Product launch strategy for heated cribs and camera-equipped diaper bags

Supply Chain Design Executive Summary and Presentation (Preparation)

The modern day young adults delay the point of marriage and having children up to a point where they feel emotionally and financially stable. And when they do settle down and start out their families, they tend to be well educated and financially sound. Also, having postponed the moment of parenthood, this becomes a priority and the newborns usually get the best the parents can provide.

This category of new parents, from the middle and upper middle socio-economic class, represents the very target market for the two new products to be introduced, namely the heated crib mattress and the diaper bag with an installed camera. The two products are both designed for the comfort and protection of the children and they are characterized by a series of features. These features are best assessed in a comparative manner, in which the advantages and disadvantages of both items are presented. This analysis is conducted in the table below:

Advantages

Disadvantages

Heated crib

- Protects the child during his sleep and improves their health

- Made from a material which does not retain stains

- Antibacterial and anti-allergic, due to the materials

- Safe for usage by the child

- Only useful within the home

- Perceptions that warm and soft mattresses could lead to inadequate sleep, which can sometimes be the cause of SIDS -- sudden infant death syndrome (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2011)

Diaper bag with camera installed

Ability to perform the initially stated function

In this order of ideas, when creating the design for the two items, the company has to ensure that the products are safe for the usage of the children (mostly revealed at the level of the mattress, which has to ensure a safe, comfortable and correct sleeping position) as well as for the usage of the adults (especially at the level of the diaper bag with an incorporated camera, which has to prevent any accidents). Then, it is important for the two products to promise and deliver high quality, accompanied by results of studies conducted, as well as recommendations from specialists and certificates of guarantee, valid for at least two years. Such measures would increase the trust of the customers in the two new items. Finally, the heated mattress and the diaper bag with an incorporated camera have to perform at high standards of quality and ensure the successful completion of the stated functionalities; this criterion is the first and foremost important requirement in the design of the two items.

Last, the final issue to be addressed is represented by the needs which arise at the level of the supply chain. In a generic format:

"A supply chain consists of all parties involved, directly or indirectly, in fulfilling a customer request. The supply chain not only includes the manufacturer and suppliers, but also transporters, warehouses, retailers, and customers themselves. Within each organization, such as manufacturer, the supply chain includes all functions involved in receiving and filling a customer request. These functions include, but are not limited to, new product development, marketing, operations, distribution, finance, and customer service" (Small Business Advancement National Center).

In the case of the heated mattress and the diaper bag with an integrated camera, the supply chain needs start with the providers. The first product relies on providers of mattresses and heating systems, whereas the second item relies on purveyors of bags and cameras. Then, efforts would be made at the level of product design and manufacturing, in order to create the final product. The supply chain needs would then expend to a distribution system, which could be either direct or indirect. At this stage, an indirect system is perceived as more adequate as it would reduce the sales efforts of the company and would benefit from the already created network of the intermediaries and partners. Last, the final aspect of the needs along the supply chain refers to the promotion of the two items through several marketing programs. At this level, campaigns would be created to emphasize both the technical functionalities of the items, as well as the benefits the two products would create for the children and the parents.

References:

Stone, M., Foss, B., 2001, Successful customer relationship marketing: new thinking, new strategies, new tools for getting closer to your customers, Kogan Page Publishers

1999, What is baseline data? SIL International, http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/literacy/referencematerials/glossaryofliteracyterms/whatisbaselinedata.htmlast accessed on August 2, 2012

2011, Sudden infant death syndrome, National Center for Biotechnology Information, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002533 / last accessed on August 2, 2012

What is a supply chain? Small Business Advancement National Center, http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/publications/supply_chain_management/pdf/01.pdf last accessed on August 2, 2012