1)
What were some of the issues that were faced by that organization?
Ikea is one of the top companies focusing on selling furniture, although other companies compete with
them, Ikea still dominates the market. The main issue they face is keeping up with the technological
advances that consumers push for example switching most physical platforms like brick and mortar stores
to online like having the ability to shop online. Another is Inventory management, because Ikea primarily
sells furniture they have to ensure they have the right amount of inventory to ensure sales are being made.
Lastly is supply chain challenges that Ikea could face. This includes things like transportation issues,
natural disasters that can potentially impact their materials.
2)
What technologies were implemented?
One technology implemented the feature of digitalized furniture, which is the usage of a customer's
camera and displays any furniture sold in Ikea to be viewed in front of them in real time. The second
Another is the use of drones and its impact on inventory management. Lastly is the use of AI and search
machines including its role in collecting data from different channels to estimate numbers in stock and
human movement.
3)
How did these technologies resolve the issue
The addition towards digitizing furniture allowed Ikea to keep up with the technological advancements
that society demands. What Ikea made was created as a feature in the Ikea app that allows customers to
virtually view furniture wherever and whenever they want with ease. The use of AI and search machines
allowed Ikea to understand what type of items/products their customers are purchasing, for example an AI
would keep track of the different products using historical and present data, and what products are
searched for in the Ikea app in order to determine what goods have higher demands than others using
allowing Ikea to improve their overall supply chain efficiency. Drones have also been used for smaller
furniture delivery allowing customers to receive items quicker and lower the costs of deliveries thus
improving inventory management with its quick response to customer purchases.
4)
Were they successful? What remains to be done
All the technologies Ikea included to help better themselves as a company were efficient as the addition
towards virtual furniture and AI allowed the company to meet customer demands and innovate towards
societal needs thus allowing them to stay ahead of their competition and ultimately dominate the furniture
selling market. I feel as though something that definitely needs to be improved is the use of drones, yes I
think it’s a great way to achieve the fastest and cost effective delivery but at the same time depending on
different climates and geographical locations like colder weather and locations with more cities making it
harder for drones to travel thus having a higher risk of potentially losing or damaging the product being
delivered.
