Trico Wiper Blade Manufacturer: Strategic Analysis & Solutions
This paper examines the strategic and operational challenges facing Trico, Australia's only windscreen wiper blade manufacturer. The company is under financial pressure from internal inefficiencies and external market forces, including shifting Australian government policy toward the automobile industry. Key problems identified include heavy dependence on a small number of car company clients, large-batch production philosophy, excessive inventory costs, poor inter-departmental communication, inadequate quality control, and limited access to non-OEM markets. The paper evaluates two strategic options — plant closure versus technology investment — and recommends a series of targeted improvements spanning lean operations, Just-in-Time delivery, Material Requirements Planning, HR development, and cross-functional integration to restore long-term competitiveness.
- Introduction and Company Overview: Trico's market position and strategic dilemma
- External and Internal Challenges: Government policy shifts and internal dysfunction
- Production and Inventory Problems: Batch size, lead times, and inventory costs
- Organizational and Communication Weaknesses: Departmental silos and poor cross-functional cooperation
- Strategic Options and Constraints: Plant closure versus FMS technology investment
- Recommended Solutions and Improvements: Lean operations, JIT delivery, and MRP reforms
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What makes this paper effective
- It systematically categorizes problems as internal or external before moving to solutions, giving the analysis a clear diagnostic structure.
- It grounds strategic recommendations in the company's specific constraints — budget limitations, sole-manufacturer status, and client dependency — rather than offering generic advice.
- It uses concrete figures (e.g., $2.5 million inventory costs, $5 million site value) to anchor the business case for change.
Key academic technique demonstrated
This paper demonstrates applied problem-solution analysis in a business context: the writer identifies a real organizational scenario, diagnoses root causes across multiple functional areas (operations, HR, communication, finance), and then proposes targeted remedies. Each recommendation is linked back to a previously identified problem, maintaining logical coherence throughout the argument.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a company overview and the two strategic options available. It then catalogues external pressures and internal dysfunctions in detail — covering production batch size, inventory accumulation, quality defects, design timing, and organizational silos. The final section pivots to actionable recommendations: lean operations, JIT delivery, MRP improvement, IT-supported communication, and HR training. The conclusion ties cost efficiency to reduced client dependence and a stronger market position.
Introduction and Company Overview
Trico is a company that manufactures windscreen wiper blades. It is located in Australia and is the only manufacturer of this type in the region. The company is undergoing a difficult period from the point of view of profitability and needs to make strategic changes in order to survive in the future. These critical circumstances have been caused by a variety of reasons, both internal and external, most of which need to be addressed as soon as possible.
Trico is faced with a situation in which it must decide on a strategy that will prove efficient and effective from a long-term perspective. One option is to close down operations entirely, given that the value of the activity site alone is $5 million. The other option is to make a large investment in developing the technology the organization uses and expanding its Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) technology.
The latter option, however, carries two main disadvantages. The first is that it is highly expensive. The second concerns the company's own capacity to implement this technology — it remains unclear whether the company's structure and resources are sufficient to deploy FMS in an efficient manner. Therefore, Trico must also look for other alternatives.
External and Internal Challenges
There are numerous problems that Trico needs to address, and the challenge is made all the more complex by the fact that these problems exist at both the internal and external levels. The external issues include changes in Australian government policy regarding the automobile industry and commerce. The internal issues affect the enterprise at all levels — horizontal and vertical — from the company's organizational structure to its communication processes and its relationships with customers.
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