Company Overview:

Danforth Manufacturing Company (DMC) develops, produces, and sells several lines of photovoltaic storage cells (solar-powered batteries) for use in various consumer, business, medical, and aerospace products. DMC is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has over 2,400 employees.

Mission:

The mission of DMC is to be the leading supplier of photovoltaic storage cells in the consumer, business, aerospace and medical markets. This is accomplished by focusing on leadership, integrity, quality, and customer satisfaction.

• Leadership - We are the world-class leader in every aspect of our business: in developing our team leadership skills at every level; in our management performance; in the way we design, build, and support our products; and in our financial results.

• Integrity - We will always take the high road by practicing the highest ethical standards and by honoring our commitments. We take personal responsibility for our actions and treat everyone fairly and with trust and respect.

• Quality - We strive for continuous quality improvement through the use of state of the art manufacturing and attention to details in all we do. We rank among the world's  premier industrial firms in customer, employee, and community satisfaction.

• Customer Satisfaction - We achieve high customer satisfaction by understanding what the customer wants and delivering it flawlessly. We appreciate and acknowledge that satisfied customers are essential to our success.

Vision: 

Danforth Manufacturing Company will continue to be the leading supplier of photovoltaic storage cells in the consumer, business, aerospace and medical markets through improved innovation, integrity, and customer satisfaction. We will increase our leadership through internal growth, cost reductions, and strategic acquisitions.

Company Background:

The company was founded in 1978 as a solar power industrial products company.  Since that time, it has added three major divisions through acquisitions: Consumer Products in 1986,Aerospace in 1998, and Medical Products in 2006.  The reported profit for DMC in 2006 was $27.5 million, with over $360 million in total revenue.  The revenue stream has been growing an average of 13% annually during the past five years. Some of the highlights for this year include, The acquisition of the  Johnson Lighting Company (street lights and call boxes ), a new manufacturing, product development and sales facility in Denver Colorado and the addition of 350 employees at our Medical Products division. (Business Plan)

Organization:

Statement of Strategic Direction:

DMC will continue its growth during the next five years through a combination of:

• New product development

• Cost controls

• Planned acquisitions

• Opening new markets

• Increase sales presence

• Strategic investments (Investment Portfolio)

General Competitive Strategy: 

DMC will need to follow certain strategies in order to prevent negative results from the following five industry drivers: threat of new entrants, threat of substitute products or services, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, and rivalry among existing firms.

Specific Competitive Strategy: 

• Threat of New Entrants

  • Form strong alliances with suppliers to prevent competitors from using those same suppliers.

  • Continue company growth and reach, including capital investments.

• Threat of Substitute Products or Services

  • Increase research and development (R&D) budget to invent and discover more effective products.

  • Work closely with current vendors and customers to understand industry demands.

• Bargaining Power of Suppliers

  • Research backward integration into supply chain (essentially in-house production of supplier components).

  • Stress importance of efficiency to current suppliers.

• Bargaining Power of Buyers

  • Continue improving design, production, and delivery process to decrease final prices of products.

  • Strengthen customer loyalty and brand image.

• Rivalry Among Existing Firms

  • Emphasize importance on competitor analysis which will result in greater knowledge of rivals.

  • Focus on reducing cost of goods sold to become more efficient than competitors.

• Leverage "Green" Legislation

  • Open sales, manufacturing and distribution centers in Boston in anticipation of alternative energy legislation pending in several Northeast states