Comfort Components Pvt. Ltd.: Qualitative Research for Customized Seats
On July 5th 2015, when Ankit Srivastava (Ankit), Founder-CEO, received a forwarded mail from Manish Saxena (Manish), COO of Comfort Components Pvt. Ltd. (CCPL), he was in a quandary. The mail was about the possibility of customizing seats for a major customized coach builder in South India. This was the seventh such request forwarded to him and Ankit was not able to take a decision whether he should go ahead and commit the required resources for the customized seats.
Automobile Seats Manufacturing: Designed with Regulations
A standard car seat is designed as per the Automotive Industry Standards (AIS). The standards were established considering passengers’ safety and comfort. The seats consist of three main parts: the seat back (squab), seat base (cushion), and the headrest. These components are usually constructed from foam to provide comfort to the passengers. Each of these will have standard dimensions. The car manufacturers design car seats as per the requirement of the ar’s/automobile’s dimensions but adhering to the AIS standards. Manufacturing of seats has to follow stringent guidelines and specifications. For instance, while Toyota’s Innova has a standard specifications for seats, Skoda’s Fabia has an another set of specifications (Exhibit I).................
Comfort Components Private Limited (CCPL)
CCPL founded in 2000, is counted among the major auto components manufacturers in South India. CCPL focuses on manufacturing seats for automobiles. CCPL was setup by Ankit Srivastava (Ankit), an automobile engineer. Ankit, a graduate from one of the IITs, joined a well-known Indian automobile manufacturer for its newly launched cars division as Graduate Engineer Trainee in 1984 and worked his way up to be a successful Line Manager by 1990. As a Line Manager for more than 10 years, Ankit acquired adequate knowledge in manufacturing auto components and managing respective suppliers/vendors’ requirements............
Assignment Questions
I. What do you understand by Qualitative Research? What are the elements of Qualitative Research? When do you think Qualitative Research should be undertaken? Do you think Blueline Research should adopt Qualitative Research for CCPL’s Marketing Research Project? If yes, why? If no, why not?
II. What do you mean by Focused Group Interviews and Depth Interviews? What are the differences between both of them and what’s the feasibility of both of them/either of them being used for CCPL’s Marketing Research project?
III..............
Exhibits
Exhibit I: Automobile Seats Manufacturing: Details of Seat
Exhibit II: Adjustments in Automobile Seats
Exhibit III: Automobile Clusters in India
Exhibit IV: CCPL’s Business