De Havilland Inc. Case Report

Executive Summary

De Havilland (Havilland) is Canadian aircraft manufacturer that was recently acquired by Boeing. The parent company has requested Havilland take on several initiatives including seeking 25% price reductions from suppliers, reducing the total number of suppliers and seeking more long-term fixed pricing agreements. Havilland recently received submissions for an RFQ for the supply of supply flap shrouds and equipment bay doors. The pricing received raises some concerns however, as there are large variations in pricing between the lowest price from Marton Enterprises Inc. (Marton) and the highest price from the incumbent, Dollard Plastics (Dollard).

There are several viable alternatives for Havilland. They may accept the bid from Marton on the condition that it is assured Marton fully understands the scope, their facilities are sufficiently equipped, and they provide their financials. It will be in Havilland’s best interests not to pursue their policy under the Bidder Selection Board (BSB) to attempt to renegotiate the price lower since Marton already provided substantial savings. The next option for Havilland is to pursue the first option but only given Marton 80% of the work for the first year and keep the incumbent under contract for the remaining 20% of work. The third option is to cancel the RFQ, clarify with the bidders what was unclear in the specifications that resulted in such a wide variation in pricing and go out for bids again. The final option is to attempt to negotiate with the three low bidders for the supply of individual parts, since each of the bidders had one of the lowest prices in each of the three categories.

This report recommends Havilland chooses the second alternative to pursue the bid from Marton but maintain a small contract with Dollard for the first year, until Marton has proven it can delivery to the terms of the contract. Havilland must spend the next few weeks determining if Marton can rectify all the...