How a legend was assembled

Swedish furniture store IKEA's vision "to make a better everyday life for people" looks humble at first glance. Then you realise the scale of their ambition. Improving an individual's quality of life is one thing, but catering to nearly 700 million consumers around the globe is a huge mountain to climb.

But that vision is what keeps the staff of IKEA busy in design laboratories, factories and warehouses all year round. Keeping things simple may be a cornerstone of their "easy-to-assemble" philosophy, but only they know how complicated that can be.

Perhaps the best way to understand the story of IKEA is at its birthplace in Almhult, the small town in the south of Sweden where its founder Ingvar Kamprad started the business over six decades ago. The town was the location of the first IKEA store, launched in 1943, but today Almhult is also home to Tillsammans, the IKEA corporate culture centre.

Co-workers and IKEA partners are encouraged to make a visit to the centre to absorb the culture and learn about the founder's wisdom. The interactive exhibition "Tillsammans Explore" is a one-stop guide to it all, offering visitors a light and witty journey through the IKEA story.

Brainwashing? Maybe, but it's also a quick and effective way to learn about the product and brand, get inspired and understand the direction and vision behind the business.

When IKEA emphasises very low prices as part of that vision, many shoppers assume that the company must be benefiting from mass production and economies of scale to be able to sell at such low profit margins. That's not exactly the whole story - the value actually starts with the corporate culture itself. The key lies in sustainable methods.

At the design stage, the team of designers will receive their brief for a project. For example, for what is known as a BTI (Breathtaking Item), the focus will be on creating a practical and low-cost product. If a project is for one of the design-oriented PS range, such as the PS Maskros pendant lamp, more work will go into the design while retaining the company's focus on function, practically and affordability.

Each year the 900 people in the design department handle about 2,000 projects, and not all of them succeed in making their way into IKEA stores. Some product development is cut short for not providing the right solutions for homes or not being a suitable fit for existing product ranges. Other items become prototypes but fail to pass the test stage in the lab.

"If the product fails our tests, the development will collapse. If it involves suppliers, we tell them that we can't continue the business," says IKEA TestLab deputy manager Anders Jarlsson.

First, designers need to identify what needs to be created. James Futcher, the IKEA product developer who oversees lighting design, says that a lamp designer will have to look into how the product fits into the whole furniture range as well. The PS Maskros lamp is one example: designer Marcus Arvonen had to go through many brainstorming sessions on style, raw material and price. For the best-seller, Maskros proposed using plastic for the structure of the pendant lamp, though he took IKEA's sustainable approach into account. His argument was that the plastic was lightweight and could be put in a flat box. "Plastic had a bad reputation but its potential is huge and we can reuse and recycle it," says Arvonen, whose lamp has become a star in IKEA catalogues, shops and websites around the world.

The flat-box packaging and light weight are highlighted at the "Tillsammans Explore" exhibition as part of the IKEA vision. In one corner, a compact container has a caption that shouts: "We hate air". That philosophy feeds into the brand's affordability, but it's a team effort. A designer must work with stackable packaging in mind, as the distribution and transportation parts of the operation focus on making maximum use of space. The exhibition at Tillsammans puts it simply: "Air is expensive!"

Arvonen and Futcher are never isolated in their work as they belong to a team of experts in materials and other fields. Their designs are also open to consumers' feedback. The lamp initially had a 55cm radius, but when some test-consumers said that it was too big for their homes, a 45cm Maskros lamp was added to the production line. The additional model reflects the company motto that design must be democratic.

A democratic approach means that IKEA can strive for improvement - "Most things remain to be done," founder Ingvar Kamprad famously stated. Supporting that statement is the museum at Tallismmans, where vintage IKEA furniture and artefacts from the 1940s stands alongside the designs of today, revealing to visitors the history and development of IKEA products. The exhibition set in 12 rooms can be viewed as either a thumbnail impression of IKEA, or a valuable lesson in business - or both.

Via a process of trial and error (for example, bulky packaging), the company learnt that breaking a table into parts would make transportation much easier, leading to the idea of today's self-assembly from flat boxes. The way designers and product developers explored new materials and techniques also resulted in price reduction. The museum shows how one table's price has dropped from 128 krona (about Bt640) in 1980 to 49 krona (Bt245) in 2010.

Responsible for overseeing displays at the museum, Juni Wannberg likes to show how living-room designs have changed dramatically since the '40s. She also displays inflated furniture, calling it a brilliant idea that arrived before its time. IKEA launched it as handy, lightweight solutions for homes with limited space, but later had problems with the material's quality. "The idea is still there, and now we've heard of a development of material to be used in outer space that could revive it."

The museum also displays vintage IKEA advertising and catalogues. The annual catalogue production is an industry in itself - 208 million copies in 31 languages will be distributed next year to 42 countries.

Selin Hult is Information Manager of IKEA Communications, whose latest project is the Thai website to be launched on October 2, and apps for the iPhone and Android phones. "We are developing an iPad app too but it hasn't gone global yet," says Hult.

Clueing up shoppers before they even visit the store is its catalogue. Dimension, price, materials and where you can find stuff once you get to the store are all in there. Once through the doors, pick up one of the big blue IKEA bags and browse the "friendly" layout. That shopping should be easy and relaxing is another dictum of Tillsammans.

More difficult is how to avoid impulse purchases. That seems to be the only part of the experience where IKEA won't be rushing to give you a solution.

IKEA THAILAND - WHAT'S IN STORE
<< Grand opening on November 3.
<< Thailand's branch will be the 330th branch of IKEA.
<< Located in the Mega Bangna shopping complex, with 1,300-capacity car park.
<< Website www.ikea.co.th launches October 2.
<< One million IKEA catalogues in Thai/English to be distributed in October.
<< Total store size is 43,000 sqm - the largest in Southeast Asia.
<< More than 7,500 items on the shelves.
<<  Traditional Swedish dishes (look out for the meatballs) and snacks at the 700-seat restaurant.
<< Children's play area, Small Land.
<< 4-5 million visitors expected in first year.