Haworth International to set up second manufacturing unit near Chennai

Chennai, Sep 20 (PTI) Global office furniture maker and workspace solutions provider Haworth has drawn up plans to set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing unit at an outlay of USD around 8-10 million near the city, a top official said.

The company on Wednesday inaugurated a new showroom and a Global Shared Services Centre, spread across 26,000 sq ft in Chennai.

With the setting up of a new factory, the production capacity would increase to over 1.13 lakh sq ft at Sriperumbudur near Chennai and the facility is targeted at addressing the growing market opportunity in India and in the Asia Pacific Region.

According to company officials, the factory would produce some of its key products, such as office chairs, workstations, desks, sofas and ottomans of Haworth under the brand names Zody, Fern, Aloha, HAT, Intuity, Riverbend, IQ commercial, and Pebble among others.

Besides serving the needs of the domestic furniture market, the company is also looking at shipping to North America and Europe.

Haworth APAC Sales Vice President Praveen Rawal said, "This expansion aligns with our commitment to continue to deliver excellence across various sectors where we are eager to make a curious lasting impact." Haworth International President Henning Figge said, "The decision to expand the operations in Chennai stems from our commitment to meeting the growing demands of our customers and seizing new opportunities in the market." He said the increasing demand for the company's products, coupled with the region's strategic significance as an industrial hub, makes Chennai the perfect location for the new factory.

"The manufacturing facility will play a pivotal role in crafting products destined for export to North America and Europe, in addition to meeting the demands of our domestic market," Figge said.

On the inauguration of the new showroom, Haworth Managing Director Papun Senchoudhury said, "The Chennai showroom and office will serve as a hub for creativity and collaboration, offering a variety of functions that redefine the concept of workspaces, cafe seating, desks and flexible meeting room." PTI VIJ VIJ ANE