CHAPTER ONE

Introduction
1.1. Background of the Study
Shah Cement Industries Ltd. has been the leading cement brand of Bangladesh. It is a concern of
AbulKhair Group, one of the largest groups of companies in our country. Shah Cement Industries
Ltd. is the largest cement producing plant in Bangladesh, with a capacity of 6.05 million metric
tons per annual with a view to contribute towards building better homes and infrastructure,
improving quality of life across Bangladesh. Bringing world’s most technologically advanced
cement products to the doorsteps of all Bangladeshi’s is a matter of pride to us. Shah Cement Ind.
Ltd. is the only cement company that figures in the list of Consumer Prestigious Brands of
Bangladesh. To provide customer with the best quality concrete, Shah Cement has its own
mixing plant, which is equipped with modern PLC-based computer controlled program. Shah
Cement’s efforts in introducing Ready Mixed Concrete coupled with the promotion of bulk
cement handling facilities. Any academic course of the study has a great value when it has
practical application in the real life. Only a lot of theoretical knowledge will be little important
unless it is applicable in the practical life. When we are engaged ourselves in such field to make
proper use of our knowledge in our practical life only, when we come to know about the benefit
of the theoretical knowledge. Such an application is made possible through Term paper. My
Term paper is on a study of the Competitive Marketing Strategy of Shah Cement Industries
Limited .That is to know about the internal policies and strategies taken by the Shah Cement
management.

The rate of increasing cement industry in Bangladesh, this sector shows its potential in the near
future. And how a new company can make a good result for their organization in this sector Shah
Cement can be a good example for them. Shah Cement is organizing and practicing the
promotional activities around the whole year for the valued customers. Their promotional
activities will exclusive and different than others. So the customers will be benefited and satisfied
from this promotion. Within a very short of time Shah Cement takes the leading position by
applying their Brand quality in the high competitive market. This program has given more

1
realistic idea about how to capture the target market through distributed the product in a plan way
at the right time with in the specific area.

1.2. Objective of the Study

The ultimate objective of the study is to find out how Competitive Marketing strategy concerning
the Shah cement in the leading position continues to fulfill the customer requirement.

Specific objectives
a. To know the marketing activities and strategies of Shah Cement
b. To know the SWOT analysis of Shah Cement
c. To identify the consumer’s perception about the quality of Shah Cement
d. To identify the consumer’s perception about the price of Shah Cement
e. To identify distribution problems Shah Cement
f. To identify communication problems of Shah Cement
g. To recommended necessary steps for overcoming such lacking.

1.3 Scope of the Study

As a participant of Project report course I have to conduct a research to find out the problem of
my product Shah Cement. The presentation of the activities and attributes of Shah Cement
limited and investigating the strategies applied by the company provide the scope of this report.
The study is very much important for me as well as for my organization. The outcome of this
research will be beneficial for the company at the same time for me. To do well of a product is
an important factor for the company. With the help of this research finding a competitive
marketing strategy will be set from which company will gets opportunity to do well for the
product and the research finding can be used for conducting next level of research.

2
1.4 Methodology
Research Type:
The research problem is Competitive Marketing strategy concerning the Shah cement in the
leading position continues to fulfill the customer requirement. The nature of the study has both
exploratory and descriptive research

Data Collection:
The study methodology is discussed here under with title for better understanding.

a. Phase- I:
In the first phase theoretical study has been carried out to understand the existing customer
situation level of Shah Cement in context of it quality, price, communication and distribution
policy to identify the major problem those the company are suffering from.

b. Phase- II:
1. With the theoretical understanding some expertise and key opinion personnel has been
interviewed with selected questionnaire to know their level of understanding of the
product Shah cement and its importance. The participants of this survey by answering
some close ended questions. These arranged questions were automatically found out the
satisfaction level of the participants on cement.
2. After collecting their opinions through the questionnaire, some open ended questions has
been asked for own understanding of the surveyor. This is followed by some formal and
informal discussions.

c. Phase-III: Data Collection Tools and Techniques:

Sampling procedure

The target populations have been selected basing on their knowledge and type of involvement in
the field. For research purpose two groups of population have been selected; Dealer & Retailer.
MS Excel software and simple arithmetic will be used to analyze the data collected for the
questions purpose two groups of population will be selected; Dealer & Retailer. MS Excel
software and simple arithmetic is used to analyze the data collected for the question.

3
Sample Size:
At least one hundred but not more than one hundred twenty samples have been taken to conduct
the study

Sources of Information
In order to conduct the report necessary data have been collected from two sources.
 Primary Sources data
 Secondary Sources data

a) Primary Sources data:

 The data of this study has been collected from the interview conducted among the
selected Respondents in Dhaka. The interview will be conducted with a pre-designed
questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of both structural and unstructured question.

b) Secondary sources data:

 Secondary data were collect from various sources line:
 Annual report of Shah Cement
 Publications of BCMA (Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association)
 Various documents of the Shah Cement
 Website of Shah Cement industries through Internet
 Other published materials

Data Processing Method:

Collected data has been coded and verified. Moreover data processed by making consistency
checking with the help of computer and relevant knowledge on the subject as well as the

4
knowledge and application of statistical tools. Some manual techniques were applied during the
collection of opinion through the questionnaire.

1.5 Limitation:
Although I am given Highest Effort but I had face some limitations like bellow;

a. Time is a limitation that would mostly with stands a comprehensive study on the selected
topic.
b. Getting relevant papers and documents, which are confidential by nature, were strictly
prohibited.
c. The information regarding the competitors is difficult to get.
d. In many cases, up to date information was not published
e. Collecting information without reference and personal acquaintance will found almost
impossible
f. It was quite difficult to complete such report program for one person in a short time limit.
g. Large scale researches was not possible due to constrain and restrictions posed by the
organization

5
 CHAPTER TWO
Literature Review

2.1. An Overview of Cement Industry in Bangladesh:

Cement Industry, a relatively fast growing industry, is developing in pace with increasing
building and construction activities. Cement has long been used as a bonding agent to unite
particles or to cause one surface to adhere to another. The most common form of cement,
Portland cement, is a powder obtained from burning together a mixture of lime and clay, which
when mixed with water and sand or gravel, turns into mortar or concrete.

Manufacturing
of Cement

The cement industry in Bangladesh is pivotal because it is manufacturing in its core form as far
as the supply chain management is concerned. Cement being the major component in building
construction industry; the industry itself has a great strategic value. In Bangladesh, the cement
industry and its current shape makes a great reading for a case study of the evolution of a market
driven manufacturing industry. It's this developing country with a bourgeoning economy, leading
multinational companies with financial power and technological acumen backed by global
reputation and local companies catching up quickly by adopting slick marketing strategies and
countrywide distribution channel.
Historically, Bangladesh did not depend much on cement. It also does not have enough natural
resources for manufacturing it. The base materials traditionally used in house building and other
construction required little use of cement. Gradual substitution of traditional building structures
or patterns by modern high-rise ones has pushed up the use of cement. But as the economy
continues to remain agro-based, construction sectors have not been able to gain momentum and
as the infrastructure development is selective, cement remains a product of low demand.

