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B2B SUPPLIER SOLUTION READINESSSERVICE MGT & SCIENCE FORUMLAS VEGAS, AUGUST 5-6, 2013

Dr. Stefan MichelProfessor of Marketing and Service Management@michelstef

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200‘000 Fastening Products, ISO 9000 Quality, many products are highly standardized and commoditized

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ABC Analysis and the 15/85 rule

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Fasteners are not expensive, but criticalTrain derailment kills 7 in France

BRETIGNY-SUR-ORGE, France (Reuters) - The train derailment that killed at least six people in central France in July 2013 may have been caused by a loose steel plate at a junction, French train operator SNCF said.

The steel plate, which should have remained bolted onto the track, moved to "the middle of the track junction", preventing the rolling stock from passing through, Pierre Izard, head of infrastructure services at SNCF, said on Saturday.

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Strategic Pillars for Bossard:Intelligent Solutions for High Productivity

Product

Engineering

Logistics

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System organization of C-Part auto supply management with development of e-scale inventory management (Smart Bin System)

EngineeringLogisticsProducts

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Logistics Solutions: Smart Bin EngineeringLogisticsProducts

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Bossard Inventory Management (BIM)

Customers keep control over the selection and procurement of their C-parts remain in permanent contact with their suppliers

Suppliers fully comply with their technical responsibilities prevent bottlenecks in supply through keeping a guaranteed level of reserve

stock Bossard Inventory Management

takes over the responsibility for your supply of C-parts manages your storage facility organises replacement stock guarantees the automatic flow of information coordinates the flow of goods creates a consolidated monthly invoice for you

EngineeringLogisticsProducts

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Research Question: How can suppliers evaluate whether or not they are ready for making money from business solutions?

Research Phase I: Exploratory Interviews Interviews with 21 executives in B2B firms Different industries Different countries Identification of 17 strategic interaction

(1) Is the decision applicable beyond a specific context, such as a firm or industry?

(2) Did multiple participants mention the decision? (3) Does the decision go beyond the obvious to provide interesting and

useful conclusions?

Research Phase II: In-depth case study with 4 partner firms

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Constructing a Concept of Solution Readiness

Customer-Supplier

Relationship

Co-creation Value

Relationshipsin the Value

System

Customer Supplier

-Willingness to accept supplier as business consultant-Willingness to become more dependent-Thinking long-term in total costs

-Willingness to make up-front investment-Willingness to compromise existing business

-Clear target for solution redeployment-Suitable price carrier identified and implemented-Strategy to convince customer that value captured is a «fair share»

-Access to complementary partnering companies-Collaborative working with competing companies-Ability to change their positioning in the value system

-Commiting to the solution scope

-Transparency about value co-creation processes-Business knowledge exchange

-Willigness to accept changes to the customer’s existing value system

-Willingness of existing actors to adapt to new roles-Flexibility of new actors to adapt to the solution-specific value syste