New furniture designs up for Ifugao shops

By Marcelo B. Lihgawon

LAGAWE, Ifugao -- The Department of Trade and Industry, in partnership with a Manila-based design consultant, is now assisting eight furniture shops in the five municipalities of the province to improve   local  products and designs  to compete better in the market.

Judy G. Bunnol, trade promotion officer of DTI-Ifugao and Rey  L.P. Soliven of Soliven R Designs, provided consultancy services to furniture shops as part of  DTI’s product development program through its comprehensive agrarian reform program.

This is to increase market competitiveness of  entrepreneurs in domestic and international market through the creation of new products or improvement of existing ones for the benefit of a particular market niche.

Bunnol said aside from company assessment, furniture shop owners  will have to subject themselves to two more stages to complete the PDP which include design, generation and development, and prototypes execution and checking.

Based on the company assessment results,  Soliven will generate about 2-3  new or improved product designs for each furniture shop to execute as prototypes.  Once the shops translate these new designs into finished products, the designer will check them for any revisions or approval in September 2015. 

From November 6 to 15,  the eight  furniture shops will promote their approved product prototypes during the Impakabsat Trade Fair, a DTI-CAR organized regional trade fair to be held at the Festival Mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa.