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Discussion on: Bridgestone Corporation: Vertical Integration Strategy Analysis

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Angel Paudel

Established in 1931, Bridgestone Tire Co., Ltd. today has a business presence in 150 countries. In addition to that, they also have their production and development base in 26 countries with around 180 of such bases in those nations (Bridgestone Corporation, 2017). With the rise in the automobile sector and their development in Japan, the company grew with it as well. Today, it’s the largest tire manufacturer of Japan and one of the largest in the world as well. The company acquisition in the year 1988 of another tire company called The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company changed the shape of the business (Bridgestone Corporation, 2018). As it was a global corporation, it helped Bridgestone expand their presence beyond Asia and enter into the global market of tire and rubber sector.

Looking through their website details and the records available elsewhere, the company is certain vertically included. They include the development, manufacturing, marketing, and even the distribution of tires. The company operates in a variety of segments like tires and tubes for buses, cars and trucks, construction vehicles, aircraft, motorcycles, industrial machinery, and other automotive parts (Bridgestone Corporation, 2018). They’ve 180 production base split across 180 countries and they sell their products in 150 countries, making them the company with the largest sales network in the world (Bridgestone Corporation, 2017). The company provides direct sales which are personalized to individual and also provide technical service to customers around the world.

The segment of the vertical chain Bridgestone Group has chosen to enter starts from the activities they do ranging from upstream to downstream. They build a business that includes from sourcing the raw materials required for the products to selling the final developed product on a global scale. Efficient and effective management is what enables them to develop and supply the products and supply in a very competitive marketplace while also providing quality as expected to the customers.

Looking at the benefits of the vertical integration, it has helped the business reduce the cost of the transportation of goods from one country to another. They having a base in so many countries and producing goods in 26 countries and at 180 bases, they have got a huge selection from where to ship from. It also helps bring down the taxes as the import for raw materials is significantly cheaper than the finished product if required. It helps them keep the cost in check and balanced. Along with that, having such a huge coverage and base provides them with a significant market advantage. Local goods are often preferred by the people and with the company having their production base in a nation helps attract towards that population while also allowing the company to mass production to reduce the production cost by some margin.

Looking at the liabilities side of the equation, one of the significant issues is with total optimization. The company intends to do all the things and is doing as well to an extent. But they’ve to strengthen all the aspects of their supply chain starting from the planning for the product to distribution and after service. It includes equipment procurement and production as well. Another thing in the mix would be the need to use sustainable raw materials to manufacture their goods as the world is moving towards sustainable practices. People have already started questioning products not following such practices and thus harming business sales. Thus, the company also needs to look into this challenge.

References

About Bridgestone. (2018). Retrieved from bridgestone.com/corporate/index.ht...

Bridgestone Corporation. (2017). Bridgestone Corporation . Retrieved from bridgestone.com/corporate/library/...

Bridgestone Products. (2018). Retrieved from bridgestone.com/products/index.html