A number of well-placed industry sources had previously told ProPrint that the 3.75 million run of the high-profile 376pp catalogue had disappeared.
Ikea PR manager Jude Leon told ProPrint: “At no point did the order go missing, however, there were some unexpected delays in the process.”
“Due to the delays, there were 600,050 catalogues flown in to keep to the distribution deadlines.”
Leon added that the error led to a “two- to three-week delay from the planned distribution date”.
The order was printed in India by a German-owned company. Ikea said that it was the first time it had sourced its Australian catalogue production from India, but not the first time it had used offshore suppliers, having previously sourced the work from German and Italian printers.
One industry source, who places work overseas, said the Ikea case pointed to the risks of printing in low-cost markets like India.
He said in these kind of cases, his company would have to send someone overseas to “sit on the end of the press” and make sure print runs went without a hitch.
Ikea’s Leon also defended the company’s use of offshore suppliers, claiming Australia doesn’t have the capacity or infrastructure to handle the massive order.
“The decision to print the catalogue offshore was not solely based on price. Due to the relatively small market in Australia, there are limited print sites that offer offset printing for the capacity we require. Offset machines run at a slower pace and, therefore, are not as suitable for large productions such as the Ikea catalogue.
“Our preference is to use a gravure print process. The print sites in Europe and India can handle a larger quantity of catalogues in a much tighter time frame and the quality of the end product (on a lighter weight paper) is superior to what is offered via an offset print site. The cost of the catalogue is lower on these presses because of the speed that they are printed.
“If there was a gravure solution based in Australia, we would certainly consider printing locally,” he added.
The company added that the catalogue is a “major component” of its marketing, and “plays a critical role in driving visitation and sales”.
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