IKEA: why I wish I had studied INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
1

<p>my best friend once said that IKEA is “like a drug to me” and she is right. I am fascinated by their ability to reverse engineer a needed product…typically, they give the designer a product and a price point, say a futon for $89 US. The designer must:</p>

<p>Be of a suitable lightweight material,</p>

<p>Flat pack</p>

<p>Be assembled in ONLY ONE WAY so that errors can not be made,</p>

<p>Have instructions that are GRAPHIC ONLY, so that they do not need words in the 80+++ languages to which IKEA sells,</p>

<p>And have that Essence of IKEA many of us find so irresistible…</p>

<p>How cool would THAT assignment be?</p>

<p>And now, I see THIS! I love IKEA</p>

<p>[IKEA</a> develops flat pack REFUGEE CAMPS designed to replace tented cities in disaster zones | Mail Online](<a href=“http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2349480/IKEA-develops-flat-pack-REFUGEE-CAMPS-designed-replace-tented-cities-disaster-zones.html]IKEA”>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2349480/IKEA-develops-flat-pack-REFUGEE-CAMPS-designed-replace-tented-cities-disaster-zones.html)</p>

2

<p>I love socially responsible companies. And their smart, reverse-engineering process is appealing, too.</p>

3

<p>I think you mean Industrial Design, TXA . My DH is an IE (GT alumn - best program in the country for it - just a shout out) and his work is nothing like what you describe.</p>