Customer Research Overview
In 2004, PTDA conducted research on the needs and buying habits of
customers of industrial power transmission products. U.S. and
Canadian end-users were surveyed separately on:
- Factors influencing product and vendor selection.
- Willingness to pay for services.
- Role of price in the purchasing decision.
Methodology
- U.S. research conducted by Reed Research Group via e-mail invitation
to 20,000 subscribers to Design News, Plant Engineering and Purchasing
magazines; 2 percent response rate with 95 percent confidence
level.
- Canadian research conducted by PLANT, Canada’s Industry
Newspaper; 2.4 percent response rate.
- To qualify to participate, respondents needed to specify or buy at
least one power transmission product from a list of 16 general
categories.
Respondent Demographics
- Products specified: Motors were specified or purchased by a majority
of respondents in both the United States and Canada. Other
frequently purchased items included motor/motion control products,
hydraulics and pneumatics and pumps in the United States, and hydraulics
and pneumatics, adjustable/variable speed drives and mounted bearings in
Canada.
- Job title: Forty-four percent of U.S. respondents described
themselves as design engineers, followed by plant engineers (35 percent)
and purchasing (21 percent). Of Canadian respondents, 44 percent
described themselves as plant engineers, followed by design engineers
(33 percent) and finally, purchasing (23 percent).
- End-use industry: Nearly half of U.S. respondents and more than half
of Canadian participants reported working in the miscellaneous
manufacturing, fabricated metal product manufacturing and machinery
manufacturing sectors.
Findings
- Vendor selection: On-time delivery/accuracy is most important to
both U.S. and Canadian end-users when selecting one power transmission
vendor over another vendor. Other popular criteria include
technical support, expertise and responsiveness.
- Evaluating salespeople: For U.S. end users, product knowledge was
most critical when evaluating distributor and manufacturer salespeople
characteristics, closely followed by follow through. Canadian
respondents classified sales representatives’ product knowledge as
most critical, followed by application knowledge.
- Role price pays in purchase decision: Respondents were asked how
much of their decision is based in price versus other factors. The
average U.S. respondent bases 47 percent of the decision on price; the
average Canadian buyer attributes 50 percent of his decision to
price.
- Services received: Seventy-eight percent of U.S. end users and 82
percent of Canadian end users currently receive expedited delivery from
vendors, making it the most popular service. Storeroom management
and kitting were the least commonly received services in both
markets.
- Willingness to pay for services: Among those services for which U.S.
end users currently are not charged but are willing to pay, training was
mentioned by the highest percentage of respondents, followed by kitting,
inventory management and engineering/design.
- Contract purchases: Nearly half of U.S. respondents have contracted
power transmission vendors (45 percent), but on average these
individuals make 33 percent of their purchases from non-contracted local
vendors. Contracts appear to be less prevalent in Canada, with
only 31 percent of respondents reporting they use contracted power
transmission vendors.
- Decision-maker compensation: Only 30 percent of U.S. respondents and
40 percent of Canadian respondents receive bonuses or incentives in
addition to base salary. Among this group, productivity is the
most common factor affecting the bonus achievement.
-
Purchase volume: Average spend on in-plant (MRO) requirements over
the past year was $1,987,433 in the United States. Average resale
(OEM) spend was $1,699,652. Similar data was not available from
Canadian respondents due to insufficient response.
MORE
Download U.S. research overview 
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