Scotts Miracle-Gro: the Spreader Sourcing Decision
SCOTTS MIRACLE-GRO: THE SPREADER SOURCING DECISION
IVEY BUSINESS CASE STUDY 908M78
Introduction This paper provides a case analysis and case solution to an Ivey School of Business case study on Scotts Miracle-Gro, the biggest company in North America’s lawn and garden industry and the world’s leading supplier and marketer of consumer lawn and garden care products (Gray & Leiblein, 2008, p. 1). The time setting for the case is the summer of 2007. The case focuses on questions about where to optimally locate Scotts’ manufacturing operations for its fertilizer spreaders. Based in Marysville, Ohio and with a history dating back to the 1868 founding of the Scotts Company, the contemporary Scotts Miracle-Gro Company was created by a 1995 merger of The Scotts Company (known for its grass seed, fertilizers and fertilizer spreaders) and Miracle-Gro (a leader in the lawn and garden care chemical industry). While Miracle-Gro historically outsourced all production to contract manufacturers, Scotts had been manufacturing its spreaders since its 1992 acquisition of Republic Tool & Manufacturing Company. Since 2001, Scotts’ manufacturing facilities (which focus on spreader production) have been located in a 412,000 square foot facility in Temecula, California. Under the leadership of Bob Bawcombe, plant director of operations, the Temecula plant (which employs 195 workers and 16 salaried employees) has achieved significant productivity improvements (averaging 6% per year), efficiencies, and also some important innovations including a new hand spreader assembly process and an automated assembly line. In addition, the Temecula plant pioneered the use of “in-mold labeling” on its injection molding of its spreader product which produced a high-quality, scratch- and fade-proof label and was far superior to the traditional “hot labeling” process. While Bawcombe believed that the domestic production at Temecula was critical to process innovation and product quality,
IVEY BUSINESS CASE STUDY 908M78
Introduction This paper provides a case analysis and case solution to an Ivey School of Business case study on Scotts Miracle-Gro, the biggest company in North America’s lawn and garden industry and the world’s leading supplier and marketer of consumer lawn and garden care products (Gray & Leiblein, 2008, p. 1). The time setting for the case is the summer of 2007. The case focuses on questions about where to optimally locate Scotts’ manufacturing operations for its fertilizer spreaders. Based in Marysville, Ohio and with a history dating back to the 1868 founding of the Scotts Company, the contemporary Scotts Miracle-Gro Company was created by a 1995 merger of The Scotts Company (known for its grass seed, fertilizers and fertilizer spreaders) and Miracle-Gro (a leader in the lawn and garden care chemical industry). While Miracle-Gro historically outsourced all production to contract manufacturers, Scotts had been manufacturing its spreaders since its 1992 acquisition of Republic Tool & Manufacturing Company. Since 2001, Scotts’ manufacturing facilities (which focus on spreader production) have been located in a 412,000 square foot facility in Temecula, California. Under the leadership of Bob Bawcombe, plant director of operations, the Temecula plant (which employs 195 workers and 16 salaried employees) has achieved significant productivity improvements (averaging 6% per year), efficiencies, and also some important innovations including a new hand spreader assembly process and an automated assembly line. In addition, the Temecula plant pioneered the use of “in-mold labeling” on its injection molding of its spreader product which produced a high-quality, scratch- and fade-proof label and was far superior to the traditional “hot labeling” process. While Bawcombe believed that the domestic production at Temecula was critical to process innovation and product quality,
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