IKEA Wedge Dowel Makes Flatpack Easier
IKEA sells an idea, not furniture. Ideas generate innovation and in innovation comes profit. Lot's of it. As recently announced, IKEA are staying true to it's idea of flat pack furniture, but are about to do things a whole lot differently. Famous not for it's furniture designs, but for it's ability to create furniture that packs flat, IKEA has just switched to manufacturing furniture that snaps together in minutes without any requirement of tools.
As a by-product of the idea that IKEA creates flat pack furniture, the typically fiddly operation of assembling their furniture is about to written in the history books forever as the furniture giant introduces it's latest products that snap together much like a jigsaw puzzle than DIY project. Developing a new kind of joint that will serve as universal, the 'Wedge Dowel' will make assembly of it's furniture much quicker, simpler and possible to the less-able. Without any future requirement of screws, bolts, screwdrivers and allen keys, the move will also reap benefits economically and environmentally.
Such a joint is designed to be small and ribbed and will enter into pre-drilled holes, much like their traditional methods. With such development driven by IKEA's observance that some of their customers are often slow in assembling their new products, as well as the universal customer thoughts of frustration when some designs 'don't quite work', Jesper Brodin outlines to Dezeen: "IKEA furniture typically contains quite a lot of fittings. We see some challenges in the time and interest in doing that. So we thought, what happens if we try to take them out totally? We are now into the implementation phase of making it possible for you to click your furniture together."
Comparing the traditional methods with the new method, Brodin explained the benefits in time saving: "I actually put together a table which used to take me 24 minutes to assemble but took me three minutes to click together." said Brodin. Furthermore, have you ever tried to dismantle a traditional IKEA cabinet? The fittings fail, don't they? Not any more. Discover more about the new fixings online at: IKEA.com.
Photography credit : IKEA