In the high-end furniture industry, people often talk about design, materials, spatial aesthetics and brand identity.

Yet once a furniture product enters the production floor, whether a design can truly be realised depends on a more specific set of questions: Who will make it? How will it be made? Can it be replicated consistently? Can it be completed within a reasonable production cycle?

In the Where Design Meets Manufacturing series, HC28 Maison General Manager Geng Xueqin raised a question that deserves attention across the furniture manufacturing industry:

As experienced craftsmen gradually leave the production floor, how can complex craftsmanship continue?

This is not simply a labour issue, nor is it only an equipment issue. It is a long-term question that connects design innovation, process know-how, intelligent equipment, AI-assisted programming and the sustainable development of furniture brands.

HC28 Maison has long positioned design as the core driving force behind brand development.

In new product development, designers are not only expected to create new forms, but also to deliver products with clear brand recognition and distinctive differentiation. This design direction gives HC28 products a rich and highly expressive structural language.

But the more expressive the design, the greater the manufacturing challenge.

According to Geng Xueqin, whether it is three-dimensional solid wood shaping, three-dimensional veneer forming or irregular upholstery shaping, many processes still rely heavily on manual experience.

For high-end furniture brands, design innovation is not simply about drawing new lines. It is about bringing those lines into production and presenting them with stable quality in the final product.

HC28 first began its development in 2006. The brand once gave the number “28” a special meaning: 20% industrial production + 80% handmade craftsmanship.

This reflected the brand’s early emphasis on handcraftsmanship.

In the past, the industry had many experienced craftsmen with strong technical know-how. They understood wood, lacquer, structure and details, and were able to handle a large number of non-standard processes through accumulated experience. At that time, labour costs were relatively manageable, and relying on skilled craftsmen to complete complex processes was not a major obstacle.

But twenty years later, the situation has changed.

Older generations of craftsmen are gradually ageing, fewer young people are willing to enter complex manual trades, and labour costs continue to rise. Geng Xueqin noted that HC28 now rarely emphasises the concept of “80% handmade craftsmanship”, because the sustainability of craftsmanship has become an issue the company must face.

For a brand to continue developing, design alone is not enough. It must also have the manufacturing capability to turn design into products consistently and sustainably.

During the interview, Geng Xueqin raised a very real question:

Ten years from now, who will carry out these processes?

She mentioned that when she sees many craftsmen in the workshop already in their fifties or sixties, this question naturally comes to mind.

The significance of this question lies in the fact that it is not an emotional statement, but an industry reality that is already unfolding.

In high-end furniture manufacturing, many complex processes cannot be mastered through simple training. They depend on long-term experience, as well as the ability to make integrated judgments about materials, structures, equipment and the final desired effect.

If this experience cannot be recorded, transformed and passed on, many future designs may be proposed but may not be consistently brought into production.

For furniture production with a higher degree of standardisation, automation has already solved many efficiency issues.

But in the high-end furniture sector, the situation is far more complex.

Especially when irregular structures, three-dimensional forms and complex surface finishing are involved, many processes still cannot be fully completed by standard equipment. The challenges highlighted by HC28 are mainly concentrated in the following areas:

These processes not only affect product appearance, but also directly influence brand identity and the completion quality of high-end products.

For HC28, complex craftsmanship is not an optional add-on. It is part of the brand’s expression. Therefore, when craftsmanship faces a continuity gap, the impact is not limited to production efficiency. It also affects long-term brand competitiveness.

In HC28’s product system, lacquer finishing is an important and distinctive process.

Geng Xueqin mentioned that lacquer finishing is a signature feature for HC28, and the brand looks forward to further technological development in irregular lacquer finishing processes.

The difficulty of irregular lacquer finishing lies in the fact that product surfaces are not simple flat panels. They may involve curved surfaces, corners, transitions between different materials and complex structural details.

To achieve a stable, refined and even surface effect, manufacturers need stronger process control, as well as better coordination across equipment, spraying, sanding, inspection and finishing stages.

To deal with increasingly complex irregular solid wood products, HC28 has continued to invest in equipment. Geng Xueqin noted that HC28 plans to add a new five-axis machine this year.

Five-axis equipment can significantly improve the processing capability for complex structures and is an important tool for high-end furniture manufacturing as it moves toward intelligent and precision production.

However, adding equipment does not mean that all problems are solved. A new challenge appears in human-machine collaboration.

Geng Xueqin pointed out a very practical talent gap in the industry:

People who understand programming may not understand craftsmanship, while people who understand craftsmanship may not understand programming.

