In a quest for the leadership of the Columbia Industries, Inc., to address the safety and performance problems with the Hyster lift trucks formally presented by the head mechanic, a number of options were explored.
Crucial in the specifications to address the problems included maneuverability, safety, maintenance costs, and mast extensions that could reach 260 inches. The search for solutions was further reinforced by the failure of Columbia Industries Inc., to address in a timely manner the needs of their customers due to limited trucks, which impacted adversely on their customer base.
The procedure to purchase the lift tracks undertaken by Mr. Stuart West, the industrial engineer, Mr. Jacques Debre, the plant manager, and Ms Sandra Orgosky, the plant engineer followed a process where each of the 5 companies (Komatsu, Toyota, yale, Caterpillar, and Hyster) were provided adequate opportunities to provide demonstrations of their lifts for evaluation purposes.
Each of the salesmen of these companies provided their presentations and product offerings, but attempted to use means to influence the decision to have their lift trucks bought, with the exemption of Komatsu narrated about their lifts. Hyster relied on past business relationships and regular meetings with Mr West, Caterpillar and Komatsu extracted secrets about other companies, Toyota made little effort though they had reliable machines.
The company had settled on purchasing five weight lifts instead of seven as was the initial requirement therefore limiting the flexibility of addressing the concerns of the workers. However, Caterpillar was the company that completely addressed the needs of the buying center. That was because Yale offered relatively cheaper machine at $ 17, 380 and surpassed the safety and performance expectations.