Case Studies
Each Opportunity Analysis project provides a unique window into the details of a market situation. Here are four examples of studies we have completed that provided insight and clarity to the decision that the management team had to make.
The real opportunity found
A trained analyst at a client was investigating the requirements for an ultra-clean plastic component to be used in aircraft windshields. As part of the opportunity analysis, a visit was arranged with a manufacturer of these windshields. The needs and technical specifications of the windshields were being discussed, together with the manufacturing technology to achieve ultra-clarity needed in the windows. It became clear that all of the technical needs had been overcome, albeit at high cost. At this point the plant manager said, “…but what we really need is a lower quality material for our much larger safety glass applications like bank enclosures and jewelry counters.” This comment turned the attention to the reduced requirements application that the client could address with its current product. The client was able to redirect resources to this lower-hanging fruit rapidly to displace incumbent materials on 40% of the product line at this manufacturer alone.
Client’s decision process a deciding issue
A waterproofing component for a buried high voltage power cable was under development by a client. The client’s customer, a cable manufacturer, was keen on the opportunity. The analyst was assigned to verify the value of this waterproofing component. He developed an elaborate cost model that demonstrated a very high value for the client’s component part, based on longer buried cable life and the NPV of new capital investment by an electric utility.
When the model was presented to the lead engineer at one utility, she verified the figures were essentially the same as their own. She also admitted that while the capital investment would make economic sense, the utility management would not support the cost of these new cables.
The illogic of this posture became a new critical issue, and deeper discussions revealed that repair issues were managed under a different budgeting process, and maintenance was always prioritized above new capital to correct field issues. Thus, we were able to predict with understanding that the client’s solution, while technically and economically superior, would not soon be adopted by the ultimate customer, the electric utility. The understanding developed went beyond that of the direct customer.
Fulfilling end-user needs
Dairy farmers in Europe had long faced the expense of adding liquid nutrients and sugar or molasses to spoiled silage in order to make it palatable to cattle during the winter months. The problem stemmed from silage storage methods that fostered bacterial growth and moisture to break down and sour the stored silage.
An analyst looking at this issue throughout the supply chain recognized the sources of value to the farmer to be a higher nutrient silage, reduced loss to spoilage and less need to sweeten the spoiled product. When this need and value story was addressed by the client with a new resin capable of making “controlled atmosphere” plastic film for above ground silage storage, the market quickly moved to this new solution, and large pillows of packaged hay have been seen dotting expansive fields ever since.
To buy or not to buy
A technology institute in Europe approached our client company with a new and patent-pending technology for preparing a polymeric interpenetrating network. The institute proposed several applications that would jump-start the penetration of the polymers made from this technology. The client first approached us to investigate some key applications to determine if the opportunities could be verified.
In discussions with the client about which applications they would like to have investigated, the client’s technical group raised the issue whether or not the technology was actually able to deliver on the claims in a pending patent. The analyst posed the question, "What is more important to know, the needs and value of key applications or if the technology is actually as represented?”
The management team unanimously agreed that certainty about the technology was far more of a “make-or-break” issue than details about proposed applications. With proper resourcing, the client was able to make this determination themselves. The findings of this investigation were that the technology did not actually deliver as promised, and thus acquisition of the technology was respectfully declined. In this case, there was no need to conduct external research at all.