Shubhankar Gautam

17343
Section C
Kimura K.K.
Can this customer be saved?
Situation
Pramtex is an Australian firm that manufactures machines to facilitate media replication. They
are distinguished in the market on the basis of their superior quality and superior technology
machines. Their customer Kimura K.K. is Japanese company that is in the business of media
replication which has its reach across the world. They have recently gone into a contract with
Disney to make CDs and DVDs for their upcoming shows. They required 3 new machines to
provide for this new contract.
What does the customer wants?
1. Good quality product at decent price
2. Easy and less expensive repair and maintenance
3. On time delivery of machine as well as repaired parts
4. Minimum learning and start-up curve for the machine
5. Importance to customer relationship
Where Pramtex went wrong?
Kimura K.K. was having second thoughts about accepting the offer by Pramtex due to their
high cost. After a couple of revisions in their quotation, Kimura K.K. accepted the offer by
Pramtex. They were expected to supply them three superior quality machines that they
produce. Though with a delay of few days, Pramtex were able to provide the machine to
Kimura K.K. The issue that made a dent to the image of Pramtex was the long time they took
for repairing one of the machines that stopped working. Initially, it took them some time in
sending the engineers to examine the machine. Also, once the problem was identified, it took
them long to send the defected part and get the machine working. This negatively impacted
Pramtexs image in Dr. Numuras mind. This negative image of pramtex would have possibly
been reason behind sonys decision of not continuing with them.
The company was required to understand and value the customers demand. As the customer
share was growing in the Asian market, it was required of them to provide easy and quick
support to them by setting up a support team there.
Can this customer (and many others) be saved?
Pramtex needs to provide discounts to Kimura K.K and other future customers as a short term
measure. This will ensure their presence in the Japanese market as they can now target a
larger customer base. They should also think about giving rudimentary training to the
machine operators that can help them take case of the minor issues by themselves. Pramtex
can also think about building products which are price-competitive and a little less
technologically advanced. Effective communication and maintaining good working
relationships with client will also help in maintaining long term business contracts.