Sales for the FDMC 300 group of companies grew 5 percent in 2016 over the previous year to $48.786 billion. That’s the fifth consecutive year of sales growth for this group of companies.
As in the last few years, companies in most market sectors reported higher sales in 2016. Sales of mid-size and large cabinet companies continued to be strong. Among the largest publicly traded manufacturers, some had solid gains in sales while others consolidated or concentrated on improving profitability rather than overall revenue.
The year 2016 was the fifth straight in which these companies reported sales increases, and this period of growth has come after five consecutive years of declines from 2007 to 2011.
A year ago, we calculated annual sales for this group of 300 companies to be $46.404 billion for 2015. That was an increase of 7 percent over $43.325 billion for 2014. That year’s sales increased 9.3 percent over sales reported and estimated for the year 2013.
The FDMC 300 is a group of the 300 largest cabinet, furniture, millwork, store fixture, office/contract and component producers in North America.
Both large and small cabinet companies recorded solid sales gains in 2016, along with many millwork companies, component producers and some of the largest publicly traded firms.
A detailed list of the top 25 companies and a summary of all 300 companies is included in our coverage in this issue.
We were not able to get updated sales and employee numbers from some privately held companies, but were able to update at least some information on most of these firms. There were adjustments in some company information due to new data, mergers and consolidations.
Also, there were several companies listed last year that are no longer included, along with new companies and a few name changes and consolidations.
Several companies previously listed were not included in 2016 because they had sales just below the 300th company. These companies are still in operation and may be included in future years.
We identified only one company in the group of 300 that closed during 2016. That’s the lowest number in more than 20 years.
We will detail these changes and look more closely at several key market segments in future issues of FDMC.
Here’s a look at the methodology we used for the 10 largest companies in the FDM 300:
1. Ashley Furniture Industries Inc. This company has expanded manufacturing capacity in Mississippi and North Carolina, in addition to its large primary operation in Wisconsin. Ashley also has manufacturing operations in China and Vietnam. This figure was provided directly by the company and does not include estimate of retail store sales.
2. Steelcase Inc. Sales for company’s fiscal 2016 were almost exactly the same as fiscal 2015 Plant location and division information are the same as last year.
3. MasterBrand Cabinets. Fortune Brands Home and Security’s kitchen and bath cabinetry segment’s sales figure is based on third quarter sales. Sales were up strongly in 2016.
4. Herman Miller Inc. Information is from the company’s annual report. Sales increased for the publicly traded office and contract company, and the number of employees also grew.
5. Jeld-Wen Inc. No direct sales number. This is an estimate of window and door business in 2016, not including resorts and landholdings.
6. Andersen Corp. Sales number is our estimate for 2016, adjusted again from last year. No new information from the company.
7. Haworth Inc. Revenue reported for the most recent fiscal year in February 2016, which represented a gain from the previous year.
8. HNI Corp. Sales number is based on third quarter sales for the office furniture segment.
9. La-Z-Boy Inc. Sales represent fiscal 2016 sales for the company’s upholstery and casegoods segment, and were higher. Retail segment not included in this figure.
10. Knoll Inc. The sales figure is based on third quarter 2016 sales for the company’s entire business. Sales increased over the previous year.
You can see the entire list of FDMC 300 companies by clicking on the Knowledge Center tab or at http://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/fdmc-300/2016
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