The highly anticipated 35th Private Board Meeting hosted by Sofun Academy was successfully held in Dongguan on July 10, 2026!
This private board meeting attracted active participation from home furnishing company owners and core executives from Vietnam and across China, doubling the originally planned attendance. Through a three-tiered immersive study tour loop, the event deeply decoded the management miracle of a benchmark enterprise: "53 employees, 11,000 sqm space, and 160 million RMB in annual revenue." In the current landscape where home furnishing manufacturers generally face space constraints and rising labor costs, how can companies break free from the traditional growth model of "expanding facilities, buying equipment, and hiring more staff," and forge a new path characterized by light operations, system-driven management, and high output?
1. Top-Level Design: Breaking the Illusion of "Seeing Tools but Not Strategy"
Sofun Software meticulously constructed a three-tiered learning loop of "Strategic Cognition—On-Site Experience—Mindset Breakthrough." It thoroughly deconstructed the core logic of digital factories, transforming abstract management theories into tangible, implementable real-world scenarios.
01 Strategic Level: Optoelectronic 3D Operation Sandbox for a Holistic Business Vision
Entrepreneurs observed the optoelectronic 3D enterprise operation sandbox on-site. This dynamic visualization illustrated the full-chain data flow of a home furnishing factory—from customer orders, production scheduling, manufacturing, to final delivery. It helped them establish a top-level perspective for overall digital factory planning and understand the underlying logic of synergy across various business modules.
02 Experience Level: On-Site Factory Experience to Comprehensively Feel C2M Smart Manufacturing
Stepping into the Sofun Prototype Factory, participants personally experienced the entire process of C2M intelligent order receiving, flexible scheduling, smart processing, and finished goods warehousing. They intuitively felt how personalized customization and large-scale efficient production seamlessly coordinate under the drive of digitalization, witnessing the real operation of a future smart factory up close.
03 Mindset Level: In-Depth Insights from Industry Leaders to Anchor the Core of Digital Strategy
As a pioneer in digitalization within the broader home furnishing sector, Mr. Zhang Aiguo, Guest Professor at Central South University of Forestry and Technology and Founder of Sofun Software, delivered an in-depth sharing session titled "Top-Level Thinking for Digital Transformation in Home Furnishing Enterprises."
Starting from the evolution of the industry and corporate strategic positioning, he clearly outlined the future development direction and core goals of digital transformation for home furnishing manufacturers. He emphasized that to achieve successful transformation, companies must connect the entire management chain from order receiving to production, and from customers to the supply chain. The goal is to transform irregularities into standardized, modularized, and digitalized processes, ultimately leading to intelligent operations. Attendees noted that this was the most profound and helpful session they had heard in years. It dispelled previous cognitive misconceptions about digital transformation and helped them truly understand what digitalization is and how to execute it specifically.
Subsequently, Teacher Ma from Sofun Software imparted the methodology of "Immersive Study Tours." She reminded entrepreneurs to reject superficial, check-in-style visits. Instead, they should observe and reflect with specific questions in mind, ensuring they truly acquire practical, implementable insights from this visit.
2. On-Site Verification: Visiting Benchmarks to See is Believing
Beyond theory, practical application is paramount.
In the second half of the private board meeting, entrepreneurs traveled to Foshan to visit KUSTOM (Kaiting Bathroom), a benchmark enterprise known for "small space, high output." They toured the factory and witnessed firsthand the real-world implementation of digital management achievements, such as "53 employees generating 160 million RMB, zero work-in-progress (WIP) inventory, and 100% warehouse data accuracy."
After the factory tour, Zhang Aimin, Chairman of XinHaiGaLan (KUSTOM's parent company), delivered a passionate welcome speech. Standing at an industry height, Chairman Zhang analyzed the pulse of the era as the home furnishing industry enters the second half of intelligent development. He pointed out: "AI is currently very hot, but without digitalization, how can we talk about AI? When you are still hesitating whether to adopt digitalization, others are already thinking about how to do it better; this is the gap in mindset." Having partnered with Sofun Software for over a decade, XinHaiGaLan has achieved true cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and quality enhancement, enabling the entire Galan Group to develop steadily and healthily. He revealed that initially, KUSTOM, as a subsidiary, did not support adopting the Sofun system and had tried multiple other systems. However, none could solve the company's problems until they finally implemented the Sofun system, which led to today's remarkable results.
Lin Guodong, General Manager of KUSTOM, shared the company's digital growth journey without reservation. He frankly admitted that they had stumbled through many pitfalls during the early stages of transformation, having failed with several previous systems. The main reason was that those earlier systems could only solve isolated, single-point or departmental issues. It was the Sofun system that truly helped them achieve full-chain integration and overall efficiency gains. This allowed them to reduce their workforce from over a hundred to just 53 employees, generate 160 million RMB in revenue, and maximize the utilization of their compact 11,000 sqm facility.
Digitalization has not only reshaped the enterprise but also transformed families. General Manager Lin joked that his wife, who is responsible for KUSTOM's PMC (Production Material Control) work, used to work overtime until midnight every day, neglecting her family. Now, with the efficient management of the system, she only needs to work two hours a day. As for himself, he used to make 70 to 80 phone calls a day; now, he only makes 7 to 8 phone calls a month. He no longer has to deal with endless daily issues, and dealers can check their order progress independently. This has finally given him the time to think about the company's future and make broader strategic layouts.
"The Sofun system has made KUSTOM's management no longer solely reliant on individuals. It is more efficient, and the data is more accurate."
Mr. Chen Junru, Vice President of KUSTOM, who oversees production and digital project implementation, shared the specific changes in the KUSTOM factory. For instance, there used to be 283 storage locations just for WIP; now, WIP has been completely eliminated, and all those storage locations have been dismantled. Order splitting efficiency has increased fivefold, the AI procurement agent has improved ordering efficiency by 90%, the production cycle has been shortened by 75%, and material inventory has been reduced by 82%. Vice President Chen not only highlighted these changes but also detailed exactly how they were achieved.
3. Resonance of Ideas: Digitalization is a Mandatory Question for the Survival of Home Furnishing Manufacturing
Following the executives' sharing, the private board meeting reached its climax with the "Face-to-Face with the President" session.
Breaking away from one-way lectures, entrepreneurs enthusiastically raised actual management pain points they face, engaging in zero-distance, in-depth discussions with industry leaders. Facing these pointed questions, Chairman Zhang Aiguo of Sofun, Teacher Ma, and Chairman Zhang Aimin of XinHaiGaLan provided in-depth analyses and precise answers one by one. They cleared the management fog for the attendees, offering highly valuable practical guidance.
From macro strategy to micro-execution, and from C2M intelligent order receiving to flexible scheduling, sparks of thought continuously collided on-site. This was not just a learning session; it was a resonance of entrepreneurial ideas focused on the revolution of manufacturing efficiency.
As the Sofun Academy Private Board Meeting reaches its 35th edition, Sofun Academy will continue to deeply cultivate digitalization in the home furnishing industry. We aim to help more enterprises unlock the value of space and personnel, driving high-quality industrial development through digitalization.