Question

This is the Strategy Canvas participation assignment. You are to pick a specific industry (not wine, airlines, circus, or any industry described in the text), and most likely a specific product category (e.g., laptops, running shoes, workout clothes) and list out the key factors on which the industry completes. You should have at least five factors, plus "price" (which is always a factor).

Answer 1

*MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES:

Definition:

The branch of manufacture and trade based on the fabrication, processing, or preparation of products from raw materials and commodities. This includes all foods, chemicals, textiles, machines, and equipment. This includes all refined metals and minerals dirrived from extracted ores. This includes all lumber, wood, and pulp products.

Therefore, Manufacturing Industry is the industry which produces products and in such a way that the finished goods/products are reaily vaialbale to serve to the people of the market place, (A place where their are a large number of buyers sellers for a particular good/service).

Also, it might be noted that the people/consumer/en-users of a particular product does not buys the product, they buys the benefits which are being associated with the use of that very product.

Transportation Equipment Industry:

All establishments engaged in manufacturing equipment for transportation of passengers and cargo by land, air and water. This includes the manufacture of products such as motor vehicles, aircraft, guided missiles and space vehicles, ships, boats, and railroad equipment. This does not include the manufacture of mobile homes (see Lumber and Wood Products), nor the manufacture of equipment used for moving materials on farms, in mines, on construction sites, in plants, etc.

The transportation equipment manufacturing subsector consists of these industry groups:

• Motor Vehicle Manufacturing: NAICS 3361
• Motor Vehicle Body and Trailer Manufacturing: NAICS 3362
• Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing: NAICS 3363
• Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing: NAICS 3364
• Railroad Rolling Stock Manufacturing: NAICS 3365
• Ship and Boat Building: NAICS 3366
• Other Transportation Equipment Manufacturing: NAICS 3369

Workforce Statistics:

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in transportation equipment manufacturing. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households.

The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

While individual companies may place varying degrees of emphasis on each, this combination of characteristics keeps them ahead of their peers:

1. A companywide focus on performance. Leading manufacturers get the most out of their employees by accurately evaluating their performance and rewarding those who perform best. They create cultures of strong performance, led from the top down by CEOs who encourage well thought out, relevant, and easy to understand targets for all levels of the organization.

These leaders also seek a commitment to closely track those targets and reward top performers.

Gain sharing is one common practice in which those who outperform standards and achieve predefined quality targets receive incentive pay for the improvements they make.

2. Alignment around a disciplined culture. Leading manufacturers embrace consistent corporate cultures that align all parts of the enterprise. At one company, the successful implementation of an aligned corporate culture started at the top, with the CEO making a concerted push for change.

Next, a dedicated unit embraced the culture and promoted it to all units and geographies. Lastly, the culture was put into detailed requirements and applied to all segments of the organization.

Another company centered the corporate culture to focus on shareholder value add performance. Executives were singularly focused on shareholder value and all underlying performance metrics were tied directly to that top-level metric.

As a result, all decisions and actions were motivated by and focused on improving the underlying shareholder value add and all the areas that affect this important metric.

3. Build stable and flexible operations. In a tumultuous business environment, stability and flexibility are vital for managing short-term ups and downs, and creating long-lasting success. Leading manufacturers seek to stabilize internal factors such as processes and programs, including strict design control and the use of simulation techniques to reduce iterations and changes.

Leaders also seek the flexibility to address those areas that are heavily dependent on external complications, such as suppliers, seasonality, and demand fluctuation. One leader tapped into its vendor base to manage inventory and address demand shifts.

It had high expectations for these suppliers, which needed to have co-located staff, warehouses near its manufacturing facilities, and pre-sequenced “day-of” parts handling to provide further flexibility.

One heavy equipment manufacturer strikes a dynamic balance between stable and flexible manufacturing. The first practice seeks stability via those processes that can be directly controlled, such as product configurations and engineering changes.

Then, flexible manufacturing allows for ready adjustments to external factors, such as seasonality and demand fluctuation. Because its production lines are configured to produce multiple products, the heavy equipment manufacturer can better adapt to changing market conditions than most.

4. Collect and use customer feedback. What do customers want? Addressing this question throughout their operations is a key practice for leading manufacturers. Some use customer service metrics for their operations planning, while others involve their customers in the manufacturing and quality processes, using direct customer feedback to help line workers understand what customers want.

This helps employees develop a sense of ownership, accountability to customers, and empowerment, while customers feel like they have a valued personal relationship with the company.

One example of a leading practice for customer feedback is a capital goods manufacturer that implemented voice of customer stations directly on production lines. The stations visually showed customer defects and complaints, as well as positive feedback.

5. Forge strong internal and external partnerships. Strong supplier partnerships and effective internal collaboration can generate significant advantages for manufacturers.

Partnerships can help maximize the value of supplier relationships by giving more responsibility to and rewarding the top-performing suppliers.

One leading manufacturer used a partnership approach to reduce its supply base by more than 30 percent. It offered its top suppliers greater scale and flexibility, but also held them more accountable for better performance. Overall costs fell, performance improved, and the simplified supplier base reduced overall component complexity.