6
A faster growth in demand for cement has been observed only since mid-1980s, especially with
implementation of large infrastructure projects, increased pace of urbanization, construction of
apartment buildings and multistoried shopping complexes in urban areas, and a shift in the taste
of moneyed rural people for modern houses. The amount of cement now annually consumed in
the country is about 5 million metric tons. The production however, falls short by about 3 million
tons per year. This shortage is met through imports. Per capita consumption of cement in the
country (38 kg) is fairly low compared to India (89 kg), Indonesia (127kg), Malaysia (582 kg)
and Thailand (642 kg).
Private enterprises dominate production and import of cement to cater to the local market. The
manufacturing of cement is based on both locally available raw materials and imported clinker.
The two cement plants of the first type, one at chhatak and the other at Ayeenpur, have a total
installed capacity of 260,000 tons a year. They produce cement from local limestone and use
natural gas as fuel. The mills that produce cement from imported clinker are located mostly
around dhaka, chittagong and mongla. There were 62 registered cement factories in the country
in 1999, but only 13 of them were in production. The total installed production capacity of these
factories is about 3.8 million tons a year. Their actual production, however, is much lower. A 50-
kg bag of cement produced locally sells at Tk 350-360, while a bag of imported cement is priced
at Tk 330-350. Local raw material based cement production depends on limestone deposits that
lie in st martin's island, joypurhatandsylhet areas. The deposits in Sylhet support the production
of Chhatak and Ayeenpur cement factories. These plants have the added advantage of being able
to meet their needs for gas and clay from deposits close by.

Bangladesh's inclusion as a cement exporting country in the global trade map prompted the
private companies overseas to place queries for importing cement from Bangladesh. Although
the industry people consider the present duty structure and high shipping charges 'unfriendly' for
the industry dependent on imported raw materials, they expect a successful tapping.

7
2.2. Risk Factors & Challenges of Cement Industry:
Now let's look at how cement in Bangladesh has been able to put its strength into our
construction sector for last 3-4 years.

The construction industry has been facing higher price of construction materials including
cement for last 3-4 years. There has been lot of discussions these days over price hike of cement
throughout the country. Here is an in depth analysis to detect the situation behind the price
increase.

Bangladesh is an import dependent country for basic raw material of cement i.e. clinker. The
large portion of clinker of about 5-6 million tons are carried by ocean going vessels from
countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines etc. every year. The following are some
of the reasons for the price increase of cement world over in general and in Bangladesh in
particular.

a) The past few years say until early 2007, world economy had been growing steadily.
Increasing urbanization, major housing shortages and need to expand infrastructure are leading
to steady demand for all kinds of construction materials including cement. In particular, when
talking about China and India, it is a fact that these two largest economies have been growing
rather quickly. Both have been dominating to become business and industrial news headlines for
last 5-6 years.

8
 b) China's GDP achieved another double digit increase (111.4%) last year, the fastest in
13 years. Manufacturing sector, trade and infrastructure are the key drivers in this strong
economy. The Beijing Olympics, the National Housing Reform program and the forthcoming
EXPO 2016 in Shanghai etc.

c) Similarly, another big giant Indian-economy is presently growing at 9-10 % every

year, having previously been 3 %. The increase over the last 15 years has given the country a
great deal of internal strength. Moreover, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the industrial sector
has risen rapidly. With the economic growth, construction industry in general and cement
industry in particular has grown manifold in India for last several years. India, once known as
one of the largest exporters of cement and clinker has now stopped selling cement and clinker
outside the country and is meeting the growing home demand. It is estimated that in near future
capacity of -cement industry in India will reach 298 million a year.

d) The oil price is record high which is making the shipping industry ask for more freight.
On the other hand cargo movement to China has abnormally gone up. As clinker being the
relatively cheaper cargo, usually old vessels are used to carry clinker worldwide saving marine
insurance.

Apart from cement and clinker, China has emerged as the largest consumer of iron ore
and coal too. The owners of old vessels found better opportunity to scrap old vessels rather than
plying for transportation of clinker and this has resulted scarcity of old vessels in the shipping
market, A common size vessel (capacity 35 000 IVIT) for carrying clinker used to cost charter
hire of about US25000 per day about one year back and today same size vessel costs charter hire
of about USID 35-40000 per day. The shipping market has touched all time highs that have
never been seen before. Covering all these additional costs, clinker is now being imported at
USID 70-72 per ton as against it was at 60-62 per ton in 2012. Cement industry in Bangladesh is
unable to pass on this extra expense of 20-25% to the market.

e) Price of other raw materials like gypsum, fly-ash and slag has not only gone up but
sourcing of these materials has also become difficult now-a-days because of extra demand of
these items at where they are produced.

f) In last 10 years, construction industry has witnessed slow-growth in 2014 for the first
time in Bangladesh causing unfavorable situation for the cement industry to match the higher

9
clinker cost with volume growth. Squeezed by surplus production against falling consumption
and inability to pass on of such additional cost to the consumers, the country cement industry is
now in critical state.

g) The poor power situation has made this industry more threatening. The power
generation scenario with the onset of this summer season is going from bad to worse. It has been
learnt from the PIDB sources that the country's" average power generation capacity has come
down to 3700 megawatts as against the demand of 4350 megawatts. This bleak situation is
hampering productivity of all industry in the country and cement industry is not exception to
that. Unfortunately cement industry hardly can recover this extra cost from the market.

h) Local transportation cost has risen several times in during last two three years that has lead to
extra burden to the company. The main reasons of extra transportations costs are exorbitant fuel
price, loading restriction to cross over Jamuna Bridge, addition lead-time to facilitate priority
movement of good grain etc.
Considering all above facts, an inescapable reality is that cement industry of the country is
bearing extra cost of 30-35% in a time a span of one year, while industry was able to enhance
price maximum by 3-5% during this one year.

It is expected that international prices of clinker are not going to come down soon. Some believe
that these prices might remain for a longer period of time until the slowing down construction in
China and India takes place and reconstruction of Iraq is finished. There are also very little
chances that the costs of other elements ill go down shortly.

Under these circumstances, there is no option open but to adjust with the higher price and bear
these extra costs. The country has to accept the reality. The cement industry already affected
with over capacity is battling hard to survive.

The notion that some cement manufacturers are manipulating the market was found to be
incorrect. However, only Government may come forward to heal this situation by reducing the
import duty of clinker and waiving the VAT reasonably to help encourage the development work
of the country in an economical way.

10
 2.3 Organogram of Abulkhair group:

Managing Director

DMD

Company
Sectary

GM GM GM
AbulKhir Steel Shah Cement AbulKhir Tobacco

Manager Operation DGM Marketing Manager Finance

Marketing Marketing Marketing

Manager (Prime) Manager (Trade) Manager (Corporate)

Asst. Manager Asst. Manager Asst. Manager

Sales & Sales & Marketing Sales & Marketing
Marketing

Executive Regional Regional Executive Executive

Executive Manager Manager

11
2.4 A Brief Background of AbulKhair Group:

Abulkhair group is the accumulation of a number of manufacturing units plus import trade
houses, which could develop a unique and healthy business culture in this part of the glove since
1953.
Abulkhair group has strong presence in cement, C.I. Sheet, Condense & Powder Milk, Beverage,
Tea, Tobacco including manufacturing and marketing of consumer goods of diversified range
besides its well-set trading business.
The group has been earmarked after the name of seasoned entrepreneur late Abulkhair (expired
in 1978) in recognition of this visionary approach and salutary contribution that lead the group to
the present height both on quantitative judgment.
Group’s popular brands namely, Shah Cement, Cow brand C.I. sheet, Starship Condensed Milk,
Starship Milk power, Starship juice, Seylon Tea do enjoy a sizeable command in both the local
and international markets.
Long term attachment of the employees and their unruffled commitment to the group, is also a
great strength to own. As of Dec. 2014 total number of human resources exceeded 13,000.
The group, in order to strength its international business in a more articulated way after the
acquisition of 2 Bulk cargo vessels in 2004, is contemplating to have an office at Singapore by
June 2005.

12
2.5 Primary Discussion:

At the present time, shah cement is the market leader. From the date of inception (10th March,
2003) Shah Cement company starts it’s marketing with a strong plan. At first this company gives
emphasis on marketing mix commonly known as 4Ps and tries to build up its market position on
it. There are some other cement company in Bangladesh and them also doing their business
successfully. Among them Shah Cement made its place by applying some unique system. They
find out marketing strategy are the main obstacle to reach the high position in the cement
industry. There are others who fail to supply their product in time with actual quality because of
poor distribution network system. Those company hold in the position number 2nd, 3rd or so on
fail to maintain their supply system. And their order taken and placement procedure is so
cumbersome normal customer face difficulty to reach them in time. But Shah Cement makes this
task so easy that anyone can place order by making a phone call. They maintain a strong
distribution team with modern vehicles to provide the order in time in the right place.

