A word to describe a company which other companies measure themselves by

You can use the expression flagship company:

The flagship of a group of things that are owned or produced by a particular organization is the most important one.

(Collins Dictionary)

Ikea, furniture manufacturer and a flagship in retail...

Usage examples:

From Corporate Branding: Areas, arenas and approaches (2015):

As Pierre Godé wrote in a submission on behalf of LVMG to the European Commission, the corporation recognizes itself as a flagship of the European LVMH ..

From: Doing Business With China: Avoiding the Pitfalls 2012:

Alibaba's core businesses included: Alibaba.com, the-group's flagship company and the world's leading B2B ecommercecompany...

Such a company has become a point of reference or criterion for the other companies.

point of reference: a fact forming the basis of an evaluation or assessment; criterion (Collins)

For example you can say:

Over the years the company has become a point of reference among manufacturers of lightweight plastic products signed “Made in Italy” and a symbol of innovation and attention to the environment. (source)

However, I think that the word that really fits the bill is hallmark:

A benchmark against which others of the same type are compared (WordHippo)

e.g.

MAC has become a hallmark in today's makeup world. (source)

Considering you're describing the number of mistakes they make, which most people would consider to be a negative quality, perhaps a term like low bar would be appropriate?

To establish an expected, required, or desired (but ultimately constrictive) standard of quality. (source)

i.e.: You don't want to make as many mistakes as IKEA does, so as long as you're doing better than they are, as long as you "meet the low bar", you're doing alright.

An alternative to benchmark is yardstick.

That has the figurative meaning:

A standard to which other measurements or comparisons are judged.

[Wiktionary]

In addition to the other suggestions, paradigm may be one word to use.

1. One that serves as a pattern or model.

Paragon could work here:

a model of excellence or perfection

This choice would draw a sharp contrast between their success vs. "the most mistakes".

Gold standard is an idiomatic phrase that means essentially what you are looking for here.

Ikea, furniture manufacturer and the "gold standard" in retail, has…

If someone/something is the "gold standard", then they are the leader to which everyone/everything is compared.

It is an obvious reference to the classical monetary system, which uses a fixed quantity of gold as the standard economic unit. All money is ultimately compared against gold, which serves as the standard.

I believe that is probably the closest to the original meaning, even though it is a phrase instead of a single word.

If you absolutely must have a single word, the other answers are acceptable, but I would recommend simply leader.

Exemplar

: one that serves as a model or example: such as

  a: an ideal model

[Mirriam-Webster]

Although used primary in manufacturing the term "World Class" could be used.

World Class Manufacturing (WCM)

World class manufacturing is the philosophy of being the best, the fastest, and the lowest cost producer of a product or service. It implies the constant improvement of products, process and service to remain an industry leader and provide the best choice for customers, regardless of where they are in the process.

Pivot? Landmark? I think these two fit context pretty well.

I guess word you are looking for doesn't have to (even has not to) carry a flavor of something bad/negative. Quite the opposite: phrase is build on contrast, kinda as though many companies look up to ikea as a leader/role model, it has its flaws: makes mistakes. Btw, you can even drop the noun and just say: ikea, the manufacturer, industry looks up to, *has* already been called....

What was the original word? How is it translated literally?

Bellweather works.

: one that takes the lead or initiative : LEADER

also : an indicator of trends

Thus you could have:

Ikea, furniture manufacturer and a bellweather in retail, ...