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| 1 CHAPTER 1: DESCRIPTIONS ABOUT THE COMPANY & INDUSTRY The Western India Plywoods Ltd. (WIP) has been pioneering in the manufacture of plywood related panel products for the last seven decades, keeping up with the times and ever-changing styles of market and customers. Established in 1945, WIP is one of the biggest wood-based industrial integrated complexes in South-East Asia with an employee strength of 1,200. WIP’s insistence on quality standards has made its products find increasing acceptance in the highly competitive markets of Europe, USA and Middle East. It is today a government certified export house, and has bagged the CAPEXIL award for excellence in exports without an exception every year. Figure 1: Factory of WIP Figure 2: WIP Co-founder and former Managing Director late Mr. P. K. Mohammad receiving the (1) CAPEXIL award for export achievement in Fibreboard Category for 2004-05 from Union Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram (2) Outstanding Entrepreneurship Award for 2011 by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation from Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Major achievements of WIP: First to make Aircraft Plywood 2 First to make Fire Retardant Plywood conforming to BS:476 specification First to make high pressure industrial laminates. First to make Metal Faced Plywood. First to develop Weather proof, Marine and Fire Retardant Hardboards. First to make Pre-finished Plywood and Hardboards using UV-cured surface finishing technology. First to obtain ISO 9002 Certification for Hardboards and Pre-finished boards The R&D department of WIP, recognized as a centre for research by the Government of India, is manned by eminent scientists and has a library with over 6000 titles. The company gives utmost importance to corporate governance and eminent professionals serve on the board of directors. Even though WIP manufactures wood-based products, it strives to establish the goal of sustainable development. It uses only plantation timber and agro-waste as raw-material. The hardboards of WIP are made from shredded currency notes from the Reserve Bank of India. This helped RBI a great deal during demonetization when the currency chests of the RBI were flooded with discarded currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs.1000. Figure 3: Newspaper reports regarding WIP using discarded cash to make hardboards 1.1 HISTORY Established in 1945 the company started manufacture of sawn timber and plywood on a modest scale with a few indigenous and lent-leased machinery. Due to the progressive outlook and relentless efforts of WIP’s founder and Managing Director Shri. A.K. Kaderkutty, a doyen of the wood-based panel 3 industry in India, the company made steady progress over the years and business expanded to its present stature. The Company planned and executed the hardboard plant between the years 1956 and 1958 with an initial installed capacity of 12.5 tonnes of hardboard per day. The Company also installed its own synthetic resin unit in 1959 with a capacity of 200 tonnes per annum, which gradually increased to 2400 tonnes per annum, by 1975. An Industrial Licence was obtained in 1974 for manufacture of Densified Wood with a capacity of 2000 M.T. per annum. Since then, the Company has been producing components of densified wood required mainly by the electrical, textile, chemical industries, railways, etc. In 1974 a plant for manufacture of furniture was added. From its humble beginnings, WIP grew steadily adding the latest in machinery and incorporating new manufacturing techniques. 1.2 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE M an ag in g Di re ct or Executive Director General Manager (admin) Import & Export executives Purchase executives Total Quality Management Head Quality Management executives Company Secretary Chief Accounts Officer General Manager (technical) Technical Manager (hardboard) Technical Manager (electrical) Technical Manager (stores) Central Excise Development Manager Plant manager Work manager Marketing Manager Sales Manager Sales & Marketing executives R&D Head R&D executives Logistics Head Logistics executives 4 1.3 PRODUCTS Following are the products offered by WIP: Plywood The types of plywood manufactured at WIP includes Fire Retardant Plywood, Resin-Surfaced Shuttering Plywood, Marine Plywood and Boiling Water-Resistant Plywood. Densified Wood Laminates Densified Wood Laminates of WIP are made from thin veneers impregnated with synthetic resin adhesives and pressed at high temperature and pressure. Hard Boards Hardboard, an eco-friendly wood-based panel manufactured using plantation species of timber, is used in automotive interior trims, shoe heel manufacture, clock backing, photo frame backing etc. Furniture WIP specializes in exquisite/moulded plywood furniture. Wooden Flooring WIP manufactures engineered wooden flooring under the name Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood Floors. The variety of wood types for Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood floors include teak, padauk, rosewood, beech, mahogany, cider, white oak and oriental cherry. Westind Ultraklik uses no adhesives for installation; the unique WIP ‘klik’ lock-in system