We're in the process of converting one of the spare bedrooms into a real office at the moment. The first stop was to Ikea (after the painter finished, and after we moved the bed into the other room). I'm no huge fan of Ikea, especially with their heavy dependence on particle board, but it's one of the best things going for modular furnishings.
We started with a 2-piece desk and some office shelving. I must say that this trip cost me more than I wanted to spend, but half what I was expecting to spend. Their office furnishing line is a little more expensive and a lot better engineered than many of their other systems. And it is money well spent. I have much more confidence that these pieces will survive a move than some of the starter home furnishings I remember from high school and college.
As I was putting the shelves and the desk together, I kept wondering why this idea needed to be imported from Sweden. From all appearances, it should have MIT written all over it. The logistics of managing suppliers and inventories internationally is an interesting problem I'd expect someone from Sloan to be thinking about -- especially when you add the wrinkle of managing a stock of interchangeable parts, not discrete units. Assembly of the more expensive systems is a breeze, at least for those of us who grew up with Legos. :-) Engineering integrated modular systems is a standard mechanical engineering problem -- what fasteners work best, where to pre-drill the holes, where to put the supports, what to parts to prepare, etc.
Of course, from that perspective, it is perfectly reasonable to focus so heavily on engineered wood products (er, particle board) because they are cheaper to work with and get up to tolerances. But there is something fundementally unfufilling about the combination of modular furnishings with particle board. What if they were pre-milled finished oak components, with the same pre-drilled holes and interchangeable hardware (legs, shelf supports, etc.)? And, what if the basic hardware were standardized in a manner that allowed designers to extend the basic product line yet still maintain the modular nature?
Perhaps there's an idea here, but there might not be a market for it. I imagine that the woods would cost 5-10x the price of the composites (especially the larger pieces). Interesting nut to crack, though. :-)
