Last edited 27 Jan 2023

Uplifting the capability of furniture manufacturing with 3D CAD

1 Introduction
2 Customisation
3 Disruption in the furniture manufacturing industry
4 Addressing furniture manufacturing trend changes with 3D CAD modelling
5 Conclusion
6 Related articles on Designing Buildings

Introduction

The furniture industry is constantly changing, and manufacturers need to be able to adapt quickly to new market trends. 3D furniture modelling services help furniture manufacturers to create virtual prototypes of new products. With 3D CAD they can test new designs and make changes quickly before committing to expensive tooling and product ion costs.

A recent study highlighted that personalisation and customisations were now the biggest factors influencing the furniture market and home and office design. But balancing the production of numerous variants at speed and scale raises manufacturing complexity to a level where 3D CAD modelling becomes indispensable.

These pressures towards personalisation have seen the market move beyond conventional furniture to smart furniture that is synced with intelligence systems in offices and homes. In May 2022 one report claimed the global smart furniture market size will reach $290.8 million by 2027 not even with the inclusion of the market for conventional furniture.

In such a fast-paced market, 3D CAD provides furniture designers and engineers the capability to create more accurate models of furniture products. This helps to reduce manufacturing costs and improve product quality. In addition, every furniture modelling company needs 3D CAD to change their designs and meet customisation demands quickly and easily.

Customisation

3D commercial furniture modelling also makes it easier to create custom furniture to meet orders for personalisation. This flexibility means that furniture manufacturers using 3D CAD can respond quickly to changing customer needs and stay ahead of the competition.

Disruption in the furniture manufacturing industry

The biggest change that the furniture manufacturers have seen recently is a sharp rise in customised product design. Customers want furniture tailored to their need, interiors, thematic design and so much more. As a result, furniture designers and manufacturers are faced with challenges of iterative design, address changes and reflecting them in all documents.

Secondly, there is a significant rise in technology deployment at every stage. From design conceptualisation to final production, technology has taken over the traditional methods. For example, there are CNC machines being used that deliver higher precision as compared to manual machines.

Thirdly, this rise has also led to increased expectations from customers regarding TAT and quality.

As confirmed by studies, this shift for customisation in the market poses three major roadblocks for furniture manufacturers. These are an increase in production planning complexity and impact on lead times, an increase in production costs, and a shortage of skilled labour. 3D CAD helps in solving the first two of these three production issues.

Addressing furniture manufacturing trend changes with 3D CAD modelling

1.Get realistic 3D models with 360-degree visualisation

3D CAD model offer a 360-degree visualisation of product design. You can essentially rotate, zoom-in and zoom-out assembly models to review the design before finalisation. These models can also be rendered to impart lifelike qualities such as material, texturing, shadows etc.

3D models can be developed with high quality rendering and also enabled with AR-ready experiences, resulting in the creation of interactive and virtual furniture product models and enhanced user experiences.

2.Ability to reuse design intelligence

Digitised designs, once created using CAD platform like SolidWorks or Inventor, can be reused anywhere. In fact, parts can be picked up from one assembly and used to develop another assembly or a product. This creates greater ease in generating new designs with faster TAT.

3.Opportunities to add automation

3D CAD models of furniture products can be used to automate designs using logical rules and product configurations. Automation with product configurations can reduce up to 70% of task repetition and shorten the time to market products.

4.Value engineering of existing furniture pieces

3D CAD modelling for furniture offers an effective solution for re-engineering and value engineering of existing products.

Manufacturers use laser scanners to first create a 3D scan of the product and capture the design. The designer then imports the laser scans into a parametric CAD platform and re-creates the digitised model using the layover method. Sometimes, even photographs of furniture products say vintage chair or table can be used as input, scanned and transformed into CAD models.

Once the model is ready, you can take it as a baseline and reverse engineer the intelligence to enhance the existing product. These models can be virtually tested and final furniture shop drawings can be derived to create comprehensive inputs for manufacturing. Manufacturers can also get insights for reviewing competitors’ products and compare them with theirs.

5.Develop faster and reliable prototypes

Although furniture products are usually of standard make, designers have to experiment with new designs for improvements and innovations. And before new designs are released for manufacturing, each of them needs to be tested for accuracy, safety and costs.

3D CAD models of furniture products act as virtual prototypes in obtaining proofs of design concepts. A designer can test the concept without involving any destructive method. 3D CAD modelling thus provides the fastest and safest way to develop new designs.

6.Use cloud technology to collaborate with remote teams in real time

3D CAD can be run from the cloud as SaaS or otherwise with browser-based online access to its interface. This enhances real-time collaboration between remote teams to a level comparable to collocation. Cloud-based CAD access increases collaborative designing and design review. All stakeholders can streamline their workflows, share files, add comments for changes, and track all changes. Access from mobile devices is an added advantage.

Conclusion

3D CAD modelling has become essential for custom furniture manufacturers today to address customer demands for personalisation of furniture. With 3D CAD modelling, manufacturers can create custom furniture designs that meet the specific needs and preferences of their customers. 3D CAD helps to ensure furniture is made to the correct specifications and dimensions.

In every step of the journey towards greater personalisation and customisation in furniture manufacture, 3D CAD helps designers to raise efficiency and optimise production processes.

Additionally, 3D CAD modelling can help to create realistic renderings of furniture pieces, which can be used for marketing and promotional purposes. This allows manufacturers to offer a wider range of customisation options, which leads to increased sales and satisfaction amoungst customers.

Summary: The constant changes in the furniture industry demands the manufacturer to stay agile and adopt themselves with the changing market needs. 3D furniture modelling services help furniture manufacturers to develop comprehensive 3D CAD models with manufacturing details. They can help create single source of truth for all stakeholders and accelerate the cycle of design development to manufacturing. Check out the benefits of 3D CAD modelling in the furniture industry in this blog.