IKEA asked the right questions
How the furniture giant’s frustration led to the invention of the ROS rack repair system
Global furniture giant IKEA were facing high annual costs for replacing damaged racking uprights at their Dutch distribution centre near Oosterhout. They asked Hans Slavenburg, an independent structural engineer, if an alternative to replacing the damaged uprights could be found. After more than two years of investigation and research, Hans developed a unique hydraulic repair process.
The ROS Rack Repair System was born.
After the successful repair of more than 5000 uprights for IKEA in Holland alone, ROS, with the permission of IKEA, patented and then offered the system to the market. Since 2005, the ROS Rack Repair System has been used throughout Europe and North America and is currently completing almost 150,000 repairs annually. ROS is now Europe’s largest racking repair organisation and one of the biggest in the world.