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CASE 6 . 2 War Eagle Golf Ltd . War Eagle Golf Ltd . ( WEGL ) manufactures the Titanium Tiger ( T 2 )
CASE
War Eagle Golf Ltd
War Eagle Golf LtdWEGL manufactures the Titanium Tiger driver, a $ copycat
of a far more expensive golf club from a wellknown brand. The is manufactured at the
company's small Opelika, Alabama factory and is shipped to major sporting goods retailers.
WEGL uses a mass production strategy to gain economies of scale and high labor produc
tivity. This strategy is coupled with a MTS assembly process, and goods are produced in
anticipation of demand.
The company has experienced a sales slump over the last three quarters. In response,
WEGL sent their sales team to the World Golf Expo, a major trade show. The goal of this
trip to the Expo was to boost awareness of the gain retailer feedback, and generate orders.
The sales team set up a display booth and had plenty of literature to distribute.
The trip wasn't successful from an order standpoint, but the sales team gained valuable
insights from the Expo attendees. At a posttrip meeting, the following information was
shared with WEGL executive management:
Retailers said that having only one model availablea righthanded, inch,
degree loft, steel shaft driver with a tacky gripis like having a onesizefitsall
shirt. It doesn't fit many people well! That limits the market appeal for a product
that customers are willing to spend higher amounts of money for a tailored
product.
Competitors at the event were offering semicustomizable clubs similar to the
at a $ price point. Options included right and lefthanded clubs, three dif
ferent lofts, three different grips, steel or graphite shaft, and six shaft lengthflex
combinations.
A few retailers commented that sales would explode if WEGL could offer a vari
ety of driver configurations at a $ price point.
Bruce Thompson, the company CEO, was intrigued by the customization angle. He liked
the idea of a higher price and believed that the input component costs wouldn't be much
higher than the current model of the "Let's get started right away," he said.
"But that will add great complexity to our production and supply chain operations,"
replied Butch Pearl, vice president of manufacturing. He noted that the company would
now have to manufacture different models based on all the possible configurations
of club head, loft, grip, shaft type, and shaft lengthflex options. "Creating a forecast
will be a nightmare and we'll have to hold finished goods inventory of every model," he
added.
"Well, Mr Pearl, you'd better figure it out," replied Thompson. He went on to talk about
the need for WEGL to adopt a more flexible manufacturing strategy. "Our customers want
clubs built to their game and we need to be responsive! Offering semicustomized clubs
sounds like a great idea to me he added. If that is too much to ask, then I may need to
think about outsourcing our manufacturing and your job!"
"I want your production plan on my desk in one week," said Thompson as he walked out
of the meeting.
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