High-end Furniture brands are outsourcing production post-COVID

June 2021

Turning the industry’s top production centers into locked-down hotspots, the virus pressed furniture brands worldwide to rethink their logistics. Whether nearshoring, onshoring, or off sourcing, outsourced production holds the key to the future for many, seeing that a strong supply chain linked together by strong partnerships is the way forward.

97% of supply chain professionals experienced a supply chain disruption due to COVID-19. The virus was an unmatched disrupter, rocking every industry indiscriminately. It made no exception for contract and design furniture, forcing leading production hubs into lockdown. The halt forced brands of all sizes to rethink their operations and retool, strengthening where possible. Part and parcel of the strengthening: strong alliances with the right production partners. To follow are a few noteworthy benefits.

By bringing on the right production partners, outsourcing can strengthen your supply chain immediately. But the benefits go far beyond logistics to include connections, quality product, and flexibility.


A diversified supply chain is a strong one. Firms with strong chains are positioned to prevail when disaster strikes. From product development to upholstery, assembly to packing, the right partner can reinforce a brand’s operations across geographies. 79% of businesses with highly efficient supply chains enjoy revenues greater than the average in their industry. Superior supply chain management equals smoother business operations, healthier inventory levels, and happier customers. In outsourcing, a SCM expert handles all the strategic and tactical details that otherwise distract a team from their business’s core competencies. You’re freed up to focus on what you do best.


LTP Group’s factories strengthen a firm’s supply chain with a local element. The company’s main suppliers are located within a 2-hour radius from their Lithuanian factories.


The beauty in outsourcing production is much grander than a simple improvement of logistics: it’s the unique benefits of a logistics expert on your side who is also a bonafide lover of design. Not to mention, a partner to hundreds of passionate players within it, if you pick the right one. Such a partner will help advance your business’s concrete aspects (supply chain) as well as evolve its more abstract ones (design).


The value of LTP Group's network seeds from the open collaboration that’s formed it — with 100+ forward-thinking brands over the course of 40+ years.


In addition to being a total supply chain solution for international demanding brands, an OEM partner can bring connections to the table. A world-class sourcing partner will extend their hard-earned network of the best suppliers with the highest quality materials in the industry, worldwide, to you. Consider LTP Group’s furniture division with a network of 600 suppliers and specialists each in their own niche: molded foam, cut foam, metal bases, molded plywood, fittings, fabrics, etc.… Such a network at hand equals assurance you’re picking from the best source materials on the market.


LTP Group's frequently updated fabric inventory in their Lithuania warehouses includes 150+ high runner fabrics from big names like Kvadrat and Camira.


Teaming up with a sourcing partner, you enjoy access to their product inventory as well. Immediate access to thousands of the best, most current fabrics and other materials equals shorter lead times, higher on-time delivery performance, and savings in transportation costs.


LTP Group's Kedainiai, Lithuania warehouse.

In a quick-paced world where every day and dollar count, efficiency is paramount. Outsourcing by partnering with a veteran onshoring, nearshoring, or offshoring team is a surefire way to get more efficient. Look for lean principles, automation, and digitized production in a partner. 


Smart production partners often have multiple lean, automated, and digitally enabled factories in various strategic locations. Access to enormous production capacity equals next-level efficiency. Most sourcing partners offer helpful services such as direct delivery — streamlined services that ultimately save more time and money.


Take LTP Group as a model. Their 30,000 m2 of furniture production across four privately owned, modern factories are lean, automated, and digitized. Each factory streamlines people, materials, and information for efficiency. Conveyors and robots optimize production lines, making their team one of the strongest manufacturing solutions for contract furniture in Europe. 


Automation and digitized production give a furniture maker’s business the potential for long-term success. This is why factories such as LTP Group’s are outfitted with the newest automated and advanced IT system-controlled cutting technology — i.e., fabric and leather and gluing robots. 



About LTP

LTP Group is your outsourcing partner in furniture. By using LTP as a production partner, you will not only increase your flexibility. You will also be able to service your end customers on time, faster, and at a lower cost.


About Rebecca Woodul

Rebecca is a contract & design furniture industry writer and trend forecaster. She’s passionate about sustainability, ergonomics, and mental health in the workplace. linkedin.com/in/rebecca-woodul