IKEA, the world’s largest furniture manufacturer, has said it has started manufacturing protective gear such as aprons and masks for hospitals fighting the emerging epidemic of the Coronavirus virus and hopes to increase production of these tools.
Henryk Elm, director of global purchases at the company, which owns the company and responsible for the supply, Ikea Inter, told Reuters that the demand for office furniture is very coherent with the shift of many to work from home due to the outbreak of the Corona virus.
He stated that the supply chains are increasing due to the outbreak in Europe and the United States, and that work stoppages and border closures are causing bottlenecks.
But he added in an interview that Ikea is prepared and managed to mitigate these barriers relatively well and has succeeded in doing so for reasons including the distribution of its stockpiles of products to stores in different regions.
He said he did not expect any shortages of wood or any other raw materials. But what is of concern is finding storage places for goods to be transported to markets where IKEA has closed many of its stores.
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