Selling 9th Edition by Stephen Castleberry,John Tanner

Exercise 5

Using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, Matya manufactures inventory management and tracking systems. Used in any environment where tracking inventory location is important, these devices track movement of products within a warehouse, within a manufacturing facility, and even while on the truck or train. Patsy Moorman was calling on Dave Daugherty, senior purchasing director for Euro-LED, a company that makes low-energy lighting for commercial applications. Dave has global responsibility for purchasing standardization, and developing a common inventory management system across all of Euro-LED's 24 locations in eight countries is a task he has to complete this year. Patsy's primary call objective was to have Dave agree to set up an appointment in the next several weeks for Patsy to present to the supply chain committee that will review proposals and narrow the choices down to three systems.
PATSY: Our scanning systems can support the digital standards of both the United States and Europe, which means that, with some engineering changes in your computer network, your locations can use the same scanners.
DAVE: Patsy, I've really been thinking that the RFID scanners made by Alcatel are industry standard, and I'm concerned about our China plant. What has Matya done differently with these scanners?
PATSY: Quality is something we take very seriously at Matya, but having the best-built old product isn't enough, is it? So we've also built probably the finest engineering staff over the past five years that you'll find anywhere. The result is a product line that was just awarded the Dubai Engineering Innovation World Cup award only last month.
DAVE: That's impressive, and you're right. A well-built product using yesterday's technology is of no benefit to us. But how important is bicontinental use at the scanning level? It's not like we ship from our European plants to the States; seems to me we could use local-made products and just merge data later when we need to.
PATSY: Yes, you can, but that's really inconsistent with the overall strategy of minimizing the number of vendors and having global suppliers. How do you serve Latin America or Africa?
DAVE: Well, we don't have a lot of business in Africa, yet but it's growing. And in Latin America, we supply both from China and the United States, so I see your point.
PATSY: Then you may have seen a report issued by DataMark that indicates some users have had data problems that were difficult to identify until something goes horribly wrong. Just merging data from disparate systems isn't always the best option.
DAVE: I've seen that data from DataMark as well as an article in the last issue of Supply Chain Management. But we've had no plans for a global RFID process.
PATSY: Why is that?
DAVE: We don't know that it is necessary-we don't think we've got that many locations where scanning is a necessity.
PATSY: What would be considered a significant percentage-of your total sites, I mean?
DAVE: I would guess 50 percent would be acceptable. What are others experiencing?
PATSY: We've got several, maybe four, that have standardized with us globally and another group of about two dozen that use us in the United States or Europe. How does that sound?
DAVE: Intriguing, though we're not the same as others.
PATSY: I know. That's why I'd like to set up a meeting with your supply chain team in the near future. But we'll probably also need someone there from logistics, right?
DAVE: Yes, I suppose we would.
PATSY: Will I have your endorsement at the meeting?
DAVE: We'll have to wait and see. I'll need some documentation on the figures you've given me, and I'd like that before we set up the meeting.
List how you would attempt to obtain commitment using three other methods of your choice. Write out exactly what you would say for each method (and be sure to identify the method).