Injectronics; Remanufacturing Solutions for Transportation Electronics - Essay Example

? IM group/ Injectronics 4/22/13 Australia has a vast network of automobile manufacturing industries; this is because of the Australians love for their vehicles. This is the main reason as to why there are several automobile related industries in Australia. The IM group has 25 years of experience in the automotive industry and this can thus substantiate their credibility in the same. The IM –group was born of the earlier existing company called Injectronics. This firm was Australia’s leading automotive electronics remanufacturer and its merger with other firms that were dealing in the same business (Injectronics, 2013, p.1 ). The initials IM stand for innovative mechatronics. This was the new name that was taken up since the year 2012. The merger involved four organizations namely RAE ignition and sensors, DAT equipment, Injectronics and MAP- mechatronic auto parts. Initially, Injectronics used to remanufacture and repair automotive products for resale. They then started manufacturing of automotive equipment and also embarked on extensive testing equipment to ensure they have the widest range of products in stock ready for sale. They were the first automotive company in the southern hemisphere to be given ISO 9001 accreditation. The IM group has lived up to the same expectations regardless of the mergers and still remains the only automotive organization in the southern hemisphere that is ISO certified. The remanufacturing process follows the step of a customer trading in already used automotive equipment or perhaps even a car. This equipment will be remanufactured and then the customer will be able to purchase the remanufactured equipment or new equipment depending on their choice. The MAP (mechatronic auto parts) is a new and exciting brand that was recently added to the IM group; it is aimed at providing unique and high quality automotive products to the southern hemisphere. By the mere fact that these MAP products were launched under the 25-year-old brand of the IM group, these products had to sell like hot cakes. These products were approved by the IM –group’s research and development team. These products are also certified by ISO standards. The main products provided include key rubbers, which are for replacement. These key rubbers usually do not have a replacement but the MAP products effectively do the trick. These products come with a duly explained replacement user manual thereby making it easy for the user to change. RAE ignition and sensors is another branch of the IM group, which deals with ignitions and sensors. They present different ignitions for various makes of vehicles in the industry, which are ISO certified. These are also replacements for defective or faulty ignitions and sensor systems. The Injectronics branch of IM group continues the initial trade of the original Injectronics. This is the initial business of buying of used automotive parts and selling of new automotive parts. DAT equipment is yet another branch of the IM group that deals with automobile diagnostics. Such equipment includes gadgets that show faults or confirm the state of vehicle parts and their efficiency. Equipments are electronically tested, with ignition spark tester being an excellent example. This electrically checks for the ignition sparks performance. All the above products of the IM group have played a big role in finding the break -even point for the firm thereby making it continuously viable. The emergence of the above subsidiaries led to a lot of change in the market share for the firm; this played a big role in making top-level management to change the company name from Injectronics to the name Innovative mechatronics. The name innovative mechanics well suits the organization as it only deals with a very special niche in the automotive field. Not many automotive companies are exploiting the above niche, which is well favored by the Australian population. IM group however, also exports her products to other countries. This is also another avenue of earning finances for the company. Innovation is the key leverage that Injectronics holds over its competitors. The Australian market for automotive parts holds the Injectronics products with very high esteem. The virtual automotive simulator (V.A.S) which they created is used to test the inputs and outputs of a vehicle’s parts and their efficiency. There currently exists no competitor in the Australian market that has established a system that performs any closer to the (V.A.S) system solely owned by the IM group (Injectronics). Competitors also face a hard time in coming to terms with the special warranties and after sales services offered for all of their products. No other competitor has been able to match up to these expectations, which has led to a strong consumer base that can be counted on. The customers believe in the reliability of Injectronics and their high level of record keeping. All components sold by Injectronics are tagged with their personal reference to enhance traceability and accountability. Each product is also tagged along with its warranty package. The fact that remanufactured products have twice the warranty held by brand new products has made their remanufacturing sector to continually remain a very viable investment with a wide and loyal customer base. The ISO certification has also given the firm a lot of credibility for all their products be it new, remanufactured or a repair work. None of their competitors has warranty sales for repair work. To make matters worse, it is a twelve-month warranty for repair work. Which client would not like their vehicle repair to be warranted such that if the repairs done wear off before twelve months, they get replaced again? There are however, a few organizations, which have tried to challenge Injectronics market share dominance. A good example is McNeal Enterprises Inc. The organization deals with custom plastic component manufacturing machining, fabricating, thermoforming and fabricating of plastics. The company uses views from consumers and customers to come up with viable products. Such are usually products that are either non-existent or are exist but in low quantities that cannot satisfy the demand. McNeal is able to do this due to the highly experienced engineers that she has. McNeal’s machining section has the capacity to run seven days of the week thereby ensuring customer satisfaction. The fabricating sector also has the finest plastic fabricators who ensure that tight customer or consumer requirements are met on time. Such are plastics fabricated in a bid to act as metals and such. These are fabricated on demand and are usually fabricated effectively as this is the main business run by the organization. This has given Injectronics a run for their money as they also deal with fabrication. The other firm that is giving IM group substantial competition is BEK Ultrasonics. This company deals with the repair of ultrasonic transducers and converters. BEK Ultrasonics is the company that is competing with some of the technologies of Injectronics group. This is the only company that challenges the electronic testing of equipment; they have the technology to prove the exact technical equipment especially those faults relating to transducers and converters. They can deduce errors in transducers or converters found in automotive spare parts this is a challenge to Injectronics group. They are thereby reducing their customer base gradually with time. Although the two companies mentioned above cannot compare in whichever way with regards to profit margins and experience in the automotive parts and services, they are still a major factor in the market dynamics for the IM group. Injectronics tries to conjoin the services provided by both organizations discussed above and come up with one wholesome product that is credible to its customers at once. BEK Ultrasonics deals more with the software part dealing with transducers and converters. This is dealt with by Injectronics (V.A.S) system on the contrary. Financial constraints can drive needy customers to outsource the service from BEK rather than paying a fortune at Injectronics for more or less the same service. On the part of exterior repairs, McNeal does the trick by doing all the fabrication or remodeling up to the customer’s requirement albeit at a cheaper price in comparison to their worthy competitor. A customer can thus outsource repair services from the two companies and get as good a job as would have been done by Injectronics. The two accompanies are thus basically existing on the shadow of Injectronics and the IM group as a whole. Overall, the IM group can be seen to be doing quite well in the market for automotive parts and services. The company should however reduce the cost of its services and products to accommodate customers from all types of backgrounds. This will enable then to tap on the economies of scale related to increasing customer base. This will prove to be a very viable opportunity to the IM group if implemented well by their top-level management. In ensuring that the above aspects are taken into consideration, it will be feasible to attain the anticipated goals and objectives, as well as maintaining a strong customer base. Bibliography Injectronics. (2013). Injectronics; remanufacturing solutions for transportation Electronics. 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