From capability to growth: What SA furniture manufacturers need to compete

South Africa has the manufacturing capability, design talent and flexibility to build a stronger furniture industry. The challenge now is turning those strengths into sustainable business growth and connecting manufacturers with the markets, skills, information and opportunities to make it happen.
25 August 2026, Johannesburg: South Africa’s furniture manufacturing industry finds itself at an important point. Manufacturers are operating against a backdrop of imported competition, pricing pressure, skills shortages and changing technology, yet significant opportunities are emerging in local, African and international markets.

The question is how South African manufacturers convert those opportunities into orders, stronger businesses and ultimately jobs.

For the South African Furniture Initiative (SAFI), the answer lies in improving manufacturers’ access to four things that directly influence growth: markets, information, skills and industry representation.
“There is tremendous capability within South African furniture manufacturing, but capability alone doesn’t grow a business,” says Tracy Symons, Marketing Relationship Manager at SAFI. “Manufacturers need customers. They need information that helps them make better decisions, skilled people who can deliver the work and an industry environment that allows them to compete. That is where SAFI is focusing its efforts.”

Turning manufacturing capability into business

Finding new customers is arguably the most immediate challenge.

Many South African furniture manufacturers are SMEs. Almost 60% of SAFI members employ between one and nine people, meaning individual businesses may not have the resources to maintain dedicated marketing, export development or business development teams.

SAFI is therefore creating collective platforms that bring manufacturers and buyers together.
At SARCDA 2026, its first dedicated pavilion showcased South African furniture, design and home décor businesses to professional trade buyers. The pavilion won SARCDA’s Award for Stand Originality, while exhibitors reported new contacts, trade leads, orders and follow-up opportunities.

“The real measure of an exhibition isn’t how many people walk past your stand. It is whether the right people stop and whether those conversations continue afterwards,” says Symons. “Our job is to help manufacturers become visible to buyers they may otherwise struggle to reach.”

That thinking extends beyond traditional furniture retail.

Potential customers include architects, interior designers, hotel groups, developers, corporate procurement teams, healthcare providers and distributors, particularly for manufacturers capable of customised and shorter production runs.

This, Symons believes, is one of South Africa’s under-utilised strengths: “We are not going to compete with every global manufacturer on volume or price, nor should we try to. Our advantage can be flexibility. Many local manufacturers can sit down with a client, adapt dimensions, refine a design, change a finish or manufacture a shorter run for a specific project. In the right markets, that responsiveness has real commercial value.”

Taking that capability into new markets

SAFI is now working to put more manufacturers in front of those markets.

Engage Trade Africa, taking place in Durban from 6 to 8 October, will connect participating businesses across various industries with more than 350 pre-qualified South African and international buyers through over 4,000 pre-arranged B2B meetings.

SAFI is also pursuing participation at HIVE Dubai in November, which could provide South African manufacturers with further access to buyers in the GCC.

“These initiatives are not about travelling for the sake of exposure,” says Symons. “The objective is business. We want manufacturers to understand where demand exists, what buyers are looking for and how to position themselves to win that work.”

But competitiveness is not only about finding customers. It is also about what happens inside the factory. In September, SAFI will lead 22 representatives from 12 South African furniture industry companies to the China International Furniture Machinery & Woodworking Machinery Fair (WMF) 2026 in Shanghai.
The exhibition will expose delegates to developments in woodworking machinery, automation, materials, furniture manufacturing technology and smart factory solutions.

“We need to understand how the rest of the world is manufacturing,” says Symons. “The opportunity in China is to identify technology and source machinery that could help South African businesses improve productivity, efficiency and quality. Even relatively small improvements can make a manufacturer more competitive.”

Growth needs skills

Technology, however, is only one side of competitiveness. The other is people.
SAFI’s FP&M SETA-funded Work Integrated Learning programme is creating 12-month workplace opportunities for unemployed learners, with strong manufacturer demand demonstrating the need for practical skills across the sector.

“Furniture remains an industry built around people,” says Symons. “Manufacturers need upholsterers, cabinetmakers, joiners, machinists and production skills. You cannot talk about growing manufacturing without asking where the next generation of skilled people will come from.”

At the same time, SAFI and FP&M SETA are researching the implications of digitalisation, automation, artificial intelligence and smart manufacturing for the industry’s future workforce.
The challenge, says Symons, is not choosing between craftsmanship and technology, but combining them intelligently.“We need to protect valuable manufacturing skills while embracing technology that helps businesses become more productive. The manufacturers that get that balance right will be better positioned for the future.”

Creating an environment in which manufacturers can compete

There are also challenges individual businesses cannot solve alone.

SAFI continues to represent the sector on issues affecting its competitiveness, including government procurement, localisation and regulatory developments. It has made submissions on the draft Public Procurement Act regulations, advocating for greater transparency and stronger implementation of local production and content requirements.

“A manufacturer can improve its factory, develop a great product and work hard to find customers, but it is still affected by the environment in which it operates,” says Symons. “Manufacturers need a collective voice when decisions are being made that affect their businesses.”

And this, ultimately, is where SAFI sees its role.

It is not to run manufacturers’ businesses for them, but to create connections they can use: to buyers, markets, training, information, technology, government and each other.

“The industry doesn’t lack talent or capability,” concludes Symons. “What we need is to turn more of that capability into sustainable commercial opportunity. If we can help manufacturers find markets, improve how they operate, develop the right skills and compete on a fairer footing, stronger businesses and more jobs can follow.”

For South African furniture manufacturers, the opportunity is therefore not simply to survive a changing market. It is to become more competitive within it – and there is a strong case for doing that together.
Become a SAFI member and gain access to valuable market and export opportunities, buyer connections, industry insights, skills development, trade exhibitions, promotional platforms and industry representation – all designed to help your business compete and grow.

Visit furnituresa.org.za to join and start reaping the benefits of SAFI membership.

ENDS
Released on behalf of SAFI (www.furnituresa.org.za) by The Line (ant@theline.co.za).

ABOUT SAFI
The South African Furniture Initiative (SAFI) is an industry organisation dedicated to supporting the growth, competitiveness and long-term sustainability of South Africa’s furniture manufacturing sector. Representing manufacturers and industry stakeholders, SAFI works to strengthen local production, develop skills, expand market access and create new opportunities for South African businesses. Its activities include industry advocacy, skills development, export promotion, trade participation and initiatives that help manufacturers respond to changing technologies and market requirements. By connecting industry, government and other key stakeholders, SAFI provides a collaborative platform for addressing challenges, unlocking opportunities and building a stronger, more resilient furniture manufacturing industry.