does the job. The glue-less joints do not eliminate odour and emissions, the two problems generally associated with wooden floors. Figure 4: Plywood Figure 5: Densified wood laminates Figure 6: Hardboards 5 Following are the features of Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood floors: High performance seven-layer UV lacquer finish Micro-bevelled edges Glue-less installation with unique ‘klik’ system High stability multilayer substrate Boiling water proof panel construction Easy installation and maintenance Wide range of wood types suitable for homes and offices Figure 9: Westind Ultraklik engineered wood floors 6 CHAPTER 2: OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY 2.1 OBJECTIVES Following are the objectives of this project: To understand the product purchase and ownership experience of customers who bought Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood floors To provide suggestions for reformulating the marketing strategies for the product from the collected data 2.2 METHODOLOGY To achieve the objectives following methods were used: 1. Online Survey Questionnaire To know the purchase and ownership experience of Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood Floors, an online survey questionnaire was designed. 2. Qualitative Analysis Questionnaire was designed in such a way including open-ended questions to understand the reason behind why customers chose the product and obtain their suggestions for improvement of the overall experience. Also, interview of some of the customers were conducted to get proper insight about their perception about the product. Overview of Data Collected and Sample: The survey instrument or the survey questionnaire contained a total of 32 questions that encompassed the objective of the research. Customers of Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood Floors are the population of the study and a sample size of 30 was selected from the population. 7 CHAPTER 3: ANALYSIS The responses collected from customers for each question are analyzed using visual representation tools as given below: Did you consider other flooring types before you settled for wooden flooring? Why did you choose wooden flooring over other alternatives? Who influenced you in your decision to choose wooden flooring? 8 Why did you choose engineered flooring over other options available in wooden flooring? How did you come to know about Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood Floors? How did you collect the preliminary information regarding Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood Floors? How easy was it to find the information? The level of easiness is rated according to the following Likert scale: 5- very easy, 4- easy, 3- neutral, 2- difficult, 1- very difficult 9 Did you try to get further information from other sources? How easy was it to get additional information from other sources? What made you choose Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood Floors from other alternatives available? 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 10 What was your mode of contact for purchase? How satisfied you were with your interaction? Customer satisfaction is rated according to the following Likert scale: 5- highly satisfied, 4- satisfied, 3- neutral, 2- dissatisfied, 1- highly dissatisfied Did you request any samples or additional information regarding the product? 5 4 3 2 1 11 Was anyone sent by WIP to take measurements of your site? How satisfied are you by the conduct of people who came to take measurements? Did you receive the quotation from the company promptly? 5 4 3 2 1 12 How customer friendly was the ordering procedure? Whether the order was delivered on time? How satisfied are you with the mode of delivery adopted by the company? Did your first impression match the expectation you had about the product? The first impression is rated according to the following scale: 5- exceeded expectation, 4- matched expectation, 3- somewhat matched expectation, 2- did not match expectation, 1- absolute mismatch 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 13 Did you feel any time after you purchased the product that you made the wrong choice? How satisfied are you with the installation procedure? How satisfied are you with the product in the long-term period? 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 14 Will you recommend this product to your friends and relatives? 5 4 3 2 1 15 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS The questions in the designed questionnaire are given below. Findings from the responses of customers for each question is given alongside: Q.1 Did you consider other flooring types before you settled for wooden flooring? From the collected data, it is clear that 63.3% of customers surveyed had considered other flooring types before they settled for wooden flooring, while 36.7% have not. So, it is evident that other flooring types pose a threat to the wooden flooring market. Q.2 Why did you choose wooden flooring over other alternatives? Out of the surveyed customers, 43.3% chose wooden flooring over other alternatives due to aesthetics, 30% due to the desire to try something new, 16.7% due to the comfort/ low impact on joints it provided, and 10% due to the recommendation