Haworth, a worldwide workspace solutions company located in the United States, plans to export products from its new production facility near Chennai in addition to serving the domestic market.

The proposed facility at Sriperumbudur, on the outskirts of the city, would cost between $8 and $10 million to build. Currently, the existing factory – which is also operational in Sriperumbudur – solely serves the domestic market.

Henning Figge, president, Haworth International, said the new plant would manufacture all models of furniture, which presently makes height adjustable desks, chairs and loose furniture.

“As per the China plus one strategy, we want to have identical production capabilities (in the proposed plant near Chennai) such that we can switch from one location to the other in the event of any supply chain disruptions. We need to make sure that we reduce our vulnerability to any extraordinary development that could happen," he said.

However, Figge did not disclose the deadline for commencing the commercial operations of the proposed plant in an area of seven acres.