From this report, I always try to find out how they get number one position in the competitive
market. Sometimes I went to their outlets and try to observe how they face their customer. Most
of the time they are faced their client very friendly and give valuable suggestion how to get
maximum utility from the use of this cement. Shah Cement believes that the secret to customer
satisfaction depends upon the quality of the product. This is the reason why rigorous tests are
conducted at every stage of production so that only the best in terms of quality is guaranteed for
their clients.

Shah Cement Industries Ltd, the largest Cement producing plant in Bangladesh uses state-of-the-
art technology in all areas of its production and produces the finest quality cement fit for
sustainable & durable construction

13
 SHAH CEMENT INDUSTRIES LTD.

2.6 Objective:

To participate in the infrastructure development of the country with quality

cement.

14
2.7 Vision:

By making the essential products of modern life widely available, Shah Cement is realizing
its vision as the leading partner in the infrastructural development of Bangladesh.

2.8 Realizing the Dreams

15
Regarded as the best standard of quality in the cement industry of Bangladesh, Shah Cement
offers both ordinary cement and composite in two categories suitable for any kind of
construction.
They provide mainly two type of cement. They are as follows:

(1) Shah Cement (special):

(2) Shah Cement (popular):

16
2.9 Largest Cement Factory in Bangladesh:

Strengths of shah Cement:

►German Technology

►Brand new machinery

►Large volume production capacity (Everyday 140000 bags)

►Automatic control system

►Own testing laboratory

►Full Time support by foreign exports

►Own independent chartered vessels for clinker handling

Effectiveness:
♦ It increase the utility of the concrete
♦ It makes concrete more powerful for its work
♦ It gives good finishing
♦ It prohibits to sulfate attack
♦ It makes concrete stable for time being
♦ It makes an obstacle to come water from the concrete mixer
♦ It creates low heat in the mixer that’s why there is low possibility to cracking
♦ It reduces the possibility to separate the ingredients from each other.

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Usage:

♣ Bridge, culvert, flyover, tunnel

♣ Runway, rigid pavement, jetty, road carve

♣ Residential building, commercial building, industrial building

♣ Paving block, hollow block, wall cladding, solid block, pipe, grill, and manhole etc.

pre cast materials

♣ Pre cast pile and cast in pile.

Living up to the Standard

Quality Management System

Shah Cement believes that the secret to customer satisfaction depends upon the quality of the
product. This is the reason why rigorous tests are conducted at every stage of production so that
only the best in terms of quality is guaranteed for you.

Assuring Quality - Guideline

Customer satisfaction is the essence of the quality policy at Shah Cement Industries Ltd. Shah
Cement is committed to achieve this by maintaining quality at all stages of manufacturing,
presenting best quality cement at competitive price, try just-in-time delivery and providing
adequate resources and trained manpower that strictly adhere to the procedure of Quality
Management System (QMS).

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Compressive Strength
Age

Standard 3 Days 28 Days

7 Days

ASTM: C 595-98 1890 Psi 2900 Psi 3620 psi

lb/in (Mpa) (13 Mpa) (20 Mpa) (25 Mpa)

Shah As per 2500 Psi Plus 3500 Psi Plus 4500 Psi plus
Cement ASTM

Fineness

Institution ASTM : C595-98

Standard
Not Mentioned

Shah Cement 300 m /kg plus

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Setting Time

ASTM: C595-98
Institution
Initial Final
Setting Time

Standard Not less than 45 minutes Not more than 420 minutes

Shah Cement Initial setting Time 125- 150 minutes

Final Setting Time 250- 350 minutes

How to preserve Cement:

☼ Store in the dry place with proper ventilation

☼ Don’s store with the touch of any kind of water

☼ Keep every bag in step by step

☼ One can store ten bags with one column

☼ One should give space between the two columns

☼ Before store cement floor must be covered with wood powder or with some square
piece of wood
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Factory:
West Mukterpur, Munshigang

Production Capacity:
2.5 million M.T. (per annum)

Technology used:

September 5th, 2016: Shah Cement Ltd., already a pioneer in the Cement Industry as Shah
also just recently has installed one of the first 1000-Series E-Cranes in Bangladesh. At E-Crane
we have the greatest respect for all our visionary customers. This is certainly the case for Shah
Cement Ltd., one of the larger cement producing companies in Bangladesh.

Recently a 1000 B-Series E-Crane, model 7264, was successfully installed and put into service.

21
Replacing older cable cranes with poor availability and high maintenance cost, Shah has clearly
recognized the importance of having state-of-the-art equipment on the dock. With this
investment Shah Show’s confidence in the future of the cement industry and their strong will to
be an industry leader in Bangladesh.

Before------

22
---and after
KRUPP POLYSIUS AG (GERMANY)
HAVER & BOECKER
MAN TAKRAF FOROERTECHNIK GmBH

In terms of quality, the raw material clinker plays the most vital role, which comes mainly from
Indonesia and also from some other parts of Asia.
Shah Cement Industries Ltd, the largest cement production plant in Bangladesh uses state-of-
the-art technology in all areas of its production and produces finest quality cement fit for
sustainable & durableconstruction.
As the company of choice for thousands of our valued customers, we are fully aware of the trust
and responsibility they have entrusted upon us. Building materials from Shah Cement are used
every day to build the future all around the country. By making the essential products for modern
life, Shah Cement is realizing its vision as the leading partner in the infrastructure development
of Bangladesh.

23
2.10 Measuring the Progress:

Commitment to quality specifications at production process ensures people’s trust in making

their houses with their houses with their lifetime savings using Shah Cement. Therefore, we
realize how important “commitment” is in our production stage hence; highest quality standards
are consistently followed.

Shah cement has become synonymous to strength, stability, and safety. Our production bears
testament not only to our quality production, but also to our commitment to building sustainable
& durable structures all around the country; from the largest buildings, to homes, and even the
streets that connect our people together, for generation to come.

Process Sequence:

1. The raw materials arrived by sea and are transported to factory by lighter vessels. Three
fast generating Man Takraf (supplied by Germany) jetty cranes, each of 350 MT/hr. are
used to unload the materials & transported to 25000 MT capacity clinker silo.

2. In the cement plant, the raw material mixture of clinker, gypsum and additives in a
controlled and predetermined ratio is fed into polycom a high pressure-grinding roll. This
polycom grinding roll has a shaft power of 1640 KW and grinds at a speed of 1.6 meter
per second.

3. It also has a capacity of 250 TPH and is supplied by Thyseen Krupp industries of
Germany. The use of high chrome grinding media leads to a very low wear rate. The out
come is better particle size and iron free.

4. The product from polycom is further grinded in the Ball mill. The Ball mill has a length
of 15.29 meters and diameter of 4.6 meters.

24
 5. The cement fines are separated by the dynamic separated by the dynamic separator
(Sepol) and transported into cement silos by air slides and bucket elevator. The coarse
particles are sent back to mill for further grinding.

6. The finished cement is then fed into three automatic packers, each having 12 filling
nozzles. Each of these packer machines, supplied by Haver and Boecker of Germany has
a capacity to pack 3600 bags per hour.

7. Finally, the finished cement is loaded using automatic truck loaders and barge loaders,
and are ready for delivery.

2.11 Recognition and Award

Shah Cement is the largest cement producer of Bangladesh. It held a leading position in the area
from its inaugural year. It has been certified ISO 9001:2001 in 2003 and it started exporting to
India from February 2005 after receiving a prerequisite certificate to export to India.

