Developing a 'feact-based' marketing plan: this article provides a framework for preparing a "grounded in the facts" strategy to mobilize your foundry toward new action on the marketing front. (The market-driven foundry - Part II).Most foundries equate e·quate v. e·quat·ed, e·quat·ing, e·quates v.tr. 1. To make equal or equivalent. 2. To reduce to a standard or an average; equalize. 3. marketing to sales. In fact, 20 or 30 years ago, marketing and sales were thought to be interchangeable in·ter·change·a·ble adj. That can be interchanged: interchangeable items of clothing; interchangeable automotive parts. in concepts. In many cases, the casting marketer was a full-time full-time adj. Employed for or involving a standard number of hours of working time: a full-time administrative assistant. full salesperson who handled tactical functions such as advertising, establishing prices and conducting customer surveys--whenever time allowed. Today, marketing is defined in much broader and "strategic" terms. Marketing defines a product/market strategy and supports the sales function in achieving that strategy. The job description of today's casting marketer includes conducting ongoing market and environmental analyses, assessing customers' needs, monitoring industry trends and benchmarking the firm against the competitive landscape. Most of these things "These Things" is an EP by She Wants Revenge, released in 2005 by Perfect Kiss, a subsidiary of Geffen Records. Music Video The music video stars Shirley Manson, lead singer of the band Garbage. Track Listing 1. "These Things [Radio Edit]" - 3:17 2. appear to be common sense, and foundries do them intuitively to some degree. But, to effectively grow and sustain your casting business, you need to develop a marketing "plan." This plan needs to be based on facts, not only intuitions or past experiences. Following is a framework to help you build a "fact-based" marketing strategy. Fact-Based Marketing? Fact-based marketing is all about doing the upfront homework to help define the market you are in and your position within that market. Once you have built a detailed fact base, you can analyze it and determine where to focus for the greatest return for your efforts. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , the facts lead you to the target markets or customers that best match your capabilities. From there, you can develop an "attack plan" that will differentiate you from the pack. The sections that follow offer some suggestions for getting to the facts. You and your team should gather all the information you can and, at each stage of the process, look for the "flags" (good or bad things) that could affect your business. Keep in mind that gathering information doesn't does·n't Contraction of does not. accomplish anything by itself. You must be prepared to synthesize To create a whole or complete unit from parts or components. See synthesis. and make sense of the information to clearly put it into some sort of action. Trends & Opportunities Imagine you're you're Contraction of you are. you're you are you're be at 50,000 feet elevation elevation, vertical distance from a datum plane, usually mean sea level to a point above the earth. Often used synonymously with altitude, elevation is the height on the earth's surface and altitude, the height in space above the surface. , looking down on your foundry A semiconductor manufacturer that makes chips for third parties. It may be a large chip maker that sells its excess manufacturing capacity or one that makes chips exclusively for other companies. and the world around it. There are numerous, ongoing drivers and dynamics in both the foundry and casting end-use industries that deserve your attention, For example, some of the questions (among others) worth looking at include: Regulations--What do the maximum achievable control technology proposals mean to your ability to cost-effectively produce castings? What production changes would be required and what impact on product costs/sales price will they have? On the market level, how might things such as fuel economy requirements change the makeup makeup In the performing arts, material used by actors for cosmetic purposes and to help create the characters they play. Not needed in Greek and Roman theatre because of the use of masks, makeup was used in the religious plays of medieval Europe, in which the angels' faces of castings and other components? Economic Climate--How will it affect the industries that you serve? How will it affect the end-use segments, such as automotive sales, construction, the rail industry, etc.? Which segments seem to be growing, and are there any opportunities there? Imported Castings--Are there certain types of castings or foundries more successful in penetrating penetrating breaching the tissues of the body. U.S. markets? Are foreign sources adequately meeting quality and performance requirements? At what point are imports expected to level off? Supply Base Changes--Are there trends within your supply base (changes in raw material pricing, availability of supply, etc.) that could impact your ability to be competitive? These are questions that every foundry should continually con·tin·u·al adj. 1. Recurring regularly or frequently: the continual need to pay the mortgage. 