Choose your language:
Customer case
AGC EUROPE

Action Plan to Drive Business Development

AGC Glass Europe, the European glass branch of AGC (Japan),  produces, processes and distributes flat glass for the building, automotive and various other industries such as transport, solar power and high-tech applications. Being the market leader in flat glass, AGC Glass Europe challenges itself to continuously reinvent glass, explore potential applications and new technologies and improve the current product portfolio. Thus putting glazing at the centre stage of technological revolutions.

GET A COMPLETE VIEW OF THE COMPLEX BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM AND UNCOVER NEW PARTNERS AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

One of the glass production facilities is based in Mol, Belgium. The furnace was rebuilt in 2019-2020 which increased the output capacity and allowed producing higher quality thin glass. The combined strength and transparency of the ultra-thin glass and extremely precise laser cutting, grinding and coating capabilities opened completely new perspectives for industrial applications. To reach the business targets in line with the capacity of the new furnace, it was imperative to build a bold, data-driven business plan for thin glass applications in a highly competitive market that is rapidly evolving due to continuous new emerging application domains. The challenge for the group’s sales and marketing department was to assess the market potential of key markets, identify new market opportunities and understand the dynamics of its value chains The ambition was to get a complete view of the complex business ecosystem and uncover new partners and business opportunities. The plan to drive business development had to align with different axes: 

  • Development of existing customers, 
  • Activating opportunities in known markets across Europe and Turkey 
  • Uncovering new opportunities in adjacent and new markets

TYPICAL QUESTIONS THAT AGC GLASS EUROPE WANTED TO BE ANSWERED

  • What are the business segments that we should address first?
  • What are the specific needs of the different business segments?
  • Who are the key players and how is the value chain organized for the key segments?
  • Who are the innovators in the market? What are the substitutes for thin glass?

PROJECT APPROACH

The project was executed in  collaboration between GlickmanMerluno and DataScouts combining forces to build collective intelligence that drives business growth

  • Bring the true purpose and value proposition to the surface
  • Gather market, competitive and ecosystem intelligence
  • Analyze the sweet spot, predict & develop market potential
  • Create strategy activating the market and driving customer lifetime value

THE ECOSYSTEM MAPPING METHODOLOGY

We targeted the core of the issues by conducting a rigorous market scan to identify the potential applications of ultra-thin glass. During the intake meeting together with AGC Glass Europe, we clarified the specific information needs for 16 potential application domains. Based upon a literature study, the market opportunity for the different applications was defined based upon market size, knowledge of the market and market growth parameters. Based upon the initial market scan, the AGC Europe team decided to drill down on the four most prominent application domains. We described the end-to-end value chain for each segment, the key players, the market and industry trends. 

The underlying articles, academic publications & patents linked to thin glass and its appliances were retrieved by the DataScouts exploration platform from over 70.000 data and information sources. As part of the research workflow, we started populating the DataScouts Monitoring Platform with competitors, potential customers and valuable partners along the value chain. The automatically generated actor profiles contained information about the companies, their technologies and roles in the value chain. The platform helped to visualize in an interactive way an accurate and detailed mapping of the value chain for the 4 key application domains of ultra-thin glass and the connections between different technology and service providers along the value chain. Understanding the connections and the dynamics between players was crucial to develop an efficient business development strategy. For example, AGC Group has developed a solution for building glazing together with Panasonic. In addition, Panasonic is very active as a supplier for automotive and aviation so Panasonic can open doors for AGC Glass Europe to manufacturers in these two sectors. 

THE OUTCOME - STRATEGIC AGILITY

The report provided AGC Glass Europe with 

  • Detailed and granular insight into the market opportunity for ultra-thin glass
  • Detailed analysis of the Customer Life Time Value 
  • Accurate representation of all relevant parties in the ecosystem for ultra-thin glass applications
  • Validated assumptions and approaches to activate business development 

The Collective Intelligence about their current customer base, the business ecosystem and the sweet spot to go after provided the AGC Europe Team with practical next steps on how to assess and develop new markets, increase customer revenue in the short, middle long and long term.

Book a free demo!

Request a demo and learn how to use the DataScouts Platform to map and monitor your business environment, scout for innovations and technologies, and build your own ecosystem!

This form can only be sent with the use of technical cookies. You can accept these cookies here.
These cookies are used to distinguish people from bots. Certain data, such as your IP address or language preference, can be sent to Google. For more information about our cookie policy. If you don’t want these data to be processed by Google, you can send your question or request to info@datascouts.eu.