Automated Quality Control System

Hourly Lab Test

BSTI Approved

BIS Certified

25
Shah Cement Industries Limited awarded with Thailand’s best Friend Award 2016 It is my
pleasure and privilege to share with you an achievement of *Shah
Cement Industries Limited*, leading Manufacturer of Cement in Bangladesh has
been awarded with *THAILANDS** BEST FRIEND 2016* along with 141 companies
around the globe importing Thai Products in various categories.

Shah Cement Books Berth in Business Case Study Book

Shah Cement is going to be incorporated in an economic epic styled ‘Business Case Study Book’
to be published jointly by Bangladesh and India’s West Bengal state.

World-famous marketing guru Philip Kotler will narrate Shah Cement’s success story to the
students.

In this regard, AbulKhayer Group (AKG), the mother organization of Shah Cement, signed a
deal with Philip Kotler at Hotel Sonargaon in the capital.

Brand-marketing director of AKG NaushadChowdhury signed the accord on behalf of the

business group.
Bangladesh Brand Forum chief adviser Farhad Anwar and Shariful Islam were present on the
occasion.
Philip Kotler, a professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at
Northwestern University, is regarded as one of the 50 world business figures since 1998.

26
He also became one of the 10 best business thinkers in the world in 2008 and 2009.
Earlier, Shah Cement achieved Brand Forum Award as the best locally produced cement.

2.12 Uniqueness:

 State- of- the- art technology of grinding mill with Roll Press ensures -uniform
particle size distribution.

 Quality grinding with closed-circuit system with high efficiency dynamic

separator, which ensures correct particles size.

 Own testing laboratory with modern equipments.

 Owns ocean-going vessels for clinker handling.

 Adequate number of own fleet of covered transport for better distribution and
services.

 Adequate bulk carries and portable silos.

 More than hundred covered vans

 Own fleet of barges

 Exclusive distribution network

 Highly skilled manpower

 Strong monitoring system

 Day to day reporting to the supervisor

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2.13 Packaging:

Shah Cement has its own Bag Plant- the Shah Poly Sack industries Ltd. This is the largest plant
of its kind in South East Asia, with a capacity of 200,000 bags per day.

The packing unit is equipped with exclusively STARLINGER high-tech machinery.

The most important characteristic of the packing unit is the guarantee that the filling material
will be kept as save as possible from the factory to the end consumer. Shah cement uses stitch
free bags, no chance for adulteration.

Actually they pack their cement in two types of colorful bags.

► Red with off-white color (shah cement special bag)

► Blue with off-white color (shah cement normal bag)

Shah cement is able to create a nice and attractive packet, which can easily catch one’s attention.
Their color combination and design on the label of the bag is so much rich than any other cement
bags.

Shah cement uses a logo, which is very much familiar with the rural and urban people. People
who do not know how to read but easily recognize the shah cement bags among other brands of
bags.

Shah cement uses a slogan (born to build) is very much popular with the people. To maintain the
quality of the product packing plays a vital role. To keep this sense in mind this company gives
emphasis on quality packaging. Their cement bags are able to keep its temperature and make an
obstacle to enter something into the bags. After using the cement one can use this bag for other
purpose. They can convert the bag into a shopping bag or some other purpose.

28
 CHAPTER THREE
Present Situation

3.1(Analysis of Marketing Mix (4Ps), Activities and Strategy of

Concerning Shah Cement)
There are several controllable tools for during the marketing practice in the target market. The
combination of them is called Marketing Mix. Among them 4 tools are the main and pivotal,
they are known as 4P’s-

 Product
 Price
 Place
 Promotion Marketing Mix

Product Price Place Promotion

Product variety List price Channel Sales Promotion

Quality Discount Coverage Advertising

Design Allowances Assortments Sales Force

Feature Payment period Location Public Relation

Brand name Credit Terms Inventory Direct Marketing

Packaging Transport

Sizes
Services

29
3.2 Product

3.3 Product Description:

Shah Cement special adheres to the European standards. Shah cement special gets its unique
characteristics by using the high quality clinker, slag and limestone. These characteristics help
workability, durability and long-term strength to reach the threshold level.
Shah Cement is produced according to the European norms EN 197-1: 2003.
Application:
Shah Cement Special is ideal for constkructions, which require gaining strength continuously for
long time.
Cement Standards
European Norms
EN 197-1:2003 MACHANICAL AND PHYSICAL QUIREMENT
Compressive Strength (Mpa)
Strength Early Strength Standard Strength Initial Setting Soundness
Class 2 days 7 Days 28 days Time (min.) (Expansion) mm
32.5N --- 16.0
32.5 52.5 75
32.5N 10.0 ----
42.5N 10.0 ---- 10
42.5N 20.0 ---- 42.5 62.5 60
52.5N 20.0 ---- 45
52.5N 30.o ---- 52.5 ---

30
Consistency Quality: Year long “BUET Test Result” of shah Cement 08-10
American Standard (ASTM)
3 Days 7 Days 28 Days (PSI)
(PSI) (PSI)
Month BUET Ref.No. 1740 2760 4060
Shah Cement "BUET Test Result"
3 Days 7 Days 28 Days (PSI)
(PSI) (PSI)
January-16 6241/07-08/CE 2150 2820 4420
February-16 7276/07-08/ce 2080 2850 5060
March-16 8552/07-08/CE 2340 3290 4780
April-16 9328/07-08/CE 2520 3220 4830
May-16 0676/17-18/CE 2580 3300 4620
June-16 1763/17-18/CE 2200 3080 4360
July-16 0320/08-09/CE 2720 3500 4710
August-16 1365/08-09/CE 2770 3470 5130
Sept-16 2411/08-09/CE 3310 3930 5530
October-16 3054/08-09/CE 3180 4080 6050
Nov-16 3989/08-09/CE 2860 3890 5590
Dece-16 5493/08-09/CE 3060 4500 5740
January-17 6566/08-09/CE 2710 3700 5620
February-17 6857/08-09/CE 2500 3580 5150
March-17 8135/08-09/CE 2910 3730 5120
April-17 9612/08-09/CE 2810 3590 4730
May-17 1026/08-09/CE 2560 3320 4950
June-17 11735/09-010/CE 2780 3540 5340
July-17 110/09-10/CE 2250 3120 4620
August-17 001309/09-10/CE 2410 3220 4720
September-17 002537/09-10/CE2580 3460 4270 4850
October-17 002978/09-10/CE 2580 3460 4500

31
November-17 004502/09-10/CE 2800 3480 4490
December-17 005142/09-10/CE 2910 4280 5390
January-12 006700/09-10/CE 2820 3610 5280
February-18 7670/09-10/CE 2600 3410 5010
March-18 008504/09-10/CE 3950 4870 6960

3.4 Benefits of the Product in Details:

(About Shah Cement Special)

More Strength

Because of the slag component, Shah Cement special has more strength than an ordinary
Portland cement. This long-term strength will continue to increase with time.

More Durability
Durability and Strength are not synonymous when talking about concrete. Durability is the
ability to maintain integrity and strength over time. Strength is a measure of the ability to sustain
loads at a given point in time. Durability depends on permeability, resistance to chemical attack,
and resistance to cracking and general deterioration over time.

Shah Cement Special builds a concrete with higher density and lower permeability, which
produce less voids; thus contributing to the durability and lifetime of the construction.

More Workability
As limestone is added in Shah Cement Special, plastering will look smoother, better and
attractive. As slag is added, concrete mix with shah cement special generates less heat of
hydration, which reduces the possibility of hair cracks of concrete.

32
And More…

 Easier finish ability.

 Higher compressive and flexural strengths.
 Improved resistance to aggressive chemicals.
 More consistent plastic and hardened properties
 Lighter color.

