The Case:

BSA Technologies BSA Technologies is a Toronto-based smart materials technology startup company which has developed a unique textile which is anti-microbial, radiation attenuating, and protective against chemical contaminants. There is no direct competitor which manufactures textiles against all 3 type of potential dangers (biological, chemical and radiological), all current competitors provide protection against one or two type of contaminants. The current technologies used by the competitors involve applying an external protective layer on the textile, making the textile heavier. Also, with the current technology, the textile does not maintain its efficacy after continuous use and after the textile has been washed multiple times. BSA Technologies uses state-of-the-art nanotechnology where they embed special materials inside the textile fibres. This keeps the product lightweight and more comfortable, and also retains its properties even after multiple washes. On top of that, BSA uses eco-friendly materials to manufacture their textiles, making them more environmentally sustainable. BSA's competitors are large companies like Dow Chemicals, Dupont, and 3M Technologies. These companies have locked most of the larger customers in long term contracts, making it very difficult for startup companies like BSA to enter the market. On top of that, these incumbent companies enjoy a significant cost advantage due to economies of scale. Currently, BSA is considering multiple potential customers and has received interest from the following main customer segments: 1. Military: The Canadian Military wants to use BSA's textiles in preparing uniforms for its soldiers, so that they could be protected in the war zone from biological, chemical and radiological weapons. The Canadian military is willing to buy BSA's textile-based uniforms equivalent to 400,000 sq. ft. a year, and is willing to pay a selling price between $10 to $12 per sq. ft. 2. Hospitals: BSA has been approached by a group of hospitals that would like to use BSA's textiles for preparing aprons, and protective clothing for its medical staff (doctors, nurses, radiologists, etc.) so that they can be protected mainly from biological and radiological contaminants. They would also like to use the BSA textiles in preparing bedsheets, curtains, and other textiles used across the hospital. This group of hospitals is interested to buy 600,000 sq. ft. of textiles in different forms from BSA, and is willing to pay between $8 to $10 per sq. ft. 3. Food Manufacturing: There is some interest from a Food Manufacturing company to use BSA's textiles for wrapping their foods (fruits, vegetables, meat, etc.) in BSA's textiles, so that they are protected against biological contaminants like bacteria and viruses. The food company believes using this textile will also make them more environmentally friendly, since they will be replacing plastic with eco-friendly textile. The Food Manufacturing company wants to buy 1,000,000 sq. ft. of BSA's textiles a year, for its meat packaging operations. They want to buy just the cloth after weaving, and not the final tailored product. However, they are willing to pay only $6 - $8 per sq. ft. for the textile. Page 4 The manufacturing process for BSA involves three steps: First, manufacturing the special textile fibres Second, weaving them into large pieces of fabric, and Third, tailoring them to make the final product. BSA Technologies currently undertakes only the first part of the manufacturing process (manufacturing the textile fibres) and outsources the weaving and tailoring to external third-party companies. The raw materials required for manufacturing the fibres are available abundantly and BSA primarily imports them in bulk from China. BSA technologies has a limited capacity in manufacturing, and it can only manufacture 1.2 million sq. ft. of textile annually. It cannot outsource the manufacturing its textile fibres, since that will expose their "secret sauce" - the technique they use to give the special properties to its textiles. BSA technologies also cannot expand its manufacturing capacity until one year as it has exhausted all its funding options and does not have any additional funding available for expanding manufacturing until next year. BSA Technologies has a fixed costs of $4 million each year to maintain their facility and for other administrative expenses. Currently, BSA technologies' variable costs include raw materials ($1 per sq. ft.), weaving (30 cents per sq. ft.) and tailoring (70 cents per sq. ft.). However, their weaving cost is set to decrease by 7% each year, and the tailoring costs as expected to decrease by 12% each year for the next 5 years. All other costs are expected to remain the same over the next 5 years. The founders of BSA would need some help from you to assess the market opportunity, conduct an internal and external analysis of its situation, and identify its strategic positioning. It also needs advise on which customer segment should it focus upon, as it cannot serve all segments due to its limited capacity Please help to find an:

executive summary including your key findings and recommendations

Identification of the issue, problem, or opportunity. What decisions need to be made and what is the context of the problem?

Definition and assessment of the market

Situational analysis including, at a minimum, market assessments, internal and external analysis of the industry, organization and the situation at hand utilizing a SWOT framework

Identification and analysis/evaluation of competitive environment, and the recommended strategic positioning for the company.

Recommended strategy and supporting rationale. Your rationale should show how your strategy resolves the core problem and is consistent with your analysis. Decision making criteria must be identified.