Industrial tour Essay

Last Thursday, the 17th of January year 2013, we went to EPZA and FCIE for our industrial tour. We visited the companies Macro Wiring Technologies Co. Inc., NSG Pilipinas NM and KLT Fruits Inc. Let me discuss to you my insights for each company. First off we have the Macro Wiring Technologies Co. Inc. They manufacture Wire Harnesses and Assemblies and is the main supplier of the APC company. Their mission is to be the Top Mind choice of customers in providing products and services and is committed to deliver on time with quality products defined by their customer. They vision their company to be a progressive manufacturer of Wire Harnesses and Assemblies for export and domestic markets in an environmentally friendly, economically, viable and globally competitive industry. Additional to that, they aim to provide more jobs to Filipinos. Since they are the major supplier of APC, they do not practice advertising. Though they subcontract with other local companies, they say that these companies were obtained as their client through word of mouth (referrals). Their raw materials are imported from China, Taiwan, US, UK and other countries. They use the JIT (just-in-time) as their delivery system. They only have one plant which is located at EPZA Rosario Cavite and they earn in dollars which is forecasted to be around 14M for this year. They operate 24/7 with 2 shifts. According to Ma’am Joan, the production head, most of their workers are students from NCST and are trained for a maximum training of one week. The second company, on the other hand deals with glass mats, glass fibers and PG separators. The company is Pilipinas NM (under NSG) that is located in FCIE. Their slogan is â€Å"Let’s raise our individual sensibility for quality to grain customer’s trust.† This company is 100% Japanese owned and started its operation dated back on July 1, 1995. There are 120 employees for their 35,763 square meter factory. Their products are for export though there is a 10% supply locally. Most of their clients are from Taiwan, India, China, Turkey and a lot more. The factory that we went to is in charge for the manufacturing of the products. They receive orders and complaints but for the sales and promotions, they have what they call a middle-company (like a middleman) so they are not fully aware of the advertising and other promotions their company is practising except that they know they join business/industry exhibits. The same goes for the delivery; the delivery of the products depends on sales agents. They said that the volumes of orders are seasonal. The same as the first company, since their products are for export, their sales as in dollars. The last company we went to is the KLT Fruits Inc. Established in 1984, KLT Fruits, Inc. manufactures tropical fruit purees, concentrates, red bean jams as well as preserves for markets in the US, Japan, Asia- Pacific, Europe, and the Philippines. They pride themselves by not only providing quality products but by also rendering technical services such as client product formulation, client process parameters, and new product development. Through their knowledge of the industry, production know-how, and our commitment to quality, they are able to establish life-long partnerships with their clients. Their team of experts and skilled associates guarantees the best customer service and more importantly, products of the highest quality. Their production process is fully automated. There is what they call a central unit where only one person manages the entire process. The other employees are into packaging and other manual process needed before and after the production. Their sales are by container which is about 20 tonnes per container. And just like the first company, they do not have any advertising practices though they join expos or exhibits like the second company. Most of the partnerships of KLT are foreign companies located abroad and again, they earn in dollars too. The basis of their pricing, just the same as the first two aforementioned companies, are the raw materials, manufacturing, production and overhead costs which also dictates their market percentage. After discussing each of the information shared to us by the companies we went to, I’ve noticed a few things they all have in common. 1. They are exporting their final products because most of their clients are foreign. 2. They do not do advertising. 3. Each of them has a focus: quality (Macro Wiring Technologies Co. Inc.), safety (Pilipinas NM), and long-term relationships (KLT Fruits Inc.) 4. They are a major supplier of a company. 5. Their company has only one plant. Upon knowing these similarities, I was able to realize that there really is a huge difference of business-to-business from business-to-consumer in terms of sales, promotions, and relationships. I understood that in business to business, management is more focused in building relationships with large accounts rather than trying to persuade other small-medium enterprises because targeting and serving the large companies yield greater profits. Another learning I had from the tour is that in b2b, selling isn’t just about knowing who your customers and what your objectives are. But one must also understand each of the process the product goes through and the delivery system the company uses so that when conflicts arise, the management will then be able to create solutions faster. Why? Well, since business to business rely more on business relationships, then it is a must to deliver a good and competitive customer/client service. Business to business marketing is really quite confusing for we have been focused with consumer marketing for almost four years. But after being able to personally witness and hear the process, the strategies and operations of the manufacturing companies we have been to last Thursday, I had a clearer view of b2b.