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Whirlpool Introduction
The Whirlpool Corporation is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of home appliances Louis and Emory Upton founded the Upton Machine Company on 11th November 1911. Headquartered in Benton Charter Township, Michigan, United States, near Benton Harbor, Michigan The company is listed in Fortune 500 and has annual revenue of approximately $18.4 billion, more than 70,000 employees, and more than 70 manufacturing and technology research centres around the world
Whirlpool - History
Founded by Fredrick, Louis and Emry Upton called Upton Machine Corporation
Upton merged with the Nineteen Hundred Corp and began to expand to global markets
Whirlpool merged with Clyde Porcelain Steel company to create worlds largest washer manufacturing unit
1911
1916
1929
1948
1951
1957
1970s
1980s
1993
2000s
2002
2013
Sears Roebuck & Co starts partnership with Upton to market its Washers under the brand ALLEN
Nineteen Hundred marketed an automatic washer under the Brand name Whirlpool
Became a well established player in global appliance market. Added brands like Kitchen Aid, Roper, Inglis, Acros, Laden, KIC
Bought major stake in Hefei Sanyo to expand in China market , Over 18 Billion $ in revenue , 70000 employees , 170 countries
The Mission of Whirlpool Corporation is Everyone...Passionately Creating Loyal Customers for Life
Strength
Consumer Oriented Products. Global operating platform.
Weakness
Whirlpool is industries which require constant innovations that are sometimes hard to come by. Whirlpool failed to capitalize on its Dominant Consumer Franchise initiative which added special features to existing products. It failed due to cost & service issues. Poor after Sale Service Reducing profit
Opportunities
Innovation Product and services expansion Growing Asian Market Ac and Microwave category are larger and fast going categories Providing attractive schemes By 1980s, Whirlpool became the second largest white goods maker in the US after acquiring Kitchen Aid.
Threats
Increase raw materials cost LG, Samsung, Kenwood and other companies are most competitors New EU Directives Threat of cheap goods from other countries especially Japan Other companies looking to acquire whirlpool for consolidating the industry. Longer lifespan of products slowing replacement demand.
Political : There is always positive impact on business Economical:Customers are well educated so they know what to use and not. Social : It shows life style of customers Technological : It has award winning design and technology.
With latest 6th sense technology consumer can achieve significant savings in time.
Company Strategy
Company strategy is relies on six steps:
o Selecting a market or product category for study o Choose a bases or basic for segmenting the market o Select Segmentation Description o Profile and Analyze Segment o Select Target Market o Design, Implement, and Maintain appropriate marketing mixes
Competitive Strategy
For whirlpool, Success literally depended on it, given the goal for an on-demand, self-service model for assets retrieval and distribution. Meeting the goals would allow whirlpool to support different use cases according to customer type, setting the stage for broad internal and external user adoption. This approach would be demonstrating customer satisfaction and in turn increasing whirlpool competitive advantage.
Why EDI ?
Need to make supply chain efficient Cut down on expenses
Reduce paperwork
Easy EDI
Launched a scheme called Easy EDI in 1999 Used electronic interface for communication with suppliers Main aim of Easy EDI was to : - Eliminate paperwork of 600 suppliers - Save upto $600,000 a year in operational costs for data interchange
January 1999
Suppliers involved -> 4
March 1999
Suppliers involved -> 30
December 1999
Suppliers involved -> 300
Online Excellence
Online shopping
Launched a full online research and shopping site Buyers were able to compare brands and locate nearest dealer Appliances were made internet enabled
Initial Consideration
Facebook and Twitter Mentions
Potential Customers are talking about brands/products and are looking to start conversations / receive feedback Manage and reply to any positive or negative mentions Ensure all customer queries on Whirlpool brands are answered promptly. Great PR tool to deliver positive news on product launches and new initiatives. Keep and eye and monitor online brand reputation and perceptions.
Initial Consideration
External Blogs Guest post can be posted on related/affiliate blogs Ensure information on external blogs are correct Content on blog is great for SEO purposes Great for online brand exposure
Active Evaluation
Whirlpool Website Keep website content/ information updated Check all links are working and ensure site is error free. Whirlpool Blog Provides brand information and aid sales Allows customer to further interact with Whirlpool Blog content great for SEO purposes.
Purchase
Whirlpool Twitter and Facebook Deals Encourage potential customer with special offers/ discounts. Word of Mouth both online and offline Engage both potential and existing customers Makes them feel special Helps brand loyalty and build following
Learning
Globalization Even though whirlpool and its suppliers benefited from this, Global product development ensured that the needs of the customers in diverse markets were to be met.
CURRENT SCENARIO
Chairman & CEO of Whirlpool Corporation - Jeff M Fettig Statistics for Year 2012-13 Revenue = $18.143 Billion (Rs. 1161.15 Billion) Net Earnings = $ 0.401 Billion (Rs. 25.66 Billion) 68000 employees and more than 60 manufacturing and technology research centers globally
WHIRLPOOL SALES REGION WISE
EMEA 16% Asia 5% North America 52%
CURRENT SCENARIO
Whirlpool India 75% owned by Whirlpool Mauritius Ltd.
Chairman & MD - Arvind Uppal Statistics for Year 2012-13 Revenues = Rs. 3036.50 Crore
Conclusion
By 2003 Whirlpools supply chain was 50-60% complete with a lot of scope for improvement. Its supply chain needs to be more flexible to sell its product on a global platform. It used the Malcolm Baldridge Award Quality Criteria to maintain quality in its logistics process. The restructured operations yielded considerable reductions in FG inventory and improvement in the ability to respond to customers.