With over 300 stores in 40 countries, IKEA is a major international presence in retail housewares and furnishings. IKEA publishes country-specific catalogues with local currency prices guaranteed to hold for 1 year. • IKEA is a multinational retailer of furniture and home goods. Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA, was born in 1926 in southern Sweden. IKEA has now become known worldwide for its innovative and stylish designs. • Almost all IKEA products are designed to for flat packaging, which reduces shipping costs, minimizes transport damage, increases store inventory capacity, and makes it easier for customers to take the furniture home themselves, rather than needing delivery. • But the original reason for it was competitive pressure from IKEAs competitors to their suppliers, who boycotted IKEA, forcing IKEA to do it themselves • Slack et al., (2011) define the 4 V’s that characterize operations as: volume, variety, variability, and visibility

With over 300 stores in 40 countries, IKEA is a major international presence in retail housewares and furnishings. IKEA publishes country-specific catalogues with local currency prices guaranteed to hold for 1 year. • IKEA is a multinational retailer of furniture and home goods. Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA, was born in 1926 in southern Sweden. IKEA has now become known worldwide for its innovative and stylish designs. • Almost all IKEA products are designed to for flat packaging, which reduces shipping costs, minimizes transport damage, increases store inventory capacity, and makes it easier for customers to take the furniture home themselves, rather than needing delivery. • But the original reason for it was competitive pressure from IKEAs competitors to their suppliers, who boycotted IKEA, forcing IKEA to do it themselves • Slack et al., (2011) define the 4 V’s that characterize operations as: volume, variety, variability, and visibility