Industrial manufacturers face a period of change and uncertainty. Demand is beginning to slow in many developed markets at a time when the economics of the business are being radically altered by shifts in the cost of inputs.
Emerging markets appear to offer attractive opportunities, however customer needs in those markets are often not well understood, and may not be aligned with the profile of existing offerings. Low-cost competitors are increasingly prevalent, and may play very differently to the traditional competitive set (e.g., more segment or technology niche focused).
Kaiser Associates has enabled our clients to understand and anticipate these changes in sectors including Construction and Materials Handling Equipment, Automotive and Automotive Suppliers, Automation & Drives, Manufacturing Plant, and Specialty Equipment and associated services.
Growth Strategy:
We apply rigorous, external insight to enable our clients to drive growth within both existing and emerging markets. Kaiser’s areas of expertise include:
- Quantifying relative attractiveness of different growth opportunities
- Developing compelling value propositions vs. existing and emerging competition
- Customer segmentation and purchase criteria analysis
- M&A support – target identification, screening and due diligence
Route-To-Market:
Selection of channel is critical to maintain and grow customer base. Increasingly, service-quality is a differentiator as product quality becomes commoditized. Key issues addressed by Kaiser include:
- Channel strategy: Owned dealer vs. distributors vs. direct sales, etc.
- Dealer analysis – capability and footprint; strengths of existing network vs. alternate options
Competitor Analysis:
Competitor landscapes are changing rapidly as new competitors emerge and re-set customer expectations of Price / Quality trade-offs. Gaining detailed insights into goals and capabilities of these competitors is essential to build robust strategies.
- War gaming: short-, mid- and long-term goals and strategic direction
- Understanding resources and capabilities (global, regional, local)
- Documenting relative economics and cost position throughout the value chain