Curled Metal Inc. – Engineered Products Division

Curled Metal Inc. – Engineered Products Division

Summary: Curled Metal Inc. (CMI) has grown rapidly over the last decade mainly because of its Slip-Seal product’s rapid growth. Recently, CMI has tried to diversify its business by introducing a new application for curled metal technology in the form of a unique cushion pad for driving piles. The initial testing for the CMI cushion pads have shown great performance and potential cost-saving benefits. One of their initial tests was with Kendrick Foundation Company, who were thrilled with the results and have pressed CMI to quote them prices so they can buy more cushion pads. Group Manager of Mechanical Products, Rajiv Sanwal, has been tasked to come up with a price quote, and needs to consider every relevant factor before coming up with an effective price.

Company: CMI began by creating custom-fabricating components for chemical process filtration and other technical applications. Their strategy soon evolved from selling metal finished products to selling products that used certain metals as a raw material. CMI experienced extreme growth, going from annual revenues of just $750,000 in 1991 to over $55 million in annual revenues by 2007. Much of this can be attributed to CMI’s flagship product, the Slip-Seal, which was created in response to stricter environmental regulations by the US government towards the auto industry. Given CMI’s high reliance on a single product for revenue, CMI is trying to diversify its business and customer base. With their positioning as a market leader (80% market share) with a dependable product (Slip-Seal), CMI believes they can carry this goodwill into supporting the introduction of new company products that serve other customers. Following two successful experiment runs of their new cushion pad product with Kendrick Foundation Company and Corey Construction, CMI management has confidence that there is a strong market and obvious competitive advantage of their new cushion pads.

Competition: Interestingly, despite the inherent importance of pads in the process of driving piles, little attention has been paid to advancing the technology of pads. Because of this, CMI faces no obvious competition in the market for pile driving pads. Currently in this industry, multiple shops produce pads including manufacturers , outlets, and construction supply houses. As shown in the CMI’s two test trials, “competitor” pads, although readily available, are still highly inferior to the CMI cushion pad in terms of quality, safety and durability. However, these pads have been in place for awhile, and represent strong competitors for CMI’s cushion pads given that many in the construction market may be resistant to change.

Customer: Sanwal estimates a very large potential market for cushion pads in the US of between 290 to 390 million feet of piles driven assuming that each set of curled metal pads drive about 10,000 feet. CMI’s customers can be broken down into either influencers or purchasers. Influencers include pile hammer manufacturers and architectural/consulting engineers. Pile hammer manufacturers have a lot of contact with CMI’s purchasers and thus can influence them through positive recommendations. Architectural/consulting engineers are viewed in the industry as ultimate authorities on all aspects of the business, and thus they have strong influencing powers in the industry as well. Purchasers for CMI include engineering/construction contractors and independent contractors. CMI may have a difficult time targeting rental companies because the better efficiency of CMI’s pads may lead to lower rent times, while rent companies also prefer pads they can easily sell, which may be tough with CMI’s pads given they are such a new product. Instead, by targeting independent contractors (who have a sole goal of maximizing profits), CMI can emphasize the cost saving benefits of cushion pads over conventional pads.