3.5 Benefits of the Product in Details:

(About Shah Cement Popular)
Product Description
This cement is made by intergrading or blending pulverized Fuel Ash and lime with Portland
cement Clinker and Gypsum. Shah Cement popular gets its unique characteristics by using high
quality Clinker, pulverized Fuel Ash and limestone. It provides better workability, resistance to
aggressive chemical attack and gain long- term strength. Shah Cement popular is produced
according to the European Norms EN 197-1: 2003.
Application
Shah cement popular is ideal for any kind of construction (suitable for RCC works and when
optimum setting time is required).

More Long Term Strength

For its pozzalonic activity, shah Cement popular continues to gain strength much longer.
Advantages of Shah Cement Popular in Concrete

More Workability

33
To improve the work ability of Shah Cement popular, fly ash and limestone are added which
increases the workability of the concrete significantly. Fly ash products more cementations paste,
reduces the amount of water needed in a given slump and it also reduces the amount of sand
needed in the mix to produce workability.

Easier to Mix

Shah Cement popular reduces water demand of a concrete in a significant degree, for its fly ash
particles, which work like ball bearing around coarse cement, particles that makes concrete
easier to mix and place.

Lesser Bleeding

Bleeding means water gaining; it is a form of segregation in which some of the water in the mix
tends to rise to the surface of freshly placed concrete. Shah Cement popular cohesive and has a
reduced bleeding capacity.

Protects Concrete

Shah Cement popular improves corrosion protection. By decreasing concrete permeability, its fly
ash can reduce the rate of ingress of water, corrosive chemicals and oxygen – thus protecting
steel reinforcement from corrosion and its subsequent expansive result. Fly Ash also increases
sulphate resistance and reduces alkali – silica reactivity.

34
3.6 Price of their product:

Shah Cement Company selects their product on the basis of the product quality and present
market price.

Before selecting their product price they arrange a market survey. This company has a strong
monitoring team and they always work hard for the well-being of the company benefit. This
monitoring team collects information from the various part of the country and sends this
information to the management authority time to time. Actually this monitoring team works with
the root level user of the cement who is closely related with cement.

Their sources of raw materials are very rich. They collect their raw material from Thailand,
Malaysia, and Indonesia and so on. These sources have impact on price selection. Shah cement
use modern technology in the present time.

Shah Cement produces two types of cement pack and select two different type of price.

(1) Shah Cement Special (Portland cement 50 kg)

35
 The price of this 50 kg pack is 450 Tk. Price may differ in case of large order. Some times
company owns vehicles distribute the order in time at any place of Bangladesh.

(2) Shah Cement Popular (Portland cement 50 kg)

The price of this 50 kg pack is 445 Tk. Price may differ in case of large order. Some times
company owns vehicles distribute the order in time at any place of Bangladesh.

3.7 Pricing Objectives:

In pricing objectives, the company must fix an objective concerning price. Because of pricing
is the determinant of sales and profit.

SCIL always gives more emphasize on their buyer side. They want to grab more customers and
to generate more sales growth by fixing reasonable price. This objective is based on two
assumptions:
 Comparatively lower price stimulate more market growth
 Low price will discourage actual and potential competitors.

36
 3.8 Pricing Method:
There are three general pricing approaches. Such as:
 Cost Based Approach ( Cost-plus pricing, Break-even analysis, Target profit pricing)

 The Buyer Based Approach ( perceived- value pricing)

 Competition Based Approach (Reasonable price from other brand.

3.9 Price Analysis (Price Sketch):

The price of the cement varies from region to region. I will consider the price of Dhaka Zone as
well as other zone of the country. To analyze the price structure of SCIL around the year 2018
and the chart are below:

Brand
Dhaka Zone/
Name

Month Jan Feb March Apr May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Shah
420 420 420 430 435 435 435 435 435 440 440 440
Cement

Figure: Price Analysis of Shah Cement

Market Rate at 1st January 2018

Dhaka Zone
Today’s
Today’s Avr
Change in
Avr rate rate
Old Mirpur ( Percentage
Narsingdi Gazipur ( Dhaka)
Uttra Dhaka Narayangonj Demra Dhaka)

450 450
445 445 450 450 450 450 450 0.00%

37
 Market Rate
Daily Market price
01st -May-17
Dhaka
S/L Uttra,
Brand Name Old Dhaka Narayangonj Demra Narshindi Mirpur Gazipur
No Gulshan
1 Shah Cement( Spl) 450 450 445 445 445 450 450
2 Shah Cement( Plr) 445 445 440 440 440 445 440
3 Holcim ( Red) 460 460 460 460 455 455 455
4 Holcim ( Gray) 450 450 450 448 448 448 448
5 Holcim ( Blue) 440 440 440 440 442 442 442
6 Scan 460 460 460 455 455 455 455
7 7 Ring 445 445 445 445 445 445 445
8 King 440 440 440 440 445 445 445
9 Crown 445 445 445 445 445 445 445
10 Emirates 440 440 440 440 442 442 442
11 Anwar 445 445 445 445 445 445 445
12 Premeir 440 440 440 440 442 442 442

3.10 Analyzing Competitor prices:

King Cement, Scan Cement &Holcim Cement are the main competitors of Shah cement
company. Among three King cement is the strong competitor. Besides these companies 7 Ring,
Fresh, Premier, crown cement companies are treated as weak rivals.

38
3.11 Place / Distribution:

Shah Cement Bangladesh Ltd. is highly concerned to serve its customers through country-wide
distribution-network.It is directly related with the distribution work. The heavy-weight trucks,
own vessels, covered vans, bulk carries, portable silos and so on of the company distribute
throughout the country.
The company serves the market-place of Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Rajshahi divisions
wherever the market-place in the country, the corporate office of Shah Cement Bangladesh is
always ready to supply its products on demand within logical time-periods.

Distribution Network:

When I was busy to collect information how this company get the large market share within a
very short time. I found the main reason behind this is strong distribution network. There are
some other cement company and they also doing well but they cannot achieve the sales targets
because of their poor distribution network.
Anyone can produce the product in their factory but most of the times they are fail to get their
desire out come because they cannot provide the proper distribution.
Customer s are satisfied if they get their order in time and Shah cement Company is able to
realize this fact and take proper action to make this true.
Now I discuss how Shah Cement arranges their successful Distribution network. At fast they
make segment into Zone basis and Zone possess some blocks and block possess some other cell.

39
Zones and Blocks are given below;
Shah Cement
Distribution Network

Dhaka-01 Dhaka-02 Comilla Sylhet

Zone Zone zone zone
Motijheel Mirpur Comilla Shylet
Green Road Gabtoi B-Baria Sunamganj
Uttara Shaymoli Noyakhali Habigonj
Gulshan Savar Feni Moulobibazar
Pagla Manikgong Lakshamipur
Old Dhaka Gazipur Chandpur
Munshignaj Joydebpur
Norshindhi Mymensing
Tangail
Jamalpur
Sherpur
Kishoregonj

Bogra Rajshahi Jessore Barisal

Zone Zone Zone Zone

Bogra Rajshahi Jessore Barisal

Dinajpur Shirajgonj Khulna Bhola
Rangpur Chapai.N.Gonj Sathkhira Patuakhali
Panchagarh Naogaon Kustia Faridpur
Thakurgaon Jhenaidah Madaripur
Chuadanga Jhalakhathi
Magura
Meherpur

40
There are exclusive distributor, exclusive dealer, dealer, prime seller and retailer.
If any person wishes to take dealership from Shah Cement company he or she must fulfill the
below requirement:
Actually it’s totally depends on company’s own policy. There are some basis rules, which are
mandatory to fulfill for getting dealership. They are given below:

A. He or she must be a businessperson.

B. He or she has to possess sufficient amount of money to fulfill the company’s
requirements.
C. That person must be local and influential
D. He has the capability to collect the credit from the local market.
E. He should possess lot of knowledge about this sector and also have intellectual.
F. Power to apply his judgment when it is necessary.
G. That man has to submit a bank solvency certificate in front of the legal authority to
verify whether it is right or wrong.
H. He has to submit a certificate from the local policy station that he did not take part
any illegal offence.
I. He has to maintain a good relation with the company monitoring officer as well as
other officials.
J. He has to take company’s specified price not more than that.
K. He has to maintain his own selected territory.
L. He has to possess a standard warehouse to store product with its actual quality.
M. He has to buy selected amount of product at a time specified by the company for this
territory

If any person wishes to take dealership from the shah cement company he or she has to fulfill
the above-mentioned terms and conditions. Shah cement always tries to maintain a strong
standard to give dealership to its client.
Shah cement maintain adequate amount of own vessels, covered vans, bulk carries, portable
silos and so one.

