Build-to-Order vs. Mass Production: Custom Furniture Wins

How Furniture Distributors and Designers Can Leverage Made-to-Order Models to Eliminate Inventory Risk, Reduce Costs, and Deliver Superior Client Solutions  The luxury custom furniture market has moved decisively toward build-to-order — and the financial logic is compelling. Image: Unsplash Introduction: Why Supply Chain Disruption Has Changed the Furniture Industry Forever If you were operating a furniture distribution business, showroom, or design practice between 2020 and 2023, you experienced something that textbooks hadn’t adequately prepared anyone for: a complete, simultaneous breakdown of the assumptions that mass production-based inventory models were built upon. Port congestion stretched lead times from 8 weeks to 28 weeks. Container costs increased 900% at peak. Consumer demand […]