Lumber Yield in a Portuguese Wooden Kitchen Furniture Industry

Abstract

Wood industries are unquestionably important in the context of the Portuguese economy (14% of industrial GDP), job creation (260,000) and the settlement of people in poorer regions. The wood kitchen furniture industry is an important component of this sector. Evaluating the wood kitchen furniture industry's level of efficiency is important to assist furniture companies in undergoing a rapid process of restructuring and modernization in response to competitive pressure, particularly international competition.The objective of this research was to evaluate the lumber yield of a small scale Portuguese wood kitchen furniture industry in the central region of Portugal using an I/O (input/output) approach.The results showed a lumber yield of 46% suggesting this company still operates below the average national sector yield (60.5%) and confirming the potential to increase the firm's output (door frames) from existing inputs.