The phase 1 project was divided to tasks. As a result of them Conexbird has generated a market strategy to be implemented.
Task 1: Refine market strategy
Market study 1: The target group of this study was selected to be the Paper & Board industry delivering paper and board to their customers. This study was made by Conexbird's own employees. The study was focused to find the biggest problems in Paper and board supply chain causing damages to the cargo and to find a way that Conexbird service to prevent these damages. The study was made with 4 companies. The result showed that there is a real need for Conexbird service. Most of the damages are related to the stuffing and lashing of the cargo. The second biggest phase to cause problems is unloading. Based on the findings Conexbird formulized the Conexbird service to produce the information from the stowing and unloading processes to solve these problems. The main result was that one of the top 5 Paper&Board manufacturer in the world ordered the system starting from test use.
Market study2: This study was ordered from the University of applied sciences, Jyväskylä. They made the study together with Jacobs University, Bremen and Rotterdam Mainport University of Applied Sciences. The study was targeted to the stakeholders of the supply chain to find out their needs. The interviewed companies were insurance companies, customs, surveyors, depots, logistic service providers, port and terminal operators and shipping lines. Study showed that there is a need for the information that Conexbird service can offer. The most important finding was that the stageholders taking care of the certain phases of the supply chain are mainly interested in new products that their customers demand them to use. This result made Conexbird to plan more carefully the market strategy and pointed out that the shippers (cargo owners) are the right customer group to focus on.
Market study 3: This study was ordered from the University of Jyväskylä. It focused on studying the needs of the different cargo type shippers and to compare them to Conexbird's first customer group, depots. The study was done with automotive, electric device manufacturers, construction material manufacturers and general cargo. The results shows that there is a need a Conexbird service among several cargo type shippers. Compared to the depots as a customer the interest was even higher. Based on this results Conexbird selected the shippers to be the main target customer group.
Task 2: Identify field testing partners to be realised in phase II
Conexbird was able to sign customer orders and partner agreements during the project. The testing customer to phase 2 is a big paper & board manufacturer. The partner agreements are signed with port operator, logistics service provider, insurance company and warehousing company.
Task 3: Sales, delivery and maintenance channels
Strategy for global selling is to find a shipper as a customer. Then make a sales and big data collection partner agreement with their subcontractive warehouses and port operators. The first partners are identified and the agreements have been signed. The companies mentioned in Task 2 are also part of the sales and delivery channel. Potential maintenence channels have been identified and the negotiations are ongoing. The agreements can be announced later on.
Task 4: IP and standardize strategy
IP strategy has been build together with Tampereen patenttitoimisto Oy. Before the phase 1 project we had filed 2 patent applications. During the phase 1 project Conexbird have filed 2 more patent applications. These 4 patents / patent pendings will cover the features offered to our customers.
Task 5: Field test of the plans
Field testing of the business plan has been done directly with the new testing customers, potential customers and potential partners from supply chain stakeholders. Conexbird have signed orders and partner agreements with these stakeholders showing that the model works also in practise. Several negotiations are in progress with different shippers and we believe to be able to announce several new signed deals in the near future.
The main result of the whole project was to find the right target customer group to enter the markets, to find the right features that the customers are ready to pay for and to generate a scalable business model to be able to enter the global markets. This updated business model will be implemented during the phase 2.
