PRODUCT PLANNING DISTRIBUTION AND MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

A product has been defined by the American marketing association as any thing that can be officered to a market for attention, acquisition or consumption including physical objects, services, personalities, organization and desires. A product as defined by stanchion in fundamentals of marketing. A product is a set of tangible and intangible attributes that leads to customer satisfaction. product planning embraces all the activities that enables a company to determine what product t will market.

Management deals with all those who have supervisory responsibility ranging from the chief executive down to the first line supervisor, in this case, management is regarded to as box, that is those who direct the work of others and their own through their own offers and efforts of others thus, product planning and management, comprises all the activities that enables a company to determine what it will market of product so as to satisfy customers wants and need respectively.

This involves the process of effectively planning and regulating the operations of that part of enterprises which is responsible of that part of enterprises which is responsible for the actual transformation of materials into finished products. This includes all the activities required. In storage and distribution of the company’s goods.

This addresses the questions of.

a.    Which type of channels a seller should select for his product.

b.    Which particular middlemen include in each channel type and.

c.     How to management distribution n system for effective performance. The company or firm should know the degree of channel control desired, by controlling the channel, the producer attempts to ensure that this product will receive the necessary sales push as well as any other essential elements needed to present the product properly and satisfy and customers.

The company of firm should make necessary effort to control the quality of the product.

Product quality-  the quality level to be built into the product is a conscious decision to be made by the manufacture. A higher quality product normally is more costly to product than a lower quality one and so commands a higher price on the market. The quality level decision therefore should be related to the price range that will be attractive to the mainstreams of potential buyers, quality is multifaceted. It relates to, or depends on. Such factors as the quality of raw materials used the production process Itself, quality controls during production packaging or dressing of the product, price of the product, the environment in which the product is displayed for buys, the durability of the product is used and the buyers, expectation and appreciation in general, product quality tends to be high to the extent that any of the above factors is good or high as the case may be.

The quality produced has be in line with demand at a particular point in time so as to fight against out of stock and over stock.

The company has to be watchful at any point in time so as to know what type of product to be produced, when to produce. How to produce, whom to produce for the (target market) and cloy such a product is required.

According to Charles a Scheve and Reuben M Smith. The basic goal of product management is to ensure that a product matches the wants and needs of consumers in its market. Then many markets make the mistake of thinking that consumers feel and act as they do and  share their wants” invalid assumptions on the part of marketers. Results to marketing failures previously, about one hundred years ago, there were few producers. The sellers oriented type of market was prevailing consumers out weighted the number of producers and little or no regards was paid to consumers welfares. Production concept of marketing philosophy was prevalent. What ever was produced had to be consumed. This goes to mean that the total produce concept is the entire set of benefits the products provides to the consumers. No attention was paid to product packaging, branding product quality and other important physical attributes of a product.

As time went on, more and more producers come into the market. This gave rise to conception among the available producers consumption was based on good packaging brand image, product quality convenient. This is known as product concept in marketing philosophy.

It is this situation that forced manufactures to spend time in product packaging, labeling, branding etc. Now due to advancement in both technology and communication as will as production equipment introduced into the circulation  makes the market more complicated. This is the era that brought about marketing concept. Here manufactures and producers first of all is out to find really the needs and wants of consumers, then the most admirable type colour, package design, branding and labeling that all best suit the desire of the potential and actual consumers of the product.

Product planners must try to match the firms resources lie what it is capable of producing with the men, money, machines and materials it ahs with the needs of consumers satisfaction and highest company profits can be achieved wit the limited resources available.

Because of the sophisticated nature of today’s  business, many tactics are  being applied by different companies to fight back competitions and to stand firmly in the  market. Many new products are constantly being introduced into the market.

Innovators are seriously doing their job; old and profitable products are modernized while some are deleted out of the market. Companies use specific and admirable packaging design, good branding and  beautiful types of labeling to distinguish their products from many  in circulation. Similar products in the market.

1.2       STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

In most business operations today the task of planning and managing a product is not an easy one.

Emphasis is laid on the problems associated with product planning distribution and management in NBC PLC Enugu.

The company is having problems in procuring raw materials. The  reason is that.

a.  The Federal Government banned the  importation of the base material-what?

b.    Local supplier do not always have enough to give the company.

c.  The local inputs have to be refined to bring them to the standard record by the company.

d.     Transporting the raw materials is a problem since the company does not have enough f town trucks.

e.     The raw materials are usually bulky.

The company is also having problems in product planning and development.

The reason being that the company exists in an economy strangled by hyperinflation and insecurity. Consumers are now being very careful on what to spend for or consumer.

Another problems that the company encounters is that of increased competitions from companies like 7 up bottling PLC. The company’s competitors are having a high quality of product often not much different from the NBC. Even where NBC gain in terms of quality and diversification, other gain by more liquid content, as 7 up against sprite and cheaper prices.

In the area of distribution and product management, the company has insufficient number of trucks and experiences bottle breakages and pilfrages.

1.3       OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

This study is purely on product planning, distribution and management. It aims at describing how NBC PLC is really involved in these task. To do this the study is armed with information gathered from extensive literature review as a base.

The main and primary objectives of this study is to define certain problems usually associated with product planning distribution and management in NBC PLC which require a proposal of remedial measure after reveal areas of the problems.

The study will investigate on the areas of the company’s procurement of raw materials use. How the company plans for its products.

How this product is developed. How the management and workers take decision, what channel of distribution is used, and how are the products managed from production to consumption.

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

For the purpose of this study the following research question have been proposed by the researcher.

1.  Do you have problems in procuring raw materials used by your company.

2.    Do you plan for your product before production.

3.   Do you encounter certain problems in planning and managing your products.

4.    Do you normally meet up with demand during peak period.

5.  How do distribution cope with the distribution system of your company.

6.    Do your products meet a real need of consumers or do they complain of poor quality.

1.5       SCOPE OFD THE STUDY

This study covers the Nigerian Bottling company PLC Enugu the producer of

i.          Coca-cola

ii.         Sprite

iii.        Fantat (Quinine and Orange)

iv.        Krest

v.         Tonic water

vi.        Chapman

vii.       Club soda

1.7       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is beneficial to the write in the sense that it gives him opportunity to review personally almost all that it exposed the writer to a very wide area of business most especially during the cross of research and widened his knowledge. Also with the opportunity provided by the research study, the writer having obtained facts from research carried out will be privileged to   express higher opinion based on personal judgment on the subject matter (Nigeria Bottling Company PLC Enugu) when the suggestions and recommendations provided by this study are implemented this is it fault will reality the weaknesses identified during   the course of study. Also the exposure and awareness which this project will create about (Nigerian Bottling Company PLC Enugu) could help in attracting different categories  of individuals and groups to come and invest in (Nigeria n Bottling Company PLC Enugu as required by the Authority.

Finally, since it is generally believed that examination alone does provides the true test of one’s ability or knowledge the polytechnic could use this project work to measure the performance and seriousness of the student or writer.

1.8       DEFINITION OF TERM

Because of the misconception of product and the mis-positioning of products there is need to explain some production know how which few has been explained above.

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