Summary of article: Not following the assembly manual’s instruction to assemble the unit on its side may compromise its structural stability.
Whether you've bought a dresser, TV stand, or other article of furniture, a glance through the instructions will likely show the unit assembled on its side. Until parts are all properly attached, there may be some unwanted wiggle room and the weight of the board can cause it to lean slightly. This can lead to all sorts of issues and can lessen the performance of the item: doors and drawers may not work properly, weight capacities will be reduced, and other parts might not attach as readily. It may even cause the unit to fall apart during assembly, resulting in unnecessary frustration and damage to the parts. In the below photo, a TV stand is improperly being assembled upright: the side panel is only attached by two cam bolts at the base, and does not properly line up with the top panel. To the assembler, this may appear as though the holes are miss-drilled, but the real culprit is the orientation of the unit.
If you working on a rough, hard surface and are concerned about scratches, please give your furniture the red carpet treatment or red blanket treatment, rather- and lay something down to cushion the area. The box can also be used as a layer of protection.
Some common models affected by this include1819196COM, 1819096COM, 1819884COM, 1819412COM, 1819407COM.