OBJECTIVE
A Dutch firm wanted to establish the possibility of the tyre industry using their engineered plastic material for manufacturing curing bladders instead of butyl rubber, which was normally used. They had several unanswered questions –
- What was the market size for curing bladders? – by volume & value
- Did the major tyre manufacturers manufacture them in-house? If procured from outside, what was the value chain and cost structure?
- What problems did manufacturers face?
METHODOLOGY
- ~70 in-depth interviews with various stakeholders – plant managers at tyre OEMs, curing bladder manufacturers and material experts
- Most industry participants were unaware of the market size for curing bladders; hence the focus was on the demand side, where we derived the market numbers based on the production of different types of vehicles and tyres in India
SOLUTION
- Our research helped identify the pain points faced by the industry and the willingness of tyre OEMs to shift to a new material
- Based on the study, the client’s product development team was able to chart out their entry strategy in the tyre curing bladders market in India
