Age, p.20Furniture industry in Bangladesh (2012). Retrieved from Wikipedia on 05 September, 2013)Industry of Bangladesh | Bangladesh Economy. 2013. Industry of Bangladesh | Bangladesh Economy. Retrieved on August 22, 2013 from http://bdbanijjo.wordpress.com/tag/industry-of-bangladesh/Katalyst. Furniture and crafts. Retrieved on August 22, 2013 from http://www.katalyst.com.bd/op_Furniture.phpNur, S. A. (2013, April 02). "Country can fetch Tk 4 billion from furniture export annually." The Financial Express. p. 17Nahid, N. katalysing the growth of Bangladesh furniture sector. P.1-2Swiss Contact (SARO). Skillful signs MoU with Akhtar Furniture Academy. Retrieved on August 22, 2013 from: http://www.swisscontact.org.bd/news_details.php?News=68Welcome to Akhtar Furnishers. 2013. Welcome to Akhtar Furnishers. Retrieved on August 22, 2013 from http://www.akhtargroup.com.bd/english/about2.php

Photo with interviewee

Interviewee:Md. Oliul AzamDesignation:AGM (Accounts and Finance)Organization: AKHTAR GROUPContact:01711-003218Date:22-08-13 (Thursday)

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