Industry overview
What is shaping manufacturing
Manufacturers sell to distributors, OEMs and industrial buyers, and compete on quality, delivery and service as much as price. Many are also digitising plants, sales and finance processes.
- Distributor networks remain central to reach
- Buyers expect consistent quality and on-time delivery
- Digitisation of operations and reporting is accelerating
Client background
An industrial pump manufacturer, working in United States, Canada & United Kingdom. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- An industrial pump manufacturer
- Sector
- Manufacturing
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Business panel, Qualitative research, Quantitative research
Client challenge
The manufacturer’s win rate on large tenders had fallen, and sales teams blamed price. Leadership suspected other factors and wanted to understand how buying decisions were really made.
Research objectives
- Answer the core question: how plant heads choose industrial equipment suppliers.
- Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 8 weeks.
Target audience
Scope: 30 interviews, 350 plant and procurement heads.
Audiences we typically reach in manufacturing
Procurement and plant headsDistributors and dealersOEM buyersService engineersFinance and operations teams
Geographic coverage
Coverage: United States, Canada & United Kingdom. Markets: United States, Canada and United Kingdom. 350 plant covered.
- United States
- Canada
- United Kingdom
Research methodology
A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.
- 1Brief
- 2In-depth interviews
- 3Telephone survey of buyers
- 4Insight
We interviewed plant heads, maintenance managers and procurement officers at recent buyers and lost prospects, then surveyed a wider group to measure the importance of price, reliability, service response and spare-part availability.
Business panelQualitative researchQuantitative research
Sampling strategy
- Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
- Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
- Telephone contacts were dialled from verified lists, with quotas tracked live by the field team.
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- interviews
- 30
- Telephone interviews were run from our CATI centre, with calls monitored for quality.
- The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Live call monitoring and recording review
- Call-back verification
- Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
- Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
- Review of open-ended answers
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
Key findings
- Maintenance teams strongly influenced decisions and valued service response time above price.
Talking to everyone in the buying committee revealed influence that procurement data alone could not.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: talking to everyone in the buying committee revealed influence that procurement data alone could not.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: maintenance teams strongly influenced decisions and valued service response time above price.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The client introduced a guaranteed service response commitment in key regions and involved maintenance heads earlier in the sales process.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interview summaries and key verbatims
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: where do customers feel service falls short?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.