Drill Bits, Inc. Bob Douglass owns a machine shop. Most of his work is local business, as
Question:
Drill Bits, Inc. Bob Douglass owns a machine shop. Most of his work is local business, as machine shop work is labor intensive, and it is difficult to obtain large quantity orders. Bob is consider- ing branching out. For many years he has observed a couple of local manufacturers whose processes require them to make highly precise drills in metal. For example, the engine block cylinders they produce must be extremely precise for the engines to run at the required com- pression standards. To make such a precise drill, the drill bits can be used only a few times before they lose their original specifications. Then these expensive drill bits must be thrown away. Bob's customers have complained about this for years, and Bob has been working on a process to refurbish these throwaway bits back to their original specifications. Finally, Bob has perfected this process. His local customers try out the refurbished bits and are ecstatic with the results. They can now get double the life or even more out of a drill bit. Bob knows his machine shop will soon be very busy from two local customers. To expand his business to accommodate a large volume of refurbishment business, he knows he will have to invest a large sum of money in expanding the building and the machinery needed for the process. But he has no idea of the volume of business to expect.
1. If Bob just wants to know how many firms make engine blocks in the United States, what type of research design would best describe this activity? Explain your reasoning.
2. What secondary source(s) of information would Bob want to seek to achieve the goal stated in question 1?