41
3.12 The Promotion:

The concept of IMC suggests that any promising company must blend the promotion tools of
various forms into a coordinated promotion mix.

 Advertising
 Public Relation
 Direct Marketing
 Personal Selling
 Sales Promotion

Advertising:
At present the Cement Market is very competitive. That’s why promotion is must. SHAH
Cement also performs promotional activities. They use different media for advertising. The
common Media are listed below:
The company uses the ad agencies to build their ads and placing these ads across the country.
The company sets the budget by using the affordable methods. In corporate level the company
uses the personal selling method to sell the products personally.

1. Electronics (Television, Radio, Internet etc.)

2. Newspapers
3. Billboard
4. Event Sponsoring
5. Words of Mouth communication

42
Sales promotion:
Sales promotion is a short term incentive offered by the particular company toward the
customers. In today’s world, sales promotion is taking a crucial role for the marketing mix. It is
upgrading day by day, sales promotion may be reducing price by giving discount, presenting gift
items etc. for the customer for a certain period of time.
Shah cement is practicing some exclusive sales promotion through out the year for their dealers,
retailers and customers both in combined and respective way. In this serial they organized some
programs like:
 Shah Cement 50-50 offer-2015

A program for all where different prizes were offered and main prize was two Brand new cars.

 Shah Cement Century offer-2016

It was also a program for all where exclusive prizes were offered than previous year and the
main prizes was also a Brand new car.
 Shah Cement Power Plus offer-2017

Power plus offer was organized very gorgeously than previous years. It was a program for all
where 3 Brand New Cars were offered with other exclusive prizes in thus single offer which was
the time in Bangladesh.
 Shah Cement Prime plus offer-2018

This program was actually designed for the prime seller of Shah Cement through out the year
with attractive offers. Prizes was depends upon sales volumes subsequently.

Public Relation
Sometimes business transaction relation is not enough for the marketing of the brand. There
should make social relationship with the customer through different ways. It may like giving
different gift items in different social occasions, greetings for several individual anniversaries of
the customer.

43
Shah Cement is practicing these activities very cordially.
Their public relation activities are:

 Greeting cards in pahelaBaishakh

 Greeting cards in English New year
 Inviting them for having a delicious feast in different occasions.
 Sending calendar in every year.

Direct Marketing:
The concept of marketing is, the marketing the brand to the customer without any stage or media.
This marketing can raise a direct communication between the customer and company. There is
no wholesaler or retailer. It may be institution to institution or institution to individual. Shah
cement is communicating with different institutions for selling their orders to the head office and
k2office instructs the factory to provide the placed order. The companies concerning person
identify several institutions and make them the customer of Shah Cement

3.13 Marketing Activities /Strategy:

Shah Cement applies Market Driven Strategy in their target market. The main focus of this
strategy is clear understanding of market and its competitor. Shah Cements take into his account
close monitoring of competitors ( Holcim, Scan, Fresh, Seven Rings) Price, Quality, Distribution
channel.

44
3.14 Main activities of these strategies are:

 Customer is the main focal point of company’s total operation, Because of this
reason Shah Cements Produce customers need oriented Cement.

 Be commitment to continuous creation of superior customer value, that’s means

Shah cement ensure customer satisfaction to provide quality Cement with reasonable
price, convenience and maintain close customer relationship.

 Monitor changing customer need, its means Shah Cements very consciously observe
the need of target customer.

 Comprehensive Analysis of Competitors

3.15 Competitors Analysis

Now a days Markets are increasing complex, turbulent and interrelated, creating challenges for

organization in understanding market structure and identifying opportunities for growth. The

traditional view assumes that the market and competitive space are stable and changes are

predictable. Importantly, this perspective may be misleading and even dangerous because of new

technologies and competition the emergence of new business design.

45
3.16 Main Competitors of Shah Cement:
.
Almost every company does geographical segmentation for their marketing purpose. Holcim,
Scan, Fresh, Lafarge, Supercrete are some of the major multinational competitors. Among the
local competitors Fresh cement, Meghna Cement Mills Ltd., Mir cement, Bashundhara cement,
Mir cement, Seven Circle cement are the main local competitors.

(I) Strategies:
The way of getting objective is called strategy. A group of firms following the same strategies in
a given target market is called a strategic group.
A company must continuously monitor competitors’ strategies.

(II) Objective:
Once a company has identified its main competitors and their strategies, it must ask: what is each
competitor seeking in the marketplace?

(III) Strengths and Weaknesses:

A company needs to gather information on each competitor’s strengths and weaknesses. In
general, a company should monitor three variables when analyzing competitors:
 Share of market: The competitor’s share of the target market.
 Share of mind: The percentage of customers who name the competitor in responding to
the statement “Name the first company that comes to mind in this industry.”
 Share of heart: The percentage of customers who named the competitor in responding to
the statement “Name the company from which you would prefer to buy the product.”
From the above discussion, Shah Cement identifies King Brand cement is the prime competitor
in this industry.

46
Some Information about King Brand Cement:
The factory of this Company is located in the southwestern part of Bangladesh at Mongla Port
Industrial Area, in Mongla, Bagerhat under the Khulna Division. The Mongla Port is the second-
largest seaport of Bangladesh. The Jetty of this Company is situated on the eastern side of the
river 'Possur'. This river is also connected with many other rivers of the country. Given this
favorable geographical scenario, it is easy to implement a year-round delivery and raw material
transportation to and from the MCML factory site to remote corners of Bangladesh. The factory
stands close to the Mongla-Khulna Highway as well.
The Meghna Cement Mills Ltd. is the largest domestic cement-producing unit in Bangladesh. Its
excellent quality-control standards have helped the Company acquire the ISO-9001 certification.
The product of the Mill is being marketed under the trademark of 'King Brand Cement'. This
brand now has a steady market share, thanks to its consistently high quality. The Mill was set up
in 1995 on 10.5 acres of land and went into commercial production in January 1996.
It has two computerized production units and two automated packaging plants. The mill has its
own jetty with facilities for speedy unloading of raw materials from ships. In addition, the unique
barge loaders are capable of quick loading (capacity of 5,600 bags per hour) of the finished and
bagged cement for delivery to the buyers. There are six silos within the mill premises to store
clinker. These units are equipped with control elements to regulate humidity and temperature,
which are the vital for the shelf life of stored cement and cement-making ingredients. The Mill
has two stand-by generators to provide electric power during phases of power supply failure of
the national power grid. The Plant also has a well-equipped quality assurance and testing
laboratory.
Bashundhara's "King" Brand cement is well known throughout Bangladesh. The weight of each
marketed bag is always perfect due to the adoption of an automated packaging system. There is a
laboratory, equipped with modern equipment within the Mill premises to conduct tests at each
hour for every shift covering every stage of the production process. The most recent quality
standards, namely BS and ASTM, have also been in incorporated in this brand of cement.
The factory's environmental standards are high, thanks to regular inspections by the Company's
senior scientific staff members.