by architect or interior designer. From this data, it is clear that the aesthetic appeal of wooden flooring is its winning factor and more customers are coming out to buy wooden flooring which they have not used before. Q.3 Who influenced you in your decision to choose wooden flooring? From the collected data, it is found that 56.7% customers chose wooden flooring by their own decision, 30% due to architect, 10% due to family/ friends and 3.3% due to interior designer. This shows that in today’s world people tend to buy products out of their own decision rather than by other’s influence. Q.4 Why did you choose engineered flooring over other options available in wooden flooring? From the collected data, we can see that 40% customers have chosen engineered flooring over other options available in wooden flooring due to reputation of manufacturer, 33.3% due to product durability, 16.7% due to attractive pricing and 10% due to ease of maintenance. So, it is evident that WIP’s reputation as a manufacturer is the main reason why customers choose engineered wooden flooring as they trust the quality of engineers at WIP. The product durability of engineered wooden flooring is another factor. It can also be inferred that pricing 16 and ease of maintenance of engineered wooden floors are not major factors for its choice. Q.5 How did you come to know about Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood Floors? Out of the surveyed customers, 56.7% customers came to know about Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood Floors through previous customers, 23.3% through architect and 20% through interior designer. The fact that previous customers, architects and interior designers recommend the product indicates the high-quality standards adopted by WIP for its product. At the same time, it should be noted that none of the customers have come to know about the product through print/ tv advertisement and social media. Q.6 How did you collect the preliminary information regarding Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood Floors? From the collected data, it is found that 60% of surveyed customers have collected the preliminary information regarding Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood Floors through direct visit, 23.3% through word of mouth, 13.3% through company website and 3.3% through social media. So, we can infer that majority of the customers prefer direct visit to collect the preliminary information about the product. Q.7 How easy was it to find the information? Out of the surveyed customers, 50% found it very easy, 40% found it easy and 10% found it neither easy nor difficult (neutral) to find the information. This indicates that the information about the product is easily available. Q.8 Did you try to get further information from other sources? From the collected data, it is found that 76.7% customers have not and 23.3% have tried to get further information from other sources. So, majority of the customers were satisfied regarding the preliminary information available about the product. Q.9 If yes, please specify the source. In this question, customers who tried to get further information from other sources were 17 requested to list the sources. Following were the responses obtained: o Saw the product at Kenwood Plywood which is used as their flooring o Architects So, customers have tried to get further information about the product from the company’s competitors and architects. Q.10 How easy was it to get additional information from other sources? Out of the surveyed customers, 50% found it very easy, 31.8% found it easy and 18.2% found it neither easy nor difficult to get additional information from other sources. So, it can be inferred that it is easy for customers to get additional information from other sources. Q.11 Please give your suggestions to make information search easier. Following are the suggestions obtained from customers to make information search easier: o To Give the search engine to the customer to know the full details of the product, like an app o Newsletters and product launches to be informed to architects and designers o Advertise in YouTube or any other social media o Need more public attention o Website o Provide catalogue for product o Display the products in other shop like plywood shop, interior products shop, interior design company etc. o Advertisements and discount offer Q.12 What made you choose Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood Floors from other alternatives available? From the collected data, it is found that 50% of surveyed customers chose Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood Floors due to its quality, 26.7% due to its reputation, 13.3% due to other reasons, 6.7% due to its pricing and 3.3% due to its availability. This shows that quality of the product is the major deciding factor that made customers choose the product from other alternatives available. So, we can understand that customers are looking for quality and reputation of the product rather than its pricing and availability. 