IKEA is launching flat-pack furniture that clicks together ‘like a jigsaw puzzle’
The fiddly ritual of assembling IKEA products is set to become a thing of the past
IKEA is launching products that snap together "like a jigsaw puzzle" for easier and quicker assembly.
Designers at the Scandinavian company have developed a new type of joint, called a wedge dowel, that makes it simpler to assemble wooden products.
The small ribbed protrusion will come ready installed in flat-packed furniture panels and slots into pre-drilled holes in compatible panels.
It means that people can do away with screw drivers and allen keys, which are normally required to assemble the company's furniture.
IKEA says the introduction of the range was fuelled by its customer's dislike of putting together IKEA products, reports design magazine .
The new range will also save resources because they don't need dozens of metal fittings.
Jesper Brodin, IKEA's range and supply manager, said: "IKEA furniture typically contains quite a lot of fittings. We see some challenges in the time and interest in doing that.
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"So we wondered what would happen if we took them out totally. We are now into the implementation phase of making it possible for you to click your furniture together."
IKEA first tested the wedge dowel system five years ago in a range of cupboards, and now intends to roll out it out across its entire furniture range, starting with the wooden Lisabo table, which is now on sale.
Brodin said: "I tried it myself and actually put together a table which used to take me 24 minutes to assemble but instead took me three minutes to click together.
The wedge dowel requires no glue and can be taken apart and reassembled many times without damaging its structure - meaning the furniture will last longer.
Brodin added: "People move a lot more now. There are more divorces so now if you get kicked out of your house in the morning you can reassemble your table in the afternoon.
"It is also better in build quality terms - if you dissemble it and assemble some of the current furniture again it might lose some of the strength of the fittings."
The company will continue selling products that have to be screwed together.
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