47
 ISO-9001 Certification
The Company has been awarded the coveted ISO-9001 Certification in the year 2000 by the
National Quality Assurance (NQA), registered by the National Accreditation of Certificate
Boards, UK.
Other existing competitor also plays a great role in the cement industry. They also capture a
significant market share. They also have their own market strategy and objective. Their
hypothetical market structures are given below.

Hypothetical Market Structure:

40% 30% 20% 10%

Market Leader Challenger Follower Nishers
Bashudhara Holcim, 7 Rings &
Shah Cement Primer,Crown
Cement Fresh

3.17 Primary discussion about some Competitors

A. Holcim Cement.
The worldwide brand leader Holcim promises standard quality in the market. They reached full
market coverage throughout the country. So in this regard a major part of consumers has come
to the touch of Holcim. As Holcim is the world market leader so they practice Marketing
concept. They are much concerned with their product quality to satisfy consumers.
B. BashudharaCement.
The worldwide market challenger Scan market is much competitive in this local area. Their
marketing strategies are similar to Holcim Cement. They have a good share like Holcim
Cement. At present they are exporting cement to our neighbor country India’s different state to
raise their total sales and to increase their market. They believe their products quality is much
better to satisfy their customers. They have covered through out the country with strong
distribution channel. Like Holcim they follow the Niche market strategy.

48
C. Scan Cement.
MTC Cement Industries Ltd established with the technical co-operation of CITIC

engineering of PRC in year of 1998 is situated on the embankment of the river

Meghna. There is a two unit cement plant capacity of 1200 MT per day. TIGER BRAND

Cement started its commercial voyage on july 2001. Currently MTC is on an expansion

program in pagla with a small 150 MT per day capacity cement grinding plant.

D. Lafarge Surma Cement.

Lafarge/cement mills are setting up the only modern, integrated cement manufacturing plan

known as Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd. In Bangladesh at Chattak under Sunamgonj district.

The majority of Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd. Shareholding (60%) is held by a 50/50 joint

venture company between Lafarge and cements melons. Founded in 1833, Lafarge operates

in 75 countries, employing 77,000 people.

E. Fresh Cement
It is one of the companies who are struggling in the cement market. The product of the

company has good image among the local brands. The marketing strategy of this company is

discussed in details in the privies chapter. It is failing to get the customer satisfaction because

if its steady branding and marketing activities. On the other hand it has a very weak

transportation fleet, which creates different problems to reach the ultimate customers timely.

49
3.18 Production Capacity against Demand of Several Competitors

Name of the company Cement production against demand

Shah 15%
Holcim 10%
Scan 10%
Premier 6%
Fresh 8%
Seven Ring 6%
Seven Horse 5%
Tiger 5%
Lafarge 5%
Other 30%
Total 100%

Shah

Holcim

Scan

Premier

Fresh

Seven R

Seven H

Tiger

Lafarg

Other

50
3.19 Relationship Marketing:

The function of enterprises marketing activities is to bring buyers and sellers together, to
create customer. ‘While getting customer is fundamental to business success, keeping
customer is more important. Successful firms work to build long term relationship with their
customer. Shah Cement engaged in relationship marketing to provide direct marketing to
corporate customer and also create strong social bond with their Distributor, Wholesaler, and
Corporate customer.
Maintaining the relationship Shah Cement uses the indigenous image among other strong
competitors Like Holcim, Scan, Fresh, and Seven Rings.
Some big corporate customers are 1) Advance Development Technologies, 2)B T I, 3)
Everest Holdings & Technologies Ltd, 4) Japan Garden City Ltd, 5) Sumona Builders ,6)
Nasir Group, 7) Partex, 8) Nagar Homes Ltd.

3.20 The Marketing Philosophy:

The management of Shah Cement always wants to design strategies that will build profitable
relations with target customers. Shah Cement designs and carries out their marketing strategies
based on the following two concepts:

 The Production Concept and

 The Marketing Concept

Due to its product concepts, Shah Cement Industries holds that customers favor products that
will offer the best in quality, performance and innovative features. Shah Cement produces eco-
friendly, strength cements, simultaneously; Shah Cement believes that achieving organizational
goals depends on knowing the needs and demands of target markets and delivering the desired
satisfactions better than competitors do.
Both concepts are integrated in the Shah Cement Positioning Strategy: Here, Shah Cement
blends the product concept through Strength and Performance with the marketing concept
through customers’ passion or desire.

51
3.21 The Target Market & Customers:

To always be welcomed by our customers, our guideline is straightforward: to offer a perfect

service. Our vision is to make our mark especially with innovative solutions to our customers.
Progress at high level is our motor in how we make and how we deliver our products and
services worldwide.
The commitment of Shah Cement to its customers ensures that our product range is enhanced by
innovative research and development at the cutting edge of cement and concrete technology.

The customers of Shah Cement include:

 Real Estates & Housing Company

 Construction Firms
 Roads & Highways Authority of the Govt
 Individuals

3.22Shah Cement as a Brand:

Now it is not only cement it is more than that like-Trust, Confident, Reliable, Durable, and
Happiness. At the present time, shah cement is the market leader. From the date of inception
(10th March, 2003) Shah Cement company starts it’s marketing with a strong plan and provide
continuously superior customer value by its strong distribution channel, promotional strategy,
attractive packaging, availability of goods makes himself as a market leader and position
himself as a brand “ShahCement.”

Slogan of Shah Cement ‘Born to Build’

52
3.23 Companies SWOT Analysis
Strength

A. Shah cement the highest selling cement brand of Bangladesh cement market in its
very inaugural years of operation.
B. Shah cement Industries Limited has been certified ISO 9001: 2000 for its Quality
Management System (QMS).
C. Their quality management program spans the whole organization.
D. The dedicated team at Shah Cement works tirelessly towards establishing,
implementing and upgrading the highest performance standards.
Weaknesses:

A. Company’s rules and regulations are very complex.

B. Compensation package is not enough
C. Employ’s skill is not so standard
D. Working time of employ is not fixed
E. Monitoring system is not satisfied

Opportunities:
A. Door to door delivery

B. Salary structure

C. Timely promotion

D. Target achievement

Threats:

A. Credit recovery

B. Shortage of vehicles

C. Regional cement factory

53
 CHAPTER FOUR
Analysis of the study

4. Questionnaires Development and Data Collection for

Conclusive Research:
Question will be structured only to find out the problem in aspect of product’s
quality, price, distribution, and communication. No unstructured and disgust
questions will be used. The data will be collected by the sales forces of the company.
Following question will be asked to the sample.
4.1. Question about Product Shah Cement:
Q1: You are well known to Shah Cement so as a Customer/ Dealer/promoter what
do you think about quality of Shah Cement?
Don’t
Excellent Very good Good Fair Not so good Poor
know

Report In Tabular Form:

Don’t
Excellent Very good Good Fair Not so good Poor
know
18 43 20 5 12 2 0

Question one related Price of

(Shah Cement)
Excelent Very good Good Fair Not so good Poor Don't know

4% 0%
6%
5%

40%
20%

25%

54
ANALYSIS OF REPORT:

The respondents were asked to evaluate the existing quality of Shah Cement by making
a comparison with its competitors Brands. It is surprisingly noticed that 81% sample
population have given their answer in positive trend or in favor of Shah Cement.

Q2. You are deeply concern about Shah Cements, as Customer/ Dealer/promoter
what benefit will you suggest improving its value?

Excellent Very good Good Fair Not so good Poor Don’t know

Report in Tabular Form:

Not so Don’t
Excellent Very good Good Fair good Poor know

12 20 64 0 0 0 4

Report in Graphical Form:

Analysis of Report:

The respondents were asked to know whether the Customer/ Dealer/promoter what
benefit will you suggest improving its value is justified or not. It is surprisingly noticed
that the respondents answered in positive trend or in favor of Shah Cement. Here 64%
sample populations have agreed
Completely and 20% populations have somewhat agreed on the Shah Cement existing
benefit. That mean 84% samples are in favor of Shah Cement. It’s a big percentage
undoubtedly.

