1. Situation Analysis
Team Assignment

2. Situation Analysis
The Situation analysis will help your company understand the current market conditions and how the industry will evolve over the next eight years. There are five parts:
Perceptual Map
Demand Analysis
Capacity Analysis
Margin Analysis
Consumer Report
These exercises require The Foundation FastTrack industry newsletter.

3. Perceptual Map
High
Tech
Low
The Perceptual Map can be used to plan revision and invention projects that follow customer's changing expectations as well as assist in comparing products for forecasting.
Each segment is represented by a pair of circles.
The smaller, fine cut (solid) circle represents the heart of the segment.
There is a larger rough cut (dashed) circle that represents the outer fringe of the segment where there are still customers, but in lower quantities.

4. Perceptual Map
High
Tech
Low
Customer positioning preferences are reported in the Buying Criteria boxes in The Foundation FastTrack's Market Segment Analyses.
These locations, or ideal spots, drift with the segments and have different levels of importance to different segments
for example, the High Tech segment cares more about positioning than Low Tech.
The Buying Criteria report the preferred size and performance for each segment as of December 31 of the previous year.

5. Perceptual Map Low Tech Customer Buying Criteria
  Expectations Importance
Price $ %
Age Ideal Age = %
Reliability MTBF %
Positioning Pfmn 4.8 Size %
High Tech Customer Buying Criteria  Expectations Importance
1. Positioning Pfmn 7.4 Size %
2. Age Ideal Age = %
3. Price $ %
4. Reliability MTBF %

6. Perceptual Map Segment Centers at the End of Round1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Low Tech
Performance
4.8
5.3
Size
15.2
14.7
High Tech
6.0
6.7
14.0
13.3
Segment Ideal Spots at the End of Each Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Low Tech
Performance
4.8
Size
15.2
High Tech
7.4
12.6
Ideal Spot Locations Relative to Segment Centers
Segment
Performance
Size
Low Tech
0.0
High Tech
1.4
-1.4

7. Demand Analysis
The Demand Analysis will help your team anticipate future demand. It will also help attain a starting point for sales forecasting by taking the industry demand and dividing that by the number of products in the segment In addition, this exercise is useful when making purchase decisions for capacity.
You will need the Segment Analysis pages (5 - 6) of The Foundation FastTrack for Round 0. To analyze the demand for each segment, find the demand at the start of the simulation (Round 0), then calculate demand for Rounds 1 through 8.
Segment
Round 0
Growth Rate
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Low Tech
10.0%
High Tech
20.0%

8. Cost to Double Capacity Cost to Maximize Automation
Capacity Analysis
The Capacity Analysis will help your team anticipate the cost of adding Capacity and Automation to capitalize on the growth predicted in the Demand Analysis. The information needed for this exercise is on the Production page of the Foundation FastTrack. Use the information for your company (the first letter of your company's name is the first letter of all of your products names) to complete the exercise.
Product Name
Capacity (000)
Overtime Capacity (000)
Automation Level
Cost to Double Capacity
Cost to Maximize Automation
Firm
Industry

9. Contribution Margin / Unit
Margin Analysis
Healthy margins, the difference between a product's manufacturing cost and its price, are critical to company success. The Margin Analysis will help your team understand the cost of material. It will also help your team understand the effect automation has on labor costs. It will also demonstrate the importance of adequate pricing, and the upper limits of profitability.
You will find the necessary information on the Production Analysis, page 4 of The FoundationFastTrack.
Price
Material Cost
Labor Cost
Overtime (Y/N)
Contribution Margin
Margin Potential
Segment
Upper Price Limit
Lowest Material Cost
Lowest Labor Cost
Automation Level
Contribution Margin / Unit
Contribution Margin %
Low Tech
High Tech

10. Consumer Analysis Low Tech High Tech Price Quality Age Positioning
Awareness 
Accessibility
Overall   

11. Consumer Analysis
The Consumer Report will help your team understand the need to design quality product and the importance of adequate pricing, sales budget and promotion budget decisions.
You will need The Foundation FastTrack Market Segment Analyses Buying Criteria and the Production Analysis. Enter you answers in form provided using G for Good, F for Fair, and P for poor.
Price: Award a Good if your product's price is in the bottom third of the expected price range, Fair if it is in the middle third and Poor if it is in the top third.
Reliability: Award a Good if the MTBF specification is in the top third of the range, Fair if it is in the middle third and Poor if it is in the bottom third.
Age: Award a Good if the age on December 31 is within .5 years of the ideal age, Fair if the age is .6 to 1 year away and Poor of the age is beyond 1 year away.
Positioning: Award a Good if your product is within .5 units of the segment's ideal spot, Fair if it is .6 to 1.5 units away and Poor if it is beyond 1.5 units.
Awareness: Award a Good if your product's awareness exceeds 80%, Fair if it is 50% to 80% and Poor if it is below 50%.
Accessibility: Award a Good if your product's accessibility exceeds 80%, Fair if it is 50% to 80% and Poor if it is below 50%.
In the Overall row, give your products a Good only if the top two attributes in the Buying Criteria rate Good, and if the awareness and accessibility ratings are at least fair.