Permanent analysis of the member companies openness to export.
Creation and update of a top of interest areas, from the EU to South Africa.
Identification of collaboration opportunities for the TFC members in the areas of interest.
The management team collects annually, through the questionnaires sent to the TFC members, information about the external markets they wish to approach.
Participation to online conferences and matchmaking sessions, among which Online Global Cluster Matchmaking on 24 September2020, when we connected to Gisele Stolz, director of the business incubator at the “George Mason” University, USA and with Clara Santamaria, manager of Habitat Cluster Barcelona, Spain, which share a common interest to penetrate the markets in Asia and Africa, through opening a SME representation office.
The members of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster filled in the questionnaires and thus the cluster management team could discover the potential target markets of the members.
Further to the participation to the Online Global Cluster Matchmaking conference on 24 September 2020, the participation to CIFF – China International Furniture Fair in March 2021 was planned.
New partnerships and exports to companies in the important markets for the furniture industry.
Market research in South Africa to assess the possibility to open an office to represent the Romanian SMEs in the African continent.
The members of TFC approach the export markets both in Europe, in Asia and in South Africa.
Awareness of the need to open and maintain on a long term Romanian SMEs representation offices abroad, on all continents, to boost exports.
Identification of the internationalization needs, due to the will of the members to know in depth the Asian markets.
In 2019, the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster Management Team participated to the course “Cultural differences between Romania and China”, which aimed at identifying the manners of interaction with potential Chinese partners and producers.
In order to develop important strategic partnerships, Transylvanian Furniture Cluster organized an economic mission in March 2019 in Asia, at KUALA LUMPUR at SINGAPORE.
A number of 30 participants at the companies Salice Comprod, Antares România, Taparo, Marlex Impex, Inno Laser, LifeMob, Hygia Consult, Promtinter Expert, Basic Point, Ghișe Design, Ax Perpetuum, Rebras Maramureș, E-Laborator and at the Technical University in Cluj-Napoca exchanged experience, paid working visit and attended matchmaking sessions with Asian partners during this economic mission at Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
During the economic mission at Kuala Lumpur the MIFF 2019 fair was visited, on which occasion the delegation of Transylvanian Furniture Cluster participated to the seminars dedicated to the furniture industry. At the same time, Business to Business meetings were organized at MIFF 2019 between furniture producers participating to the fair.
Business meetings of the delegation of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster with representatives of the Ministry of Industry and with representatives of the professional associations in Malaysia also took place.
The delegation of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster then went to the next destination: Singapore. The visit in Singapore included the seminar organized by the Romanian Embassy in Singapore, specially for the visit of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster delegation, entitled “Business Opportunities In Romania & Business-To-Business Meeting with Incoming Romanian Delegation.”
Launching thorough discussions with various furniture producers aiming at establishing partnerships.
The presence of the Romanian delegation to the 2 international furniture fairs was a real opportunity to understand the current trends, as well as to develop potential external partnerships.
The participation of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster to these two international furniture fairs has led to a significant increase of the cluster visibility at international level.
At the same time, further to the participation to MIFF 2019, the initiative to participate to the next edition of the fair was discussed.
The will to direct exports to Asian markets has led members to organizing initiatives in this respect, through participating to the CIFF SHANGHAI and FURNITURE CHINA 2018 fairs.
Organization of the economic missions at Shanghai, China, in September 2018.
A collaboration framework has been designed in partnership with Council of Asia Furniture Associations (CAFA) and China National Furniture Association (CNFA), in the presence of president Xu Xiangnan, of general secretary Linda Tu and of the representative of the General Consulate of Romania in Shanghai.
The well-known Chinese designer Philip Yap, considered by most specialized publications as one of the top 10 Chinese designers, prepared 3 presentation stands for the delegation of Transylvanian Furniture Cluster at the Furniture China fair.
Understanding the way of life, the culture and the manner of business interaction in Asian countries. One of the declarations made in Chinese that the delegation of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster could hear was: ”I do not want to climb a mountain to be seen by the people, but for me to better see the people”
The presence of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster at this economic mission has led to the perception of the innovating international trends being translated into the local market.
Based on the good, consolidated collaboration, during the economic mission the well-known Chinese designer was one of the special guests, as a speaker, at the Transylvanian Clusters International Conference (TCIC), a conference organized by the Northern Transylvania Clusters Consortium, where Transylvanian Furniture Cluster is a member.
The economic mission in Chine opened new horizons towards penetrating international markets, the cluster constantly participating to international events organized in Asia.
The need to develop and identify potential collaborations between the companies in Hungary and those in Romania has generated the interaction between the members of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster and the members of the Panfa cluster.
Transylvanian Furniture Cluster hosted in Cluj-Napoca an economic mission between 11.06.2017 – 15.06.2017, organized in cooperation with
ICIA-CENTI, an institute member of the TFC and with the management entity of the Panfa cluster, as well as with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Zalaegerszeg.
The Hungarian delegation participated to working visits at the furniture production companies within the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster, in order to see their production capacities. Some of the visited companies are: Smart Furniture, Perpetuum Furniture, Art Stil and Rotsin PROD COM, Napochim, Promtinter Expert, Ax Perpetuum Impex and Proeli Concept.
