Introduction

Our client is a global leading multinational lubricant and specialties manufacturer who is seeking opportunities to expand its business in the general manufacturing industry. Hence our client would like to gain deeper understanding of the industry in order to prioritize its sector focus.

About the Client

The client is a top lubricant manufacturer who provides a diverse portfolio of premium lubricant products, covering both automotive lubricants and industrial lubricants.

Business Issue

General manufacturing has been identified as one of the key focus downstream industries for our client in China. However, this industry covers a wide range of sectors, from mold manufacturing to computer components manufacturing. Besides, each sector is fairly fragmented and comprises thousands of small companies, some mid-sized ones and a few large companies. Thus, in order to further grow its business in the general manufacturing industry, the client approached Ipsos Business Consulting to help them better understand each target sector in the manufacturing industry, and to eventually define market opportunities to support its business growth.

Ipsos Business Consulting Solution

We applied a four-phased approach to address the project objectives.

The first phase was designed to understand the overall market and development trends in each target sector. Our team identified key customer segmentation and industrial clusters, and projected the market size in terms of industry output value and growth trends in each sector.

The second phase developed a sound understanding of customer demand in each target sector. We assessed total lubricant demand for each target sector, and analyzed customer lubricant usage and purchasing behavior, covering customers' requirements for lubricant suppliers, key considerations and criteria of lubricant purchasing, the purchasing process for lubricants, as well as identifying decision makers and influencers.

The third phase helped us to obtain a solid understanding of the competitive landscape. We compared perceptions of different brands among customers, and scored the capability and performance of major lubricant brands. The competitive landscape in each sector was also assessed

analyzing all the insights from previous phases, we developed strategic recommendations for the client in the last phase. We assessed sector attractiveness and prioritized key focus sectors. At the same time, we recommended key capabilities to develop in order to better meet and serve customers' needs.

Results

As a result of the study, our client obtained sound understanding of the sectors in the general manufacturing industry and readjusted its priority based on sector attractiveness and its own capability. Ipsos was subsequently invited to consult on similar projects across other Asian countries.