2. ask itself. Such questions will help highlight both opportunities and threats that can emerge from a changing industry. As you'll you'll Contraction of you will. you'll you will or you shall you'll will see, this will be very important later in the strategy-building process. Casting Market Next is a "closer-to-the ground" analysis of the casting industry of today. A good place to start is with the metals you pour. You'll want to consider where this metal falls in the entire casting total. As an example, Stratecasts reports that cast aluminum represents about 31% of total casting sales, followed by ductile Iron Ductile iron, also called ductile cast iron or nodular cast iron, is a type of cast iron invented in 1943 by Keith Millis[1]. While most varieties of cast iron are brittle, ductile iron is much more ductile, as the name implies. (17%), gray iron (16%), steel (11%) and copper-base (4%). Thinking in terms of shipments and/or and/or conj. Used to indicate that either or both of the items connected by it are involved. Usage Note: And/or is widely used in legal and business writing. sales, then examine the five-year outlook for casting shipments within your main metal. Next, you'll want to examine your individual segments. What does outlook appear to be within each or your key market segments? How many competitors are currently serving it? Based on the larger demand trend, how likely is it that other foundries may concentrate their efforts with this segment? Customer Segment Analysis Next is where the rubber meets the road: the customers. The activity of segmenting your current customers is all about understanding what they "look like." This is the first step toward understanding what they need. There are many different ways to slice and dice Refers to rearranging data so that it can be viewed from different perspectives. The term is typically used with OLAP databases that present information to the user in the form of multidimensional cubes similar to a 3D spreadsheet. See OLAP. your customers and their respective markets to provide a meaningful view of your customer base. Segmenting customers in many different ways is recommended in order to reveal the commonalties that may exist. A good way to do this is to "bin" each of your customers by a set of numerous criteria, both internally (as they relate to your firm) and externally. Ways to "bin" customers include: * current sales (total volume they buy today and respective profit margin); * end-use industry; * size (by their revenues or employees); * structure (OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and , Tier-1, machine shop, single- or multi-plant, etc.); * geography. The interesting thing about this approach is that it allows you to compare your customer base to all potential customers in identifying growth opportunities. Once the customer segments are understood, a closer look at the customers themselves can be taken. An important piece of the market puzzle “Puzzle solving” redirects here. For the concept in Thomas Kuhn's philosophy of science, see normal science. A puzzle is a problem or enigma that challenges ingenuity. is understanding just how big the market potential is in a segment. As an example, let's say a foundry undergoes this exercise and finds that customers in a market segment (which the foundry is currently serving to only a limited degree) score high on a number of different criterion, including profit margin. This "flags" this market for greater examination. Next the foundry would want to evaluate the overall casting demand prospects within this market and conduct an industry classification (such as NAICS NAICS North American Industry Classification System codes) search to see how many buyers are in that market. As mentioned above, the point is to gather enough data to make informed decisions. If you find a common thread (employee size, for instance) among the most consistently profitable customers, you can make an assumption that this type of customer profile is one that you should aim to duplicate DUPLICATE. The double of anything. 