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Manufacturing Case StudiesGlobal Insight's team of consultants has worked with manufacturing companies around the world, helping them to solve real business planning problems. Some of our recent projects include:Marketing Sizing and SegmentationFinding a Better Strategic PlanA paper products firm needed a tool to evaluate U.S. market potential for their commercial tissue business unit by state, metropolitan statistical area, and client-specific business district. There is no market data available to provide this type of granularity. The client understood that developing estimates would be required, but did not know where to start. [Click here for solution] Developing More Accurate Market-Size Estimates A machinery components firm needed a more rigorous estimate of its global market size for planning and investor relations purposes. Segmentation by product department and world region was critical. At both a corporate and department level, there was a surprisingly wide degree of differences in various internal estimates. [Click here for solution] Market Potential and Entry ResearchAssessing International Growth OpportunitiesA semi-durable products firm sought to better understand international market opportunities over a 10-15-year horizon. They wanted an empirical, comprehensive, and forward-looking perspective on countries that would offer the greatest return on their overseas investment. But, they met with disparate data sources and unreliable forecasts, and had no clear methodology in place to assess markets for growth potential. [Click here for solution] Winning the Advantage in New Global Markets A semi-durable products firm concluded a global market assessment and selected China as their greatest investment opportunity. They required a "deep dive" understanding of the market from multiple angles before determining an entry strategy. Some of the firm's competitors were already selling in China, while others had tried unsuccessfully to penetrate the country. [Click here for solution] Including Socioeconomic Drivers in Strategic Planning A major manufacturer of motorcycles traditionally based its strategic planning and budget processes on expected consumer preferences, as well as on technology developments and competitor behavior. Management realized that other drivers impact the demand for motorbikes, and that it needed to measure that impact. Demographic, sociological, and economic drivers needed to be analyzed. [Click here for solution] Sales Modeling and ForecastingDistribution and Goal SettingA rotary screw air compressor firm needed a standardized, unbiased look at its product sales by geography and distribution channel. They also wanted to establish realistic sales goals with distributors, based on the forecasted geographic market potential. [Click here for solution] What Is the Right Benchmark? A building products manufacturer successfully ran a sales forecasting process for many years, but the model's performance deteriorated significantly in the early 2000s. For years, housing starts had been considered the key performance benchmark for the company, but now, even though housing had been growing strongly, their own business had not. [Click here for solution] How to Set Fair Targets in a Multi-Divisional Organization? Setting annual targets across a building products manufacturer's divisions and geographic market units was a time-consuming and contentious process. Similarly, it was difficult for management to properly evaluate performance relative to plan throughout the year. Management found it challenging to get a clear and consistent set of assumptions about what was driving their product/geographic businesses. How much lift or drag was coming from the economy and customer end-markets? To what degree were recent acquisitions playing a role in expansion? What effects were their own pricing, promotion, and distribution tactics having on their sales? [Click here for solution] Building More Accurate Forecasts A manufacturer of standard and engineered electrical distribution equipment had a long and contentious sales forecasting process. It relied on feedback from the sales managers and key distributors, and it was a time-consuming process to generate a forecast that both sales and senior management were happy with. In addition, they were concerned about the accuracy of the forecasts being produce. Over the last two years, their corporate parent had expressed dissatisfaction with their track record. A key challenge was dealing with the need to forecast at the segment level. Some segments were a lot easier to predict than others. [Click here for solution] A Changing Distribution Landscape A semi-durable products firm had been facing decreased distribution of its key products at one of its largest retailer customers. The retailer was planning to decrease space allocation to the category as a whole, possibly even eliminating the category entirely. The client wanted an objective assessment of the consumer and retail marketplace to better understand the viability of their products, as well as an estimate of volume loss if the retailer were to discontinue the category. [Click here for solution] Market Forecasting with Confidence A battery manufacturer sought help in developing a U.S. battery market forecasting model to be used in long-range strategic planning and new product development. The company wanted a simulation tool in which staff could clearly incorporate their insights regarding long-term trends for battery-using devices, while acknowledging short-term fluctuations due to economic factors and electricity outages. [Click here for solution] Sales Forecasts Built on Quantifiable Driver Impacts An appliance manufacturer needed an enhanced understanding of the factors driving white goods sales across markets. Furthermore, the company needed to use this understanding of the driving factors to generate reliable forecasts of white goods sales, segmented by product categories for use in its annual planning process. [Click here for solution] Modeling Macro and Product Sales The market planning division of a motor vehicle manufacturing company wanted a simulation tool to respond to a number of "what if" questions from management. The questions stemmed from uncertainties about economic growth, consumer spending and confidence, business and consumer investment decisions, unemployment, oil prices, exchange rates, and monetary and fiscal policies. The client wanted to be able to access the outlook for motor vehicle sales by vehicle super-segments (luxury cars, midsize cars, subcompact cars, pickups, SUVs, and vans), 20 segments within the super-segments, and more than 10-15 sub-segments under a range of economic conditions. [Click here for solution] Monthly Production Planning A manufacturer of industrial manufacturing process machinery and components undertook a Six Sigma analysis of its monthly production planning forecasts. They found that the forecast track record was missing the CFO's performance benchmarks. They relied on a monthly survey of r egional sales managers to produce a bottom-up forecast. As a result of their analysis, they felt they could improve their accuracy by integrating more information about external market drivers. [Click here for solution] Return to Manufacturing Home Page |
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