North American component suppliers hold many home court advantages: close proximity to their customers and quality wood resources gives U.S. and Canadian component makers a leg up on their foreign competitors.

Despite low-priced imports, North American woodworkers still have many advantages over their offshore competitors.

A recent survey of furniture and cabinet makers by the Wood Component Manufacturers Association disclosed a list of major "home court" advantages that North American suppliers have over their foreign competitors. These advantages include:

* Faster Response Time: Fast-changing market conditions require today's manufacturers to quickly respond or else risk losing the business to someone else. Purchasing components from nearby suppliers allows furniture and cabinet makers to quickly produce a new product or make a last-minute change. Today's consumers are conditioned to immediate gratification and want their new products now. Foreign suppliers are unable to react quickly and require much longer lead times.

* Just-in-Time Deliveries: Manufacturers who purchase their components rely on just-in-time deliveries to meet their tight production schedules. Today's retailers are forcing their suppliers to deliver with much shorter lead times. This forces wood products manufacturers and their component suppliers to quickly respond and deliver on much shorter notices.

* Ability to Fill Smaller Orders: Many manufacturers do not want to order more of a supply than they need, and some are ordering less than they need, hoping to procure fill-in orders at the last minute if necessary. Offshore suppliers cannot meet the need for smaller, fill-in orders. In fact, most offshore suppliers require minimum container load orders, which can take up to 6 to 8 weeks to deliver.

* Reduce Inventories: Tight operating margins do not allow inventory accumulations as everyone is trying to reduce inventories from the retailers on down to their suppliers. The emphasis is on inventory turnover, not inventory build up. In order to meet their customers' lower inventory requirements, many North American component manufacturers have agreed to produce and inventory certain components for their customers in order to ship them at a moment's notice.

* Better Communications: Communications between buyer and seller are even more critical in today's highly volatile marketplace. Buyers need immediate access to their suppliers and this can be accomplished much better with suppliers who are nearby rather than those that are thousands of miles away. Also, settling claims or disputes is much easier when dealing with a local supplier. Claim settlement can be a serious problem when buying from offshore suppliers as many problems can occur during the prolonged shipping and handling process prior to delivery.

* Consistent Quality: Manufacturers demand consistent quality from their suppliers. Inconsistent quality can disrupt normal production flows and cause expensive delays in shipments and deliveries. Furniture, cabinet, millwork and related manufacturers demand components that meet their exact specifications. A serious problem can arise when an offshore shipment of components does not meet specifications as the entire shipment may have to be rejected and replacement parts will take too long.

* Wider Species Selection: North America is blessed with a wide variety of quality hardwood and softwood species. These species can be used to produce a wide variety of decorative wood products including furniture, cabinets, millwork, flooring, and gift and novelty items. North American consumers are not familiar with foreign wood species and prefer our domestic hardwoods and softwoods.

* Sustainable Forest Resources: The sustainable forestlands of the United States and Canada produce a wide range of desirable species for a number of applications in the building and decorative wood products industry. According to the recently released "State of the World's Forest Report 2001," published by the United Nations & Agriculture Organization, of the 12 largest forested countries in the world, the United States was one of only two that experienced a net increase in forest cover during the decade of the 1990s. Four countries, including Canada, reported no net change, while the remaining six countries experienced significant declines in forest cover. This indicates that the United States and Canada are rich in sustainable forest resources for the future while offshore competitors do not have this advantage.

* Political and Economic Stability: The United States and Canada have the most stable political and economic systems in the world. Our free enterprise system enables us to conduct business more efficiently and effectively compared to the rest of the world. This is especially important in these uncertain times when political or economic instability can wreak havoc on a country's ability to produce and deliver goods and services. Our stable political and economic environment is a major home court advantage over developing countries around the world.

These home court advantages are clearly worth paying for and need to be emphasized by North American wood products companies whenever competing with offshore suppliers. They are distinct competitive advantages that cannot be matched by foreign manufacturers and can make a huge difference in minimizing costly production delays and related problems.

SPEED is the ultimate key to competing in today's rapidly changing global marketplace. Those who can react faster, deliver on time and help their customers reduce inventories have a significant home court advantage over offshore suppliers.

RELATED ARTICLE: Overseas Shipping Fraught with Potential Problems for U.S. Manufactures

Bryan Rydberg, president of Wood Tech Inc., Jasper, IN, spent 20 years in the shipping industry before taking on a career in wood component manufacturing. His experience gives him a unique perspective to discuss the pros and cons of buying wood furniture and parts from overseas manufactures.

"If a company relies on an agent or broker, or looks primarily at price, he isn't always getting the full picture," Rydberg says. "Many manufacturers today work on a just-in-time basis. It is critical to their operations to deal with a supplier that is close, enough to be able to deliver the order in a timely fashion for a variety of reasons. Quick design changes and custom runs can't be handled efficiently if the buyer is dealing with a supplier overseas."

Rydberg says ocean shipping presents a variety of unique problems compared to shipping products over land. "Let's say you place an order with a firm in China. It's up to the manufacturer to get your order done and in a container. In shipping terms, you buy by the container lot. This locks a manufacturer into a large order. The shipper cannot offer the same efficiency or economy as a shipper that can consolidate other orders in the same container.

Rydberg says there are problems inherent with shipping over water, particularly if the product shipped is made from moisture-sensitive wood. "You are increasing the chances of damaging an order by the amount of times the order is handled. When you ship overseas, you have the order coming from the factory to the truck taking it to the dock and then transporting to the ship and on to the delivery port where it's again handled many times. We all know what excessive handling can do in the way of adding problems. Also, each year there are cases of containers being damaged during shipping and in some cases getting washed overboard."

Rydberg says the recent terrorist attacks on the United States have caused customs and the Coast Guard to increase security at ports around the country. "I think the new emphasis on monitoring shipping at ports will result in increased shipping rates because someone has to pay for the new security measures."

Rydberg says there are other variables that can affect the price and delivery time. "Labor strikes or disruptions during the chain of delivery from overseas can dramatically slow down shipment and add to the costs."

Rydberg also cautions buyers to factor in the ease of contacting the supplier. "When you need to talk with the component manufacturer, how easy is it to reach them and communicate with them if they are thousands of miles away?"