2. It is usually applied to agreements, letters, receipts, and the like, when two originals are made of either of them. Each copy has the same effect. . When you find a group that is not profitable for your foundry, that too is a flag. It's all a matter of resources and the decisions of what to put on your mold mold, name for certain multicellular organisms of the various classes of the kingdom Fungi, characteristically having bodies composed of a cottony mycelium. The colors of molds are caused by the spores, which are borne on the mycelium. lines. You want to ensure that the right choices are being made. Competitors Understanding the competitive forces in your market is important. The more you know about them, the easier it becomes to develop a differentiating strategy. When you talk about your position in a particular segment or segments, you'll need to objectively compare yourself to the competitors calling on that same buyer. It is impossible to determine a true strength (competitive advantage) without assessing the entire supply landscape. The type of things that you'll want to try to understand is: * What are their unique strengths? * What are their weaknesses? * What is their respective portion of a segments business? * What other markets do they serve? * What is their pricing strategy? * Which of your customers do they also touch? Which ones don't they touch? * What is their unique selling proposition The Unique Selling Proposition (also Unique Selling Point) is the marketing concept that was first proposed as a theory to explain a pattern among successful advertising campaigns of the early 1940s. ? * What is their sales structure? Many firms are adept at building a short profile of their competitors. If you're looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. it, much of this market intelligence can be gained during sales visits, websites, articles and simple networking through associations and other venues. (See 'Getting Your Hands on the Information.") Some companies are more sophisticated in this realm, with an update on competitor activities required with every salesperson's call report. This information can then be examined by the marketing manager and assembled as·sem·ble v. as·sem·bled, as·sem·bling, as·sem·bles v.tr. 1. To bring or call together into a group or whole: assembled the jury. 2. into "living profiles" of each competitor. Strengths & Weaknesses Now that the "lay of the land" has been assessed, and you've collected a good deal of "fact-based" information about yourself, your competitors and potential opportunities, it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to take a good hard look at all these things. Figure 1 is an example of a basic template (1) A pre-designed document or data file formatted for common purposes such as a fax, invoice or business letter. If the document contains an automated process, such as a word processing macro or spreadsheet formula, then the programming is already written and embedded in the assessment tool to consider in determining competitive positioning. This exercise requires you to determine your actual place in the market on numerous factors. It's important to be honest and go through each section with the rule that your evaluation must be "relative to competitors." For instance, if your service quality is really no different than your competitors in a given market, then "Neutral" is the appropriate choice. A "Major Strength" must be a major competitive advantage. At the far right, you'll see areas in which to gauge the importance of each factor to the customer. This is important, as a minor weakness that is of little importance to the customer is not worth spending your time and energy on. A weakness that is of high importance to the customer, however, is worth careful scrutiny. There are a number of ways to use this type of information. You can evaluate your strengths and weaknesses on a broad level as well as in individual markets, and can do the same for each of your competitors. This exercise moves you toward arriving at your firm's core (or key) capabilities, or the true strength of your business. By definition, your core strengths are the areas which you possess strong capabilities and, as a result, traditionally attained at·tain v. at·tained, at·tain·ing, at·tains v.tr. 1. To gain as an objective; achieve: attain a diploma by hard work. 2. success. For example, a foundry's long tradition of tooling expertise may have resulted in a unique capability in intricate coremaking ability for complex castings. Looking at the total portfolio may show that this complex casting work has represented the greatest profit margin over the years. That being the case, this represents a core strength that should be leveraged by the foundry. Getting to your core strength is an important "truth" that should be obtained in any marketing strategy, as you'll want to focus on activities and efforts that are within or "near" your identified core strength. It also highlights the weaknesses. In the case of your target markets, these "gaps" should be addressed as part of the "strategy." The SWOT Analysis SWOT Analysis A tool that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization. Through this entire process, your strengths and weaknesses should become increasingly apparent to you. Charting this knowledge in a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis is a useful to summarize sum·ma·rize intr. & tr.v. sum·ma·rized, sum·ma·riz·ing, sum·ma·riz·es To make a summary or make a summary of. sum your ability to compete in a market and meet its challenges. It can