18 Q.13 What was your mode of contact for purchase? Out of the surveyed customers, the mode of contact for purchase for 50% was personal visit, 43.3% was telephone and 6.7% was email. This shows that majority of the customers prefer personal visit and contacting via telephone for their purchase. Q.14 Whom did you interact within the company for your purchase? Following are the people whom the customers interacted with for their purchase: o Mr. Mehaboob o Sales staff o Purchase Manager o Sales Manager o Mr. Shamim.P.K o M.D. o Managing partner o Mr. Jiffry Q.15 How satisfied you were with your interaction? On surveying the customer satisfaction regarding the interaction with WIP for the purchase of Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood Floors, 60% customers are highly satisfied, 33.3% are satisfied and 6.7% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. So, by overall analysis we can say that customers are satisfied regarding the interaction with WIP for their purchase. Q.16 Did you request any samples or additional information regarding the product? From the collected data, we can find that 66.7% customers have requested samples or additional information regarding the product while 33.3% have not. This shows that majority of the customers are requesting samples or additional information regarding the product while making their buying decision. Q.17 How did you find the company response to your request? Customers mentioned the following about the company response to their request: o Good o Prompt o Satisfactory 19 o Ok o Impeccable o Fine o Spontaneous o Great o Very prompt o Very good response o They have been very professional in all ways From the collected responses, we can say that company has responded to the customers’ request in an appreciable manner. Q.18 Was anyone sent by WIP to take measurements of your site? WIP has sent personnel to take measurements of the site for 66.7% customers surveyed and for 33.3% customers no personnel were sent. Q.19 How satisfied are you by the conduct of people who came to take measurements? From the data collected, it is found that 43.3% customers are highly satisfied by the conduct of people who came to take measurements, 43.3% are satisfied and 13.3% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. So, by overall analysis we can infer that majority of customers are satisfied by the conduct of people who came to take measurements. Q.20 Did you receive the quotation from the company promptly? Out of the surveyed customers, 96.7% have received the quotation from the company promptly and only 3.3% have not. This shows that the company is prompt in sending the quotations. Q.21 How customer friendly was the ordering procedure? From the data collected, it is found that 70% customers are highly satisfied with the ordering procedure, 23.3% are satisfied and 6.7% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. So, by overall analysis, we can infer that majority of customers are satisfied with the ordering procedure. Q. 22 Please give your suggestions to make ordering procedure more customer friendly. 20 Following are the suggestions obtained from customers to make ordering procedure more customer friendly: o Marketing staff o WhatsApp o Going online will be best as on today o Stock maintenance o Should appoint youngsters and office should be equipped with latest technology (in admin dept) o Give complete information about the product o Give contact in just dial or any other easy dial applications o A small misunderstanding occurred during my last order, which was immediately rectified from WIP. Such instances could negatively impact customer relations. Q. 23 Whether the order was delivered on time? Out of the customers surveyed, order was delivered on time for 96.7% customers and not for 3.3%. So, it can be inferred that the company is punctual on delivering orders. Q .24 How satisfied are you with the mode of delivery adopted by the company? From the data collected, it is seen that 40% of customers are highly satisfied with the mode of delivery adopted by the company, 40% are satisfied, 16.7% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied and 3.3% are dissatisfied. Even though majority of the customers are satisfied, we can see that there is a small portion of customers who are not very happy with the mode of delivery adopted. Q. 25 Did your first impression match the expectation you had about the product? Out of the customers surveyed, 50% have reported that their first impression matched the expectation they had about the product, exceeded expectation for 36.7% and somewhat matched expectation for 13.3%. So, we can say that the product has matched or exceeded the expectation of majority of the customers. Q.26 Did you feel any time after you purchased the product that you made the wrong choice? 