Thomas Manufacturing: A Case Study

The Story

“We have to broaden our product line in order to attract new customers”, said Ben Rogers, CEO of Thomas Manufacturing. “We have some older products which are experiencing declining sales and we need some replacements for them.”

The Challenge

Thomas Manufacturing is a well-established company operating in the Chicago area. Its main product lines are home air conditioners, humidifiers, and dehumidifiers. The company has been under pressure to introduce new products that might complement the existing product line.

Ben has had discussions with a product research company, and a new product idea has come up for consideration – an electronic air cleaner.

Ben defined his market as the State of Illinois and he gathered information on the number of households in the State, the growth rate of households, and the number of competitors. He determined that the peak season would be in the month of May, with a valley in January.

The Solution

With this information and some projections about pricing and fixed and variable costs, Ben contacted Thema Group to develop forecasts for a five-year period, as well as breakeven analysis for the same time period.

The Results

The Sales Forecast Report from Thema Group provided forecast results that were encouraging. The demand estimates were above the breakeven point and, therefore, the project was recommended.