be used equally effectively to assess your closest competitors. At any rate, the SWOT is powerful at the strategy stage when analyzing strengths and weaknesses in combination with an assessment of market opportunities and threats. Once all the opportunities in your marketplace have been laid out, an "opportunity matrix" can be drawn up by using attractiveness and probability of success as the critical criteria. Any opportunity that is attractive (in terms of growth potential, market/segment size, trends, etc.) and has a high probability of success, automatically is a 'high opportunity." Once all these "facts" are laid Out Ofl the table, it's much easier to figure out the potential market strategies. Figure 2 shows a sample analysis of a foundry's SWOT for a given market. Talkin' Strategy Now that you've reviewed the facts and evaluated your competitive position in all key market areas, you're ready to develop a marketing strategy. This is where you match your strengths to an attractive market opportunity and narrow your sights on the strategies and paths to take next. Strategy and action items are often confused. A strategy is a higher-level direction or objective, while the action item is the specific task taken to reach that objective. For example, a foundry could state a strategy of becoming the low-cost producer in a given segment. The action item would detail precisely those steps that can make this strategy a reality. Many possible strategies will typically emerge from the SWOT analysis. The list first needs to be prioritized in terms of what is compatible with the core strengths of the foundry. Then, determine where the foundry will see the greatest return for its effort over both the short- and long-term Long-term Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year. long-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. . The foundry should arrive at a short list of strategies, as having too many dilutes them all. The SWOT example in Fig. 2 depicts a foundry with strengths in molding capability and labor costs, both considered to be competitive advantages in the subject market segment. A strategy might be to gain another 10% in business from this sector over the next year. Because sales and marketing seems to be a weakness and a "gap," one action item would be to strengthen the sales channel by hiring a salesperson with expertise calling on customers in this market. Other action items might be to join the segment's association and advertise in its trade publication (name recognition weakness) and offer design assistance (design services opportunity). All of these things should be laid out on a timeline
Timeline may refer to:
The Marketing Plan The results of your efforts should be integrated into a detailed plan for your foundry's management team. Seeing your fact-based approach will help others evaluate the assumptions of the plan and your recommendations for future action. Presenting a detailed fact-based plan provides a greater sense of confidence and more easily justifies changes in strategy. Market plans vary widely, and firms will have their own ideas of what should be included. As a start, here are the basic things any plan should include: * Executive Summary * Business Background / Financial History * Market Analysis (External Focus) --Trends & Opportunities --Market Size, Growth & Share Position --Customer Segment Analysis --Competitor Analysis * Capability Analysis (Internal Focus) --Strengths & Weaknesses --Gap Analysis * Strategy --Short-Term --Long-Term * Action Plan --Critical Action Items + Deliverables --Timeline --Resource Requirements (staffing, additional dollars needed, etc.) * Profit & Loss Evaluation (sales forecast Sales forecast A key input to a firm's financial planning process. External sales forecasts are based on historical experience, statistical analysis, and consideration of various macroeconomic factors. , expense forecast, etc.) Obviously, the business environment never stays constant. Therefore, the strategy should be reviewed on a constant basis and revised whenever necessary. For More Information "Executive Memorandum: "Hone hone, v to sharpen. Your Strategic Planning Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. Skills!," Ruben Bake, MODERN CASTING, October 2002, p. 37-40. An online version can be viewed through the MODERN CASTING index (found under "Archives") at www.moderncasting.com AFS A distributed file system for large, widely dispersed Unix and Windows networks from Transarc Corporation, now part of IBM. It is noted for its ease of administration and expandability and stems from Carnegie-Mellon's Andrew File System. AFS - Andrew File System 2003 Metalcasting Forecast & Trends, Compiled by Stratecasts, inc. for APS.
Fig 1
Pictured is a sample assessment tool for determining your competitive
position. This type of form should be completed "relative to your
competitors" to help you objectively understand where a true competitive
advantage may exist for your firm.
