5.1. Setting the Scene

Polymat Ltd., headquartered in England, is a manufacturer of polymeric materials that are sold into a range of commodity and specialty applications. A leader in a steadily growing market, Polymat faces increased competition owing to large-scale competitive investments in new manufacturing facilities, primarily in China and India. As a consequence of the growing availability of product from these far-eastern factories, market prices have shown a steady decline over a period of several years.

Bill Roberts is the recently appointed commercial director for Polymat. He has an excellent track record of business turnaround and has been appointed specifically to reverse Polymat's steady decline in profitability. During his first three months, Bill carries out a major review of each part of the Polymat business. He finds many things that concern him, but is particularly worried about the possibility of further price decline, because he knows that further significant cost cutting is not possible. In reviewing this with his colleagues, Bill realizes that despite several recent attempts to impose price increases, margin and profitability have continued to be eroded.

Bill is aware that the market ultimately defines the price. However, having visited a number of customers, Bill has a hunch that his sales representatives are leaving money on the table in their price negotiations. Motivated by his recent attendance at an exciting conference on process management, Bill is determined to apply process thinking to this difficult challenge. He knows that new perspectives in sales and marketing are required to help Polymat halt or reverse the price decline. So he decides to go out and hire the best Six Sigma black belt he can find.

One month later, Jane Hamilton, a highly experienced black belt trained in Visual Six Sigma, is on the job. During her first meeting with Bill, she is given very clear directions: "Go out and fix my pricing process—it's broken!" he tells her. She immediately gets to work.