21 From the data collected, it is seen that 90% of the customers surveyed did not feel they have made the wrong choice after purchasing the product, while 10% felt so. So, the customer satisfaction regarding the product post-purchase is high. Q. 27 If yes, is there any specific reason that made you feel it was a mistake? Following is the response obtained from customer who felt he made a mistake in buying the product: o Floor material gets scratched very easily Q. 28 How satisfied are you with the installation procedure? Out of the customers surveyed, 46.7% are satisfied with the installation procedure, 36.7% are highly satisfied and 16.7% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. So, by overall analysis, we can find that customers are satisfied with the installation procedure. Q. 29 How satisfied are you with the product in the long-term period? From the data collected, it is found that 43.3% customers are satisfied with the product in the long- term period, 30% are satisfied and 26.7% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. It is appreciable that there are no dissatisfied customers in the long-term period. Q. 30 Please specify if you faced any problem with the flooring since it was installed. Following are the problems faced by customers since the product was installed : o Prone to scratching very easily o Flooring near the bathroom were damaged. o It is a replacement of old Westind flooring after termite attack for complete area. From the responses obtained, it is found that scratching, damage due to water seepage and termite attack are the problems faced by customers after they installed wooden flooring. Q. 31 Any problem you think will be likely in the years to come? Following are the problems that the surveyed customers think will be likely in the years to come : 22 o Maintenance o Impressions seen on the surface when wooden furniture is used o Termite attack which can occur again o Scratch Q. 32 Will you recommend this product to your friends and relatives? From the data collected it is found that 93.3% customers surveyed will recommend the product to their friends and relatives and only 6.7% will not. So, we can infer that the product is a highly recommendable one. 23 CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations for pre-purchase stage: In order to mitigate the threat posed by other flooring materials, advantages of wooden flooring over other flooring types should be advertised. To increase the visibility of the product, the company should encourage more dealers to acquire WIP’s wooden flooring materials. The company can focus on enhancing the aesthetic appeal of wooden flooring since it is wooden flooring’s winning factor over other flooring types and more customers are coming out to buy wooden flooring now. Give more publicity to the fact that wooden flooring is more comfortable under feet and causes low impact on joints. The finding that majority of customers are choosing wooden flooring out of their own decision emphasizes on the need of individual marketing. As more people are consulting architects now, making architects aware about the benefits of wooden flooring compared to other flooring types is essential. Advertising on WIP’s reputation as a manufacturer and durability of engineered wood floors will increase the sales since they are the main reasons for customers to choose engineered wood floors over other options available in wooden flooring. In order to gain over competitors by reaching out to more potential customers, advertising through print, tv and social media is required as they are the most effective means to spread information. Since company website is also a means through which customers collect preliminary information about the product, the website should be kept up-to-date. As customers have tried to get further information about the product from the company’s competitors and architects, the company should market the advantages of Westind Ultraklik Engineered Wood Floors in comparison to its competitors and maintain its brand image among architects. Maintain quality and reputation of Westind Ultrakilk Engineered Wood Floors and advertise on them aggressively since it is found that they are the major reasons 24 for customers’ decision to choose the product. Recommendations for purchase stage: It is advisory to take measurements of the sites of all customers as this will help to deliver the accurate quantity of material, thus reducing wastage and expenses. As suggested by the customers, to improve the ordering procedure, WIP can consider facilitating an online ordering facility where all information about the product is available which will attract more customers and increase the sales. Even though there is only a small portion of customers who are unhappy with the mode of delivery adopted , it is advisable that the company give due attention to the mode of deliveries adopted for wooden floorings. Recommendations for post-purchase stage: Since it is found that scratching, damage due to water seepage and termite-attack are the problems faced by customers after they installed wooden flooring, the company should try to develop anti- scratch, moisture-proof and anti-termite coatings for wooden floorings. Each coating can be charged a nominal rate and also be sold separately in the market so that customers can buy it when the applied coating during installation withers off. This will also generate additional revenue for the company. 25 REFERENCES 1. https://www.wipltd.in/home.html 2. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/the-western-india-plywood- ltd/quotecompare/companyid-11451.cms?from=mdr 3. https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/wooden-floor-market 4. Marketing Management (15 th Edition) by Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller Download 1.82 Mb. Share with your friends:
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