Performance
Major Minor Neutral Minor
Strength Strength Weakness
Marketing
1. Company Reputation X
2. Market Share X
3. Product Quality/Performance X
4. Service Quality X
5. Pricing Effectiveness
6. Distribution Effectiveness
7. Promotion Effectiveness
8. Sales Force Effectiveness
9. Innovation Effectiveness
10. Geographic Coverage
Finance
11. Cost/Capital Availability
12. Cash Flow
13. Financial Stability
Manufacturing / Distribution
14. Facilities
15. Economies of Scale
16. Capacity
17. Able Workforce
18. Technical Support Skills
19. Ability to Produce Ontime
20. Manufacturing Skills
Organization
21. Visionary Leadership
22. Dedicated Employees
23. Entrepreneurial
24. Flexible / Responsivive
Performanc Im-portance
e
Major High Med. Low
Weakness
Marketing
1. Company Reputation X
2. Market Share X
3. Product Quality/Performance X
4. Service Quality X
5. Pricing Effectiveness
6. Distribution Effectiveness
7. Promotion Effectiveness
8. Sales Force Effectiveness
9. Innovation Effectiveness
10. Geographic Coverage
Finance
11. Cost/Capital Availability
12. Cash Flow
13. Financial Stability
Manufacturing / Distribution
14. Facilities
15. Economies of Scale
16. Capacity
17. Able Workforce
18. Technical Support Skills
19. Ability to Produce Ontime
20. Manufacturing Skills
Organization
21. Visionary Leadership
22. Dedicated Employees
23. Entrepreneurial
24. Flexible / Responsivive
Fig 2
Pictured below is an example of what a SWOT Analysis might look like for
evaluating a given market segment. Foundries should consider this
breakdown for major casting segments served
Strengths Weaknesses
Non-union labor force Economies of scale (higher volume
runs)
Efficient, flexible small-run Name recognition
molding lines
In-house tooling capability Sales channels (not enough sales
coverage)
Metallurgical expertise
Product-industry experience
Opportunities Threats
Profitability, size of market High-production foundries
Design services Casting imports
Assembly services Alternative manufacturing methods
New alloys
RELATED ARTICLE: Getting Your Hands on the Information Much of the information you want to track may already exist within your company and simply needs to be extracted and shared. General facts also can be gathered through other sources. Here are a few to start with: Sales representatives are good sources of information concerning customer market outlooks, current and future casting needs, opportunities, etc. Reps are also an excellent source of competitive data, as they are the ones in constant contact with purchasers buying from many foundries. Customer surveys and focus groups provide a means to benchmark yourself against competitors in a number of different areas. They are also useful for validating val·i·date tr.v. val·i·dat·ed, val·i·dat·ing, val·i·dates 1. To declare or make legally valid. 2. To mark with an indication of official sanction. 3. your thoughts on customer needs and business outlook. Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the websites can provide a wide array of intelligence on customers and competitors alike. Websites typically detail production capabilities, organizational structures  This article has no lead section.To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, one should be written. , product mix information and dues to marketing approaches. In the case of publicly held firms, you can attain a feeling for financial health and sales revenues through annual reports and financial filings posted online. Trade associations and networking provide access to a great deal of information, simply through active listening Active listening is an intent to "listen for meaning", in which the listener checks with the speaker to see that a statement has been correctly heard and understood. The goal of active listening is to improve mutual understanding. . Consider joining associations of your customers as well as your peers. Memberships also generally provide access to industry-specific market trends and forecasts that would otherwise be difficult and/or costly to obtain. Trade magazines can keep you current with technology issues, business conditions and competitive forces. Watching for companies named in articles also can alert you to important customer and competitive developments. Trade shows are great for competitive analyses. Companies are often "loud" about highlighting their latest successes and, new product offerings. In some cases, a firm's approach to marketing will become rather apparent. Salespeople sales·peo·ple pl.n. Persons who are employed to sell merchandise in a store or in a designated territory. love to talk. Attending your customer's trade shows also provide great market intelligence as well as business opportunities. MC About the Author Ruben Bake is the marketing and sales services manager for Ashland Specialty Chemical A Specialty chemical is a chemical produced for a specialized use. They are produced in lower volume than bulk chemicals, of which petrochemicals, made from oil feedstocks, are the most common. However, both are produced in a chemical plant. Co.'s Casting Solutions business. A mechanical engineer with an MBA MBA abbr. Master of Business Administration Noun 1. MBA - a master's degree in business Master in Business, Master in Business Administration , he has facilitated strategic planning processes for his employer. AFS and others. He is the current co-chairman of the AFS Marketing Services Div. Education Committee, and developed the curriculum for the new CMI (Computer-Managed Instruction) Using computers to organize and manage an instructional program for students. It helps create test materials, tracks the results and monitors student progress. "Marketing Castings in the New Millennium" course. Bake will be the lead instructor for this course to be held May 5-6 in Clark, New Jersey Clark is a township in southern Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 14,597. The territory that would become Clark was originally a part of several of the early villages of the State and of Union County, . |
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