REPORT

MARKET RESEARCH ON ABRASIVES

MANUFACTURED BY CUMI

As stated in the previous report, my first task in CUMI was to do market research
by visiting various hardware and paint shops around the city. This was
accomplished in two steps :

1) Understanding the organizational hierarchy and distributional structure in

CUMI through interactions with sales head and other marketing staff.

2) Going for field trips in various corners of the city to understand the
distribution effectiveness of CUMI, its sales and comparing with that of the
competitors.

VALUE CHAIN IN CUMI :

KEY INPUTS

PLANTS

PRODUCTS

CUSTOMER
INDUSTRIES

DISTRIBUTION IN CUMI :

CUMI headquartered in Chennai has its presence in about 43 countries around the
world to which it manages proper delivery of its goods through an intense
distribution network.
CUMI has manufacturing facilities spanning the South Asian region along with the
ones in China, Russia and Africa. It is from these plants that the finished products
reach the different warehouses spread across the continents from where it reaches
the retailer and those with bulk needs through intense hierarchical network of
distributors.
The above theory has been precisely explained in a flow chart on the next page .

CHENNAI HEADQUARTERS

MANUFACTURING PLANTS
INCLUDING THOSE IN CHINA
,RUSSIA AND AFRICA.

TRANSPORTED TO THE NEARBY WARE

HOUSE

DISTRIBUTED TO STATE DISTRIBUTOR

FROM WHOM IT MOVES DOWN TO
DISTRICT WISE AND THEN TO THE
LOCAL DISTRIBUTORS.

RETAILERS AND BULK

BUYERS

FINAL CONSUMERS

FIELD TRIP :

Since the company felt there could be lot of untapped market in suburbs of
Hyderabad . we were asked to do our research there and accordingly our research
was done in areas like Ameerpet ,Balanagar ,Ranigunj etc as a part of which we
visited around 150 paint and hardware shops. The synopsis of our research has
been captured to the best possible extent in the forthcoming paragraphs.
OBSERVATIONS :
One of the several paint shops that were visited as a part the study

In this store the stock of manual ,long strip abrasives was subsistent but the
variety in terms of brands and sizes was very less. One of the sample size that was
available is shown in the next illustration:
The size shown in the picture is 80 while sizes of 100,120 were also available.
Here the size determines the size of the granules used on the coarser side of the
strip. The coarser the strip is the more easier it is to level the unevenness. Thus
coarser strips are used for first stage level smoothening of the surfaces when the
unevenness is high.

Other than strips , abrasives are also available in the form of disks ,illustrations of
which taken during the course of the study at different Hard ware stores are as
below :

FRONT AND REAR SIDE OF DISK ABRASIVE OF SIZE 100

MANUFACTURED BY CENTURY.

FRONT AND REAR SIDE OF DISK ABRASIVE OF SIZE 100

MANUFACTURED BY CONCORD

FRONT AND REAR SIDE OF DISK ABRASIVE OF SIZE 80

MANUFACTURED BY PEACOCK.

FRONT AND REAR SIDE OF DISK ABRASIVE OF SIZE 36

MANUFACTURED BY NORTON.

NOTE : On close examination of the pictures, it can be understood that the size
determines size of the granule.

Apart from these the abrasives also come in the form of Sheets which can be used
to manually file the surfaces. Those can be as below:

Along side the above mentioned abrasives, there are attachments available for
electronic instruments as well :

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS :
The following points could be deciphered through our research :
1) There are several local as well as national companies are strongly competing
for space in the market although CUMI has dominant position as of present.
2) Strong competitors in the manual discs segments include Peacock, Alkon,
Century, 3M, Concord etc.
3) Kanvee a local manufacturer of blades has captured the local market quite
effectively.
4) These companies though trifling for today are ensuring steady market
presence by means of close network of local suppliers. In other words the
supply of local abrasives in several stores is faster than that of CUMI
Products.
5) When it comes to strips and papers the space is overly crowded with several
companies competing right from trivial ones to conglomerates like CUMI.

FURTHER TASKS :
1) To get into touch with construction clients who are the key customers for
this industry and understand their business needs.
2) To do further research in paint shops and understand the standing of CUMI
from price point of view and try to compile their expectations.
Attached: List of shops visited and comments and notes in excel format.