Office Furniture Industry Fortunes Improving...

A survey by Michael A. Dunlap & Associates LLC, indicates that the Office Furniture Industry is slowly crawling off the bottom. The MADA / OFI quarterly survey measures activity of the office furniture industry and associated suppliers.

The April 2010 reading of 51.51 is an incremental increase from the January 2010 reading of 50.64. For context, the highest reading of 59.72 was recorded in July of 2005, the lowest reading of 41.45 was recorded 12 months ago in April of 2009.

Interesting points from the survey:

• New Product Development soared to 65.71, above the 24 survey average of 63.54.
• Raw Material Costs and Employee costs have risen...

This last point is a big one, and echoes what I heard in vendor meetings last month. Inflation, driven by commodity prices, energy prices, and health care costs, is definitely on the radar screen of the industry. Inflation concerns in conjunction with an improving outlook, means a high probability of steady price increases over the next 18 months.