Cumberland

In January of 1980, Cumberland Metal Industries (CMI) had developed a new product for the pile driving industry. Its new pad, made of tightly curled metal, had the potential to break into an industry where little or no innovation was taking place. The CMI product testing showed great efficiency gains over the current standard asbestos product. The existing competition consisted of small firms, few of which had the knowledge or resources to design and develop new products. CMI seemed on the verge of breaking into a new market, where its product would be the technological front-runner. It now needed to show its customers the value its product would provide, and price its new product accordingly.

 Without any consideration to potential savings realized in the price of the product, the CMI pad provides additional value to the customer in two ways, time and safety. Using asbestos pads, a pile driver was able to drive approximately 150-160 feet per hour. Using the CMI pads, the same pile driver was able to drive 200 feet per hour. Additionally, the CMI pads never went above a temperature of 250oF, which allowed them to be handled almost immediately. This increase in speed and resiliency accounted for a productivity increase of 33% faster driving time. With regards to safety, the CMI pad alleviates any health hazard concerns, which many workers were starting to feel towards the asbestos pads. This in the long run could save the customer significant money in healthcare costs and legal fees, should asbestos be proven to cause health concerns.

 The primary target market for the CMI pad would be the Engineering/Construction contractors and Independent pile-driving contractors. These two categories would benefit the most from a lower cost alternative to asbestos, as well as from the time and safety efficiencies. The secondary target market would be the Pile Hammer Distributors and Renting companies. This category may be less welcoming to the CMI pads, as the efficiencies...