Improving the competitiveness of a closet door manufacturer

In a very competitive sector with very low margins, where products are sold mainly through two large DIY stores, our customer wishes to:

• Strengthen its position in the mid- and high-end segments by rebuilding sufficient margin levels to grow
• Create a very competitive entry-level product (segment where it is not present) in order to gain market share and ensure a complementary business over the long term

2 objectives are allocated to IAC :

In addition to the teams of consultants, a project manager is specially seconded to the client to carry out these 2 objectives in parallel within deadlines dictated by the market and product renewal requests.

A 3-step process (Analyze / Search / Validate) is performed on both the Redesign-To-Cost project and the Design-To-Cost.

On the Design-To-Cost project, an allocation of target costs by function is made to give the necessary economic objectives on the definition of the new product.

The search for technical productivity is completed by Purchasing actions of 2 types :

• Identify more competitive alternative suppliers and obtain offers on major components. This benchmark of purchase prices made it possible to renegotiate with the current suppliers and to select the competent suppliers to develop the new range
• Conduct idea research workshops directly with and at suppliers to define and validate the most promising optimization and breakthrough paths

On the 2 projects, a very thorough technical analysis of the competition makes it possible to detect competitiveness gaps on which the team will then work to elaborate evolutions and new concepts.

The Design-To-Cost project was part of our client’s research project, funded in large part by the CIR (Crédit Impôt Recherche). During this project, a key technical innovation to meet the cost target was patented.

• Results exceeded targets in the mid- and high-end segments, with 15% of cost reductions validated.
• An entry-level product at objective cost and an intensive industrialisation process not to miss the marketing date.
• Thanks to this important project, our client took over its main competitor and became leader in the entry-level segment.