55
Q3. You are well known to Shah Cement so as a Customer/ Dealer/promoterwhat is
your position in context design of Shah Cement?

Very Somewhat
Some favorable Indifferent Very unfavorable
favorable unfavorable

25 55 20 10 0

Q4. Shah Cements properly bonding plaster in what extend do you accept this
statement as Customer/ Dealer/promoterof Shah Cement?

Neither
Extremely Quite Slightly one nor Slightly Quite Extremely
acceptable acceptable Acceptable the unacceptable Unacceptable Unacceptable

other

Q5. You are well known to Shah Cement, do you agree binding materials Shah
Cements better than its competitors?

Agree Agree Disagree Disagree

Don’t know
Completely somewhat somewhat Completely
65 18 12 5 0

Q6. As a Customer/ Dealer/promoter and well familiar to this generic which brand
do you prefer most?

Shah Bshundhara Fresh Seven

Holcem Scan-cement Cement Cement Cement Ring

20 10 40 10 15 5

56
4. 2. Question about Product Price:
Q1. Price of Shah Cements four hundred taka per bag whereas leading competitors
are selling four hundred fifth taka per bag a number of challenger and follower
competitors. How will you evaluate price of Shah Cement?

Don’t
Excellent Very good Good Fair Not so good Poor
know
40 25 20 5 6 4 0

Similar brand do you accept price of Shah Cement should be increased?

Neither Extremely
Extremely Quite Slightly Slightly Quite
one nor unacceptable
acceptable acceptable Acceptable unacceptable Unacceptable
the other
71 18 3 8 0 0 0

Q2. As a Cement Customer/ Dealer/promoter or as a repeated buyer of Shah

Cements its similar brand what do you proposed price of Shah Cement?

450 430 400 420 440 410 460

Q3. As a Cement Customer/ Dealer/promoter or as a repeated buyer of Shah

Cement its similar brand what brand do you think is most cost effective?

Scan- Shah Bshundhara Fresh Seven

Holcem cement Cement Cement Cement Ring Other

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4.3. Question about Communication:

Q1. Market leader of Shah Cement taking various communication strategies like
sampling to projects, literatures, gifts, honorarium other facilities. What do you
think about Shah Cement’s communication strategy?

Excellent Very good Good Fair Not so good Poor Don’t know

Q2. In context of communication strategy to increase Shah Cement’s what

promotion strategy should be add in favor of Shah Cement?

Services Other All of these

Sampling Gift Literatures Honorarium
Facilities
5 10 5 40 10 10 20

Q3. Do you think communication strategies are important weapon to beat the
competitors of Shah Cement?

Agree
Agree somewhat Don’t know Disagree Disagree
completely

45 21 4 Somewhat Completely

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 4 Questions about Distribution:
REPORT IN TABULAR FORM:

Disagree Disagree
Agree completely Agree somewhat Don’t know
somewhat completely
35 30 8 12 15

Report in Graphical Form:

Q. Related to Compare Distribution Channel of Shah Cement

Chart Title
Agree Agree Don't know Disagree Disagree
Completely Somewhat Somewhat Somewhat

6%
5%

40%
20%

29%

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Analysis of Report:

The respondents were asked to evaluate statements that stated that distribution channel
of Shah Cement is good like its competitors. It is surprisingly noticed that 65%
respondents of the samples have agreed positively on the distribution channel of Shah
Cement. Here 27% sample people were against the distribution channel in some causes.

Q2Cement Customer/ Dealer/promoter or as a repeated buyer of Shah Cement do

you agree Shah Cements available in everywhere?

Agree Agree Disagree Disagree

Don’t know
completely somewhat somewhat completely
22 38 6 12 22

Q3. As a Cement Customer/ Dealer/promoter or as a repeated buyer of Shah

Cement or its similar brand what do you think, which brand is available in
everywhere?

Bshundhara Fresh Seven

Holcem Scan-cement Shah Cement Cement Cement Ring

10 7 6 12 52 13

Q4. As a Cement Customer/ Dealer/promoter or as a repeated buyer of Shah

Cement, what type of distribution will be convenient for customer of Shah Cement?

Retail Sales Door to door

Dealerships Wholesales Sales from Doctor
Supply Supply Supply Supply Chamber

4.5. Data Analysis Technique and Statistical Tools:

Data will be analyzed with the help of statistical tools such as standard deviation,
correlation and regression.

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 4.6 Suggestion from Respondent (Dealer/Retailer)

a. Increasing promotional activities like-TVC, Bill-board, Print media coverage

etc. (24)
b. Providing more facilities to the retailer. (18)
c. Cement sales rate should be vulnerable. (9)
d. Color problem should be detected. (6)
e. Quality should be increased. (5)
f. Providing better service. (5)
g. Different types of incentives must be communicate with consumer in due time.
(4)
h. Organization should be concern about their commitment. (6)
i. Company should be concern about pricing policy. (6)
j. Should solve the problem of lumps. (2)
k. Motivational program must be increased. (7)
l. Engaged in public Construction like-constructing bridge, flyover and so on. (6)
m. Number of dealer should increase. (3)
n. Feedback from market should be tactfully analyzed. (1)

4.7. Findings of the Study:

The following findings are obtained from the study of overall objectives and functions of Shah
Cement:

A. Companies are offer different promotional activities than the other brand cement.
B. Supply the order within a short time
C. Provide the product with actual quality
D. In some area they are not able to distribute their cement due to proper transport system
E. Lack of financial commitment from the prime dealer, they are failed to supply the order
in time.

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 CHAPTER FIVE
Recommendations and Conclusions

5.1. Recommendations:
I think if Shah Cement take and implement the following recommendations carefully then its
total distribution system as well as total management system would be most effective efficient
and able to show the better performance that will lead to improve the overall activities of the
bank. The recommendations are:

A. It should conduct project promotional activates along with preparation of various sub sect
oral studies.

B. Training supervisor should be smart who can be able to give dynamic and timely training
to the employees.

C. Training department should be accommodated with the modern equipments of training

skilled and knowledgeable teachers/trainers, modern infrastructure facilities. This
department should also arrange different training programs to increase the skills,
efficiency and effectiveness of the personnel.

D. Performance appraisal should be done regularly and promotion should be based on the
result of the performance appraisal.

E. Shah Cement should provide promotion every year on the basis of greater efficiency. As
a result employee will be more assertive, attentive and try to show better performance for
promotion.

F. Companies should offer different promotional activities in every year.

G. Companies should improve their distributions network system.

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H. Shah Cement should arrange outside training program for those personnel who show
greater performance and are most senior.

I. It should use job analysis every half-year as a result and incentives to increase the
effectiveness, efficiency and performance of the personnel that also help to reduce
absenteeism and turnover of them.

J. Good working condition should be provided to personnel with well-equipped office.

Infrastructure problems of Shah Cement should be removed.

K. Market research institution should be established for proper market survey.

L. Taking proper steps for unskilled manpower.

M. There should be strict monitoring system of the human resources in Shah Cement.

N. All the divisions and employees must be kept in equally busy at work.

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5.2. Conclusion:

From the start, Shah Cement has been striving to provide the best quality products and achieve
high customer satisfaction. Today, Company takes pride in the many achievements that
cumulatively gives Shah Cement an edge over its competitors. Their uniqueness of promotional
activities and distributions of product and knowledge about marketing mix in time reach them in
the position of the first place and become market leader in the cement industry. Shah Cement has
placed itself in a position to enrich the quality of life in Bangladesh and to contribute for a better
society. Shah Cement firmly believes that customer satisfaction and corporate responsibility are
the way to build a better and brighter future, not only for itself but also for the nation.

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