1. Executive Summary
Duncan Industries was founded in 1991 by its founder, Mark Duncan in Lachine, Quebec in Canada. The company’s main product is the Duncan Lift. It was designed by the founder. Mr. Duncan’s priorities when he designed the products were quality workmanship and safety. The Duncan Lift was considered the leader in automotive lift safety. The company made sure that they will continuously improve every aspect of the lift, especially when it comes to safety features, resulting in a high quality, safe and durable product backed with good service and five-year warranty.
The Duncan Lift was first introduced in 1993. The company sold 23 of them. By 1999, the company has sold over 1,054 hoists and had sales of almost $10,000,000.
In 2000, Duncan industries had a market share of 45.5% of the surface scissor lifts in the North American market. However, there was limited growth to non in year 2000. The company must make some decisions to put the company back on the rapid growth track.
According to the feasibility studies, Duncan Industries has two opportunities to expand its growth. First solution was to expand sales in the U.S. Market. There were some unrealized potential in that market that the company did not fully realize. The other solution was to enter the European market. Three alternatives were mentioned to enter the European Union, which are: Licensing, joint-venture with Bar Maisse, a reputable noncompetitive French company, and direct investment. Currently, there is already an offer for a licensing agreement. Bar Maisse wants us to enter a three-year licensing agreement.
Regarding the U.S. market expansion, we would like to advice the company to set up a New York office to service the nearby twelve states from the Lachine plant. In addition, we would like the company to closely work with the U.S. automotive wholesaler as well. We need to encourage them to “push” or spend an extra effort to sell the company’s lifts all over the U.S....