Silver Ships Case

Silver Ships seems to have pretty good wraps as to where their company is going. They have a high level customer base and they maintain their status of making high quality products for those customers. They also seem to be head of the curve in the technology department as well. However there are a few facets that seem to be holding the company back.

One of the first aspects that stuck out to me when reading this case was Silver Ships vision statement. The vision statement is a less than impressive for the simple fact that if we were to change a few words around, it could very easily be another company’s vision statement. I recommend they really hone in on what it is they are doing now that sets them apart from their competitors and decipher where exactly they’re going.

The amount of time it takes them to create these vessels is a bit concerning. The entire process takes them on an average of seven weeks to complete from start to finish (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland p.c-219), They have a very in-depth computer imagery system that allows them to look at the ship at differing angles to determine if their model will be held to their standards. It is also being done mainly by hand which is another reason for the lengthy time. This is something that could potential hurt them because it is taking so long to get the finished product up and out the door for testing. Although it is imperative they make high quality products for their customers, I would recommend they take a look at their building processes and determine what they can do more efficiently in order to get these vessels created a little faster.

Economically the company seems to be somewhat holding strong and staying afloat. These economic factors are something that Silver Ships has absolutely no control over. This is one thing that could potentially hurt the company in there need/want for expansion. Because the economy is and has been on a downward slide, it could potentially hurt the company’s long term revenue growth. There is also the threat of higher taxes to small business owners. I recommend that they make sure that they are analyzing the potential outcomes of any and all decisions and then make good sound business decisions from there.

There are many competitors in this line of work. It seems as though Silver Ships offers a limited number of products to their customers. Unless a customer is coming to them after they have made a bid on customer specific product, they are only making a few different models regularly. This is something that in my opinion isn’t a good tactic for the company. Of course what they are making is customer specific and they have the technology behind them to make different types of vessels. However, a customer could not just come to them to see different types of vessels and purchase something right there on the spot. They would have to specify exactly what they want to Silver Ships and then wait seven weeks to receive