1. Will you continue OU manufacturing system?

 Yes
 Not depending on one manufacturing location to reduce the risk that comes with it
 Easy to experiment with different production/design changes
 Reduced cost of expansion
 Limitation: availability score is less (7/10) which may stem from the logistic issues of
the product from OUs to the company
2. Critically look at the organizational structure of V-Guard
 The company follows a functional organization structure
 Chairman – Chittilappally
 MD – Mithun (son)
 Day-to-day affairs are looked after by professionals
 Functional heads report to the MD. Senior managers of each function report to the
heads
 Marketing function:
i. Zone 1 – 1 VP; 4 product heads
ii. Zone 2 – 1 VP; 4 product heads
iii. Zone 3 – 1 VP; 4 product heads
iv. Product heads looked after sales, distribution & retail mgmt.
 Stabilizer business:
i. GM – Padmakumar
ii. State product in-charge & territory sales in-charge reported to GM &
responsible only for stabilizers
iii. 20 branch heads-in charge of company’s all products, also reported to GM
 We can understand that the stabilizer business is given more importance
 Suggestion: a separate GM and reporting structure for other products
3. Who are the customers of V-Guard stabilizers? How do they assess the product/brand
 Customer: consumer electronics – air conditioners, refrigerators, TVs
 Color TV has the highest demand for the stabilizers followed by refrigerators
 V-Guard has good brand equity in customer’s mind from the 9/10 rating given for
brand name
 Customers trust the product for its technical performance (9/10 in thermal overload
protection and voltage fluctuation protection)
 The product slacks a bit in shape and design though the company gives importance
to the shape and design of the stabilizer (7/10) [page 10, 1 st para “I wish it has more
options in terms of color and shape”]
 Customers think the product is priced too high (6/10) base price being Rs. 1300
4. How intense is the competition?
 Some popular brands (competitors): Capri, Bluebird, Premier, Everest, Keeline,
Sen&Pandit
 Capri – Delhi based – market share: 12-15% - service centers in 12 locations
 Bluebird – Kolkata based – 3 decades in the industry – market share: 8%
 Everest – Chennai based – ISO certified company - 30 models of auto stabilizers –
market share: 6%
 Keeline – Hyderabad based – market share: 4% - intense reach in AP, Karnataka, TN
 Premier – market share 1.5%
 Sen & Pandit – 2%
 250 other local brands
 Competition heavy in price and after sales service