Flux Cored Wire Marketing Strategy Of Atlantic Research

1. BACKGROUNDToday variety structure adjustment and product up-grade are influencing the industry of welding consumable production unprecedently. Automatic wires with high automation and low consumption in performance gradually replace traditional electrodes. With decades of development, China has become an important welding consumables production country. However China is not really powerful in welding consumables production under the condition of unreasonable product structure. The main reason is that the proportion of auto-wires is far below Europe, America, Japan and other countries. Welding consumables are divided into electrodes and auto-wires and flux(flux-wire combination) two categories. Electrodes have gradually come to recede in developed countries because of its low efficiency and unsuitability for automatic production. Auto-wires include Co2 and flux-cored wire two kinds. Both of them can meet automatic production. As flux-cored wire has the advantages of Co2's high efficiency and low consumption and electrode's wildly various kinds, it attracts more and more attention. There is a sharp rise in flux-cored wire sales amount. In America, flux-cored wire accounts about 40% of all its welding consumables. Now the sales amount of flux-cored wire also increases at a speed of 30% in China. As the 4th generation welding consumable, flux-cored wire has been wildly accepted in welding consumables world. Backward in domestic industrialization has restricted the development of flux-cored wire before. With the speed-up of domestic industrialization process, the demand for flux-cored wire will increase by degree. In order to promote national industry and reoccupy the flux-cored wire market occupied 80% by foreign brands, it is urgent to change the present situation in welding consumable industry. 2. STUDY PURPOSEThis thesis takes Sichuan Atlantic Welding Consumables Co. Ltd. as an example to study. Sichuan Atlantic Welding Consumables Co. Ltd. is the 1st special welding consumables manufacturer in China and its products (including electrodes and solid wires) enjoy a high reputation at home and abroad. With steady development, its comprehensive economic efficiency has taken the 1st place for 7 consecutive years in welding consumables industry in China and it is one of the national 520 key enterprises. Being a listed company at Shanghai Stock Exchange Market since 2001, Atlantic has bee seeking for a new profit increasing point. Considering the specialty, many years experience in producing welding consumables and the objective and resource of Atlantic, diversity development with one main business kept is the best way of expansion to be chosen for Atlantic. So far Atlantic has not start flux-cored wire production, however investing in flux-cored wire project is an ideal investment way according to welding consumables developing trends and Atlantic itself expansion. The writer hopes to offer bases of strategic making decisions for Atlantic through the analyses of flux-cored wire demand and marketing. 3.CONTENTThis thesis states the importance and necessity of flux-cored wire from the trends of welding consumable development and market demand. Section SWOT demonstrates the possibilities of this project: the strengthening of the state capital construction, the chance of China's west opening and inevitability of product up-grade. Under the world social division of labor, the developing countries had relative advantages in producing flux-cored wire because of its noise pollution derived from production. The dependence of technical formulas and domestic strengthening environmental protection will cause more investment in the project.The most advantage that Atlantic has is its famous brand effect. Compared with other welding consumable manufacturers, Atlantic has relative advantages in capital and imported technology application while the disadvantage is the less developed in flux-cored wire and Atlantic needs time to master this technology. In this case the cost...