Such cross-disciplinary talent is extremely scarce.

For complex furniture products, moving from design drawings to equipment processing is not as simple as inputting data into a machine. The process often requires repeated adjustments to programs, moulds and precision before the final result can be achieved.

Some complex products may take up to a month from design to equipment debugging. This affects not only production efficiency, but also the speed of new product launches.

In the interview, HC28 also expressed expectations for AI and robotics.

This does not mean using AI simply to replace experienced craftsmen. Rather, the expectation is that AI can help the industry address the challenge of preserving and transferring process knowledge.

In the future, if AI can play a greater role on the equipment side, such as simplifying programming, capturing process experience, assisting with toolpath generation and improving equipment debugging efficiency, complex craftsmanship may become easier to replicate and continue.

For operators, this also means they may not need to master highly complex programming logic. Instead, they can focus more on quality control, process judgment and on-site management.

Therefore, the value of AI in high-end furniture manufacturing is not only about improving efficiency. It may also become a new tool for preserving craftsmanship.

The question raised by HC28 is not only a production difficulty faced by one brand.

It reflects a new stage in high-end furniture manufacturing: design is becoming more complex, equipment is becoming more advanced, yet gaps still exist between craftsmanship experience, cross-disciplinary talent and digital capability.

Future furniture manufacturers need to focus not only on equipment investment, but also on the following issues:

These are the new questions that furniture manufacturing must answer as it moves from experience-based production toward intelligent and collaborative manufacturing.

Where Design Meets Manufacturing is a dialogue series jointly launched by CIFF Shanghai and WMF International Woodworking Fair.

The series begins with real manufacturing questions raised by furniture brands, designers and manufacturers. These questions may involve materials, production processes, automation, craftsmanship, efficiency, sustainability or product quality.

Behind every furniture product is a manufacturing challenge waiting to be solved.

HC28 Maison’s reflection on craftsmanship continuity is one example. Future episodes will feature furniture brands including CARBINE, NEODIKO, MEXTRA, KBH and CHIC CASA, each bringing their own manufacturing questions from the factory floor.

More importantly, these are the same challenges being addressed every day by machinery manufacturers, technology suppliers and material innovators across the furniture production industry.

September 2026 will be a key sourcing window for international buyers looking at furniture, interior design, building decoration, woodworking machinery and furniture manufacturing solutions in China.

From September 5–8, 2026, WMF International Woodworking Fair will be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai Hongqiao), alongside major industry events including CIFF (Shanghai), CBD–IBCTF (Shanghai) and Upholstery Tech Shanghai.

This creates a rare opportunity for overseas buyers to see the full industry chain in one trip: finished furniture, interior and building decoration trends, upholstery technology, furniture production equipment, woodworking machinery, materials, components, automation systems and smart factory solutions.

For furniture manufacturers, distributors, project buyers, designers and factory decision-makers, Shanghai in September is not only a place to visit exhibitions. It is a high-value sourcing and trend-discovery window where buyers can compare products, evaluate suppliers, study manufacturing trends and identify practical solutions for factory upgrading.

China’s furniture manufacturing ecosystem offers a strong combination of scale, engineering capability, production experience and cost efficiency. For overseas buyers seeking high-quality yet cost-effective woodworking machinery and furniture manufacturing solutions, Shanghai Hongqiao provides a concentrated platform to evaluate options side by side.

In this context, WMF plays a strategic role as the manufacturing and technology hub within the wider furniture and interior industry ecosystem. While CIFF (Shanghai) and CBD–IBCTF (Shanghai) present market trends, furniture brands, interior solutions and design directions, WMF brings buyers closer to the production technologies behind those products.

This is where international buyers can move from seeing what the market wants to understanding how those products can be manufactured more efficiently, more flexibly and more competitively.

From September 5–8, 2026, WMF International Woodworking Fair will take place at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai Hongqiao).

As one of Asia’s leading trade fairs for furniture manufacturing technology and woodworking machinery, WMF brings together machinery manufacturers, automation providers, software developers, material suppliers and production experts from across the industry.

Whether the challenge involves craftsmanship continuity, five-axis machining, irregular solid wood processing, intelligent automation, surface finishing, digital production management or smart factory integration, WMF provides a platform where buyers can explore practical solutions directly from technology providers.

International visitors attend WMF to discover cost-effective manufacturing solutions, evaluate production technologies, compare suppliers and identify new opportunities for factory upgrading and business growth.

Where design raises new challenges, manufacturing begins to respond.

Where Design Meets Manufacturing. See you in Shanghai.