Mr Frank Carroll's passport is growing heavier by the month as he clocks up entry visas on his regular trips to Guangzhou in the Canton region of southern China.

As co-founder of the Dublin-based furniture design and manufacturing company Alfrank, Mr Carroll has spent two years traversing China on a mission to save his business from cut-throat competition from east Asia.

For several years Chinese and other Asian manufacturers have been assembling high quality furniture at rates that have been eating into Alfrank's profits, prompting Mr Carroll and his partner, architect Mr Alfred Cochrane, to take radical action.

"It happened to the Irish clothing industry maybe 10 years ago and then, about four years ago, we sensed a change coming as imports began to enter the market from China," says Mr Carroll.

"It took us a bit of time to cop on but we soon realised that if we didn't outsource our manufacturing to China we probably wouldn't be in business now."

Alfrank started off in 1984 by supplying US showrooms and designers with one-off sculptural pieces of furniture and accessories. But as the US economy slowed in the early 1990s, it refocused its attention on the British and Irish marketplaces supplying high street shops such as Harrods and Selfridges.

As cheaper products began to flow into Europe from the Asia in the late 1990s, Alfrank found itself squeezed financially by a combination of this competition and higher costs at home due to a growing labour shortage.

"We had a responsibility to do something for ourselves and for consumers," says Mr Carroll. "As Alfrank's products require hand-finishing, a large percentage of our overall cost goes toward labour."

Until recently, the company employed more than 100 staff at its manufacturing and design plant on Cork Street in Dublin. But following management's recent decision to outsource manufacturing to China, employment will shortly fall to just 15 people.

"This is not an easy process and is certainly not for the faint-hearted," says Mr Carroll.

"We are in transition at the moment and still do some manufacturing on site but within three years all products will come from China."

The first Chinese-produced furniture arrived at Alfrank's Dublin factory early last year and the cost differential between manufacturing in Ireland and in China is significant, says Mr Carroll.

"We would be selling product here in Ireland at a third of the price we would have sold it eight years ago and that doesn't include adjustments for inflation or currency One piece we are selling costs €400 whereas eight years ago a similar piece would be sold for £1,300."

Sourcing products from China was not that easy to begin with and required a lot of preparatory work, travelling and patience, according to Mr Carroll, who is now learning Chinese in Dublin.

"Trade fairs are a good place to pick up sourcing contacts but there are often problems that won't emerge until the first full shipment of product arrives.

"Quality control has to be managed carefully and one thing that I have found on my travels is that it is always difficult to find the actual source of product. Often firms end up doing deals with middle men who take a big cut."

By far the biggest challenge for foreign firms is negotiating through a language and cultural barrier with suppliers. Chinese people often don't like to say no even when delivering something is not possible, says Mr Carroll.

Corruption rarely affects foreign firms that simply source products in China, but for companies wanting to set up a factory or a business "oiling the bureaucracy" is a factor, he says.

Alfrank is now using its own experience of sourcing furniture in China to diversify its business.

"We have set up our own office with our own people on the ground. This is a costly exercise but it is also enabling us to begin to source product for other Irish firms," he says. "This adds another string to our bow and will help other Irish companies to take advantage of China."

This business will undertake market research, sourcing, and negotiate with Chinese manufacturers on behalf of Irish firms.