Further to the analysis of the technologies used and of the main products created by the companies in Cluj producing furniture, members of the Cluster, the Hungarian delegation, that included the members of the Panfa cluster, discussed about the activities that can be carried out in common based on future collaborations.
Potential areas of cooperation between the companies in Cluj and the Hungarian companies have been identified, also analyzing the research-development institutes in Cluj which are members of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster, the National Institute for Research-Development in Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, as well as the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Cluj-Napoca, Forestry Department.
Strengthening the relations between the members of the Panfa Cluster and the members of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster, as well as identifying possibilities for collaboration between companies in Hungary and Romania.
Attracting new commercial partners and relations with companies with whom B2B meetings have been arranged, with a focus on the exporters that can benefit from the programme Gate for Export.
On the occasion of the Wood Processing Equipment Fair LIGNA HANOVRA 2017, between 17-24 May 2017, Transylvanian Furniture Cluster organized an economic mission in Germany
Together with the special guest, Eniko Bucs, Sales Manager Austria and SE Europe at PEKA- System AG, the penetration of the sales market in North-West Romania for storage systems dedicated to living, dressing and kitchens, as well as for PEKA Sesam Libell multifunctional shelves, Fioro retractable shelves and for the Smart furniture solution, Pecasa- versatile system built around a central column to which shelves and storage boxes can be attached in various configurations.
The most recent prototypes of furniture, elevators, hinges and retractable systems were on display, systems dedicated to the efficient management of furniture and of the intelligent rooms connected to the network, as well as the Loox LED system, dedicated to light and to the sound that can be heard from the furniture due to the “plug & play” functionality, which is a novelty needed for dissemination among the producers in the North-West region and which is presented and brought to the attention of the customers.
As a result of this economic mission, the visit to CEFLA LIVE 2017, annual event organized by Cefla Finishing for partners, was planned and included in the TFC annual planning.
Orientation towards new technologies in the field of furniture production, starting from the Moka storage system for dressing, Shelvo kitchen drawers, Omnidry vertical ovens and discovering even the Goodside Fusion tapestry solutions, which gained prizes at INTERZUM Award.
The technologies presented during the Economic Mission in Germany were disseminated by the Romanian delegation among the other members of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster as for these to be implemented in their companies.
Development of strategic partnerships, exchange of experience and initiation of common project proposals with large international Clusters.
Organization of the economic mission in Croatia, between 24-26 April 2017.
The event was organized by Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum in partnership with EKO-SUSTAV Ltd and Competence Centre (Vukovar, Croatia).
A delegation of the representatives of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster members and of the Technology Transfer Centre in Cluj-Napoca (CENTI) attended.
Working visits for exchange fo experience at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Forestry, then Business to Business discussion between the representatives of the host country and the representatives within the Romanian delegation.
Due to the significant presence of the 40 representatives of the Croatian public authorities, research organizations, local SMEs, as well as of the representatives of the Business Support Organisations & Clusters in the Danube Region, future beneficial relations were established to animate the cluster, attract new members and boost the cluster market visibility.
Further to the economic mission, Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum became a member of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster.
New perspectives were opened as concerns the development of strategic partnerships between the members of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster and the public authorities in Croatia, with the research organizations and with the University of Zagreb.
Based on the exchange of experience during the economic mission in Croatia, common project proposals involving the Croatian representatives and the Romanian delegation were elaborated.
Facilitating talks and partnerships with other consortia and clusters through the annual organization of the Transylvanian Clusters International Conference (TCIC).
Organization of Transylvanian Clusters International Conference (TCIC), supported by Northern Transylvania Clusters Consortium through the cooperation between Transylvania IT Cluster, Agro Transylvania Cluster, Romania New Materials Cluster, Creative Industries Cluster and Transylvanian Furniture Cluster.
The annual event Clusters International Conference reached its 5th edition in 2019.
Along the 5 editions, TCIC had over 1,500 participants, 250 speakers 630 B2B matchmaking sessions.
The TCIC 2019 edition approached the objective to maintain the market relevance and stimulate competitiveness. Future competences for industry was the main topic discussed during the conference.
From the human perspective to the point of view of the businesses, from individual scale to organization proportions – the discussions referred to what transformations are required to prepare for the next decades, and another topic discussed was the manner how we can synchronize abilities and demands.
Northern Transylvania Clusters Consortium accepts the challenge to search manners to keep pace with the permanently changing economic ecosystem.
By organizing TCIC, Cluj-Napoca has become a true capital city of innovation, annually prospering by the contribution of the five partner clusters, which get to successfully develop innovative projects in their relevant sectors.
Every year, the number of participants and speakers increases. In 2016, at the end of the first edition, TCIC a counted 330 participants, while at the end of the 2019 conference, the total number of participant to all the editions reached 1,500 participants.
Through the Business-to-Business matchmaking sessions, real connection possibilities were offered to entrepreneurs and SMEs in the entire world.
It is estimated that a significant number of participants will be attracted every year, which involves the creation of impact partnerships among the participants to the Transylvanian Clusters International Conference events.