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SWOT Analysis Summary
Strengths
Product quality in both the food products group and technical products group is superior.
Fowlers had achieved low-cost manufacturer status in the technical products group prior to outsourcing several key items in the product line.
The durable products group is perceived to be the most responsive in its chosen geographic markets, often delivering products and services on the same day as the request.
The food products group has earned the reputation for superior delivery performance, mitigating criticism of premium prices in a commodity marketplace.
Growth in durable products exceeds expectations.
Weaknesses
Organizational assimilation of the new Tier One enterprise resource planning system.
Delivery performance is inconsistent, especially in the technical products group; customer complaints in this market are especially high. Because the market visibility is so high, Fowlers is developing a reputation in the customer's eyes as being "tough to do business with" (hard to place an order, incomplete and incorrect product shipments, inaccurate pricing, poor order status capability, etc.). This is negatively impacting overall satisfaction ratings.
Erosion of operating income in the food and technical product groups due to price pressure.
Costs to purchase increasing despite lower cost of sales.
Rate of cost increase for customer service cost centers are substantially outpacing sales.
In spite of sales growth, Fowlers' stock price has taken a hit due to five quarters of poor profit-after-tax results and a bloating cash-to-cash cycle; analyst criticism focused on Fowlers' inability to effectively manage return on assets and integrate profit potential of the business services acquisition.
Opportunities
Leverage commodity buys across all Fowlers product groups to improve gross profit.
Improve effectiveness and efficiency of order fulfillment to improve customer satisfaction and indirect spend.
Develop more advanced knowledge management capability to add financial value to customers beyond pure price decrease.
Accelerate market share in the durable products group by introducing an online catalogue for end customers.
Leverage cost-to-manufacture leadership in the technical products group to increase profits.
Threats
Key competitors in the food products group are buying their way into the marketplace using a "lowest list price" strategy.
Technical products group market share is declining faster than the market overall; customer satisfaction scores put it in the lowest quartile of performance.
Price point in the technical products group is getting too low to meet profit targets with the current cost structure.
Established catalogue apparel companies are potential competitors to the online sales channel being introduced this quarter by the durable products group.
