Case: Janmar Coatings, Inc.
Nature of the Industry, Market, and Buyer Behavior
The nature of this industry is split into three general segments. The first segment is architectural coatings, the second, original equipment manufacturing (OEM), and the final special purpose coatings. Architectural coatings are what you would classify as the general purpose paints, varnishes, and polishes. They are mostly used on housing, commercial, and institutional structures, the more common types of places. Original equipment manufacturing is when it is formulated for industrial use and is used on original equipment by manufacturing. You will find OEM being used on automobiles, appliances, furniture, and a variety of other things. Special Purpose coatings are used for special procedures or various ecological conditions. You will find coatings of this nature used on bridges, ships, railroads and more types of transportation type of structures.. There are many competitors in this industry such as Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, the Glidden unit of Imperial chemicals, PPG Industries, and many more. As you can see this is a very competitive market. These competitors have both strengths and weaknesses. A few weaknesses were that come of the companies were unable to make money and study and expansion commitments had to sell their paint businesses. One major strength would be that larger firms that can buy the smaller businesses can have more of an impact because now they have more of a geographically presence. In this industry most buyers buy from the wholesaler or the retailer such as Sears, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Lowe’s, and Home Depot. The market can be segmented into two parts, DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) and non-DFW. Under these two parts you have the do it yourself buyers and professional painters. The do it yourself buyers would bethe ones that shop at Home Depot and Lowe’s while the professional painters wold be the firms, like Janamr and Sherman Williams. To be successful...