Case Study 2 Mimaksa Steel

This case is about supply chain decisions. You are to put yourself in the Managers shoes to decide whether to manufacture and sell a sawblade to sawmills with a new kind of coating. Although this case is about a real company the name and country have been changed to keep them anonymous, so you wont find anything online about this company. From first glance it appears that this is a great project and deserves the go ahead. However, the distribution channels have raised strong objections to this new product. So, first, determine the profitability of this product and why Memaksa would want to move forward with the project. Next you will need to think in terms of the distributors and the outfitters. Why would they object to this new product? It will help to do a flow chart between Memaksa, the distribution channels and the sawmills and to do a breakeven analysis. Assume the old blades cost $100 each and volume is currently 100,000 units per year. What would be a disincentive to change from the old to the new? What would be the incentive to change for the distributors, the outfitters and the sawmills? If the distribution channels decide not to carry your product, what can you do to still proceed with this innovation? Does it still make sense to do this? This