The boards of the Association of the German Upholstered Furniture Industry (VdDP eV) and the Association of the German Residential Furniture Industry (VdDW eV) reject the planned EU regulation on payment delays. During their joint meeting on May 16, 2024, in Cologne, the members criticized the payment terms stipulated in the current draft for so-called "slow-moving goods," which could likely include furniture. Overall, there is no need for this bureaucratic regulation, which is detrimental to the sector, according to the two CEOs, Leo Lübke (VdDP) and Markus Wiemann (VdDW).
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Additionally, the board addressed the obligation to use e-invoicing arising from the Growth Opportunities Act. Starting next year, all companies are required to accept structured e-invoices in the agreed formats for domestic German business transactions, i.e., machine-readable electronic invoices. This obligation to use electronic invoicing requires action from both the invoice issuer and the invoice recipient. Association director Jan Kurth called on the member companies to timely prepare the appropriate digital infrastructure.
Besides exchanging information about the challenging market situation, the participants also learned about the training and further education programs offered by the Furniture Technical School (MöFA), where the meeting took place. The facility is specifically focused on the furniture, kitchen, and furniture industries. After their education, graduates would not only work in the furniture trade but also significantly in the furniture industry, according to commercial manager Peter Faust. Given the shortage of skilled labor, the furniture trade and the furniture industry have been working together for several years to align MöFA's training as closely as possible with the future of the furniture industry.
Source: VHK Herford