Midas Case Study

Qualifiers: Midas's qualifiers include: (1) Speed; (2) Specialisation of services; (3) Price; (4) Trust/Reliability; (5) Quality parts; (6) Customer service; (7) Guarantee; and (8) Location.

Winners: From the customer's perspective the winners which ensures they utilise Midas are Speed and Price.

In order to assess the anticipated impacts of the introduction of maintenance services on the existing business process it is necessary to analyse the potential fit of the new business with the existing areas. This analysis will indicate whether or not the process can be effectively integrated within the existing production process without jeopardising the company's existing winning qualifiers.

Potential negative impacts

* Need to new skills within taskforce - training is necessary;

* Complicates the operation process;

* Demands on physical space and potential capacity constraints;

* Pressure on storage space of inventory - may require offsite storage which may complicate the operation process;

* Additional labour demands;

* Planning complexity;

* New machinery will be required creating further pressures on location space;

* More time is required to offer all services;

* Possible bottlenecks in the operation process;

* Customer awareness of new services needs to be addressed.

The problem with the proposed introduction of the maintenance services is that Midas is moving from specialised services, namely mufflers and brakes into more general services such as maintenance. The potential negative impacts have been outlined above, and the successful product line extension must be managed to ensure effective allocation of resources so that the existing businesses are not harmed.

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