Ikea Operations Management
http://fp05-527.web.dircon.net/ikea_company_profile.html
Profile: ikea
IKEA is the world’s most successful mass-market retailer, selling Scandinavian-style home furnishings and other house goods in 230 stores in 33 countries and hosting 410 million shoppers per year. An acronym for founder Ingvar Kamprad and his boyhood home of Elmtaryd, Agunnaryd, IKEA began operating in Sweden in 1943 and continues its original ethos based upon cost obsession fused with design culture. No design, no matter how inspired, finds its way into the catalogue if it cannot be made affordable. With an aim of lowering prices across its entire offering by an average of 2% to 3% each year, its signature feature is the flat packed product that customers assemble at home, thus reducing transportation costs. Yet, unlike some peers, IKEA has sustainability at heart and, through an internal mantra of ‘low price but not at any price’ is a leading example of sustainable innovation and business growth.The company designs its own furniture, which is made by about 1,500 suppliers in more than 50 countries. It also sells online and by mail order with the print run for the 2006 catalogue hitting 160 million - more than the Bible, so IKEA claims. Finding the right manufacturer for the right product is a key component of the company’s success. It once contracted with ski makers - experts in bent wood - to manufacture its Poang armchairs, and has tapped makers of supermarket carts to turn out durable sofas. Simplicity, a tenet of Scandinavian design, also helps keep costs down. For example, the 50 cents Trofé mug comes only in blue and white - the least expensive pigments.
IKEA’s conservation drive extends naturally from this cost-cutting. Adding to the challenge, the suppliers and designers work to customize some Ikea products to make them sell better in local markets. That said, the global middle class, that IKEA targets, shares buying habits: The $120 Billy bookcase, $13 Lack side table, and $190
Profile: ikea
IKEA is the world’s most successful mass-market retailer, selling Scandinavian-style home furnishings and other house goods in 230 stores in 33 countries and hosting 410 million shoppers per year. An acronym for founder Ingvar Kamprad and his boyhood home of Elmtaryd, Agunnaryd, IKEA began operating in Sweden in 1943 and continues its original ethos based upon cost obsession fused with design culture. No design, no matter how inspired, finds its way into the catalogue if it cannot be made affordable. With an aim of lowering prices across its entire offering by an average of 2% to 3% each year, its signature feature is the flat packed product that customers assemble at home, thus reducing transportation costs. Yet, unlike some peers, IKEA has sustainability at heart and, through an internal mantra of ‘low price but not at any price’ is a leading example of sustainable innovation and business growth.The company designs its own furniture, which is made by about 1,500 suppliers in more than 50 countries. It also sells online and by mail order with the print run for the 2006 catalogue hitting 160 million - more than the Bible, so IKEA claims. Finding the right manufacturer for the right product is a key component of the company’s success. It once contracted with ski makers - experts in bent wood - to manufacture its Poang armchairs, and has tapped makers of supermarket carts to turn out durable sofas. Simplicity, a tenet of Scandinavian design, also helps keep costs down. For example, the 50 cents Trofé mug comes only in blue and white - the least expensive pigments.
IKEA’s conservation drive extends naturally from this cost-cutting. Adding to the challenge, the suppliers and designers work to customize some Ikea products to make them sell better in local markets. That said, the global middle class, that IKEA targets, shares buying habits: The $120 Billy bookcase, $13 Lack side table, and $190