Springs Industries Inc. :: Business Management Studies

Springs Industries Inc.Springs Industries Inc. is a $2.2 billion textile corporation that isheadquartered in Fort Mill, South Carolina. Springs Industriesfocuses its efforts into the production of the abode furnishingsmarket, and operates chthonic well-known brand names such as Wamsutta,Springmaid, Disney, LizAt Home and nib Blass. Their home furnishingssegment accounts for nearly 82% of the companys revenue, and sticksone of the leading producers of bedding, bath and other homefurnishing products in the United States (McFarlan, pg. 1, 1997). In 1995, Springs acquired several additional companies in which theycould promote the introduction of new and complementary productsthat would provide them with a distinct dance band of product offerings. However, integrating these new companies into the existing operatingenvironment would place significant challenges. Presenting one facethe customer was of the utmost importance to Springs and fusing theback-office, administrative, and merchandising efforts of itsacquisitions would present numerous complexities (McFarlan, pg. 1,1997).Knowledge BuildingThe home furnishing market which Springs carry ons in is extremelyvolatile. In the home furnishings market, earnings are come inly colligate to fast and flexible product development, short productioncycles, and ability to fill again stock supplies quickly. Recently,Springs industry rival WestPoint Stevens was making waves in themarketplace from the military issue of their heavy investments the past fiveyears into technologies that increased their current efficiency 12%. To further stress the need for Springs to re-work their existingstructure, one essential first understand that in this industry it iscritical to present a strong product lineup because retailersincreasingly wish to purchase from less suppliers. This is evidencesby another competitor of Springs, Pillowtex, in recent times acquiredadditional smaller companies which will allow the expansion of t heircurrent offerings, and position them to compete directly with Springsin the existing home furnishing market (McFarlan, pp. 1-3, 1997). Wanting to remain competitive and on top of their respective market,in 1997 Springs Inc. hired up and coming executive Crandall Bowles tolead them into the new millennium. Bowles top priority was to directher efforts on the companys discipline systems and determine boththe comprehensiveness of expenditures and the pace of innovation necessary inorder to increase earnings by quickening the pace of its application ofnew technology and sources of information to marketing, customerservice, and inventory management (McFarlan, pp 1-2, 1997).Springs deals specifically with large retailers, the likes ofWal-Mart, Kmart and Target. These companies demand that suppliersmanage their existing inventories according to current purchasingtrends, which are identified though the collection of Point of Sale(POS) data and the use analytical educate InformationTe chnologies (IT).