I
Appendix I
Semi-structured interview
Multi Air-stream Technology
What does the Multi Air-stream Technology mean for your department?
What are the biggest advantages of the Multi Air-stream Technology? (Discussion) What are the biggest disadvantages of the Multi Air-stream Technology? (Discussion) In what situation would or wouldn’t you recommend a MAT-air curtain? (Discussion) Why do or don’t you think that an air curtain for small cold rooms could be profitable for Biddle?
What features should be installed in an air curtain for small cold rooms? (Discussion)
Segmentation
How do you divide the current customers in the cold room sector in to segments? What are the criteria of that division?
How would you divide the small cold room sector in to segments, based on your current knowledge? (Discussion)
What do end users expect from an air curtain? (Discussion)
What are the main problems with the Multi Air-stream Technology? (Discussion)
Competitors
What are the competitors of the Multi Air-stream Technology?
What are the main characteristics of the competitors that make them interesting for end users?
What are the weak points of the competitors?
Other
Could you recommend me some people to interview for my research? What is in your opinion the most important aspect of this research?
II
Appendix II
Small
cold
room
research
I am Arjan Soer and I am a student International Business & Management in Paris and this research is my final thesis. The subject of this thesis is determining the customer needs of small cold room users, especially in relation with the entrances. The subject of this research is small cold rooms (<1.000m3.) with negative temperatures.
The questionnaire should take about 5 minutes to complete. Please tick the box corresponding with your answer or answer the questions in the space provided. Even if you feel some of the items may not apply directly to your situation, please do not ignore them. Your answers are essential in building a good understanding of small cold store entrances.
All the information you provide will be treated in the strictest confidence. I would like to stress that this research doesn’t have any kind of commercial goal; I will only use the data for my research and not distribute it to others.
You can reply this questionnaire to Fax: +33 1 64 11 15 66
Or
Arjan Soer
12B, Allée des Vendanges 77183 Croissy Beaubourg Or
E-mail: a.soer@student.rug.nl (if you prefer to receive it by mail, please let me know) Thank you for your help,
III
Questionnaire
General description of your cold stores
1. Which of the following equipment do you use?
O A normal door O Plastic doors
O A wooden door O Air curtains
O Double doors O Slide doors O Fast opeining doors O Iron doors
O An open door O Other,
2. What are the volumes of your cold stores (that are below 0°C)? You can tick several boxes.
Volume / Number of rooms 1 2 3 4 5 >5 non applicable
0 – 50m3. O O O O O O O
51 – 100m3. O O O O O O O
101 – 250m3. O O O O O O O
251 – 500m3. O O O O O O O
501 – 1000m3. O O O O O O O
3. What is/are the temperatures in your cold room(s)? You can tick several boxes.
°C / Number of rooms 1 2 3 4 5 >5 non applicable
Between 0°C and -10°C O O O O O O O Between -10°C and -15°C O O O O O O O Between -15°C and -20°C O O O O O O O Between -20°C and -25°C O O O O O O O Between -25°C and -30°C O O O O O O O Between -30°C and -35°C O O O O O O O Lower than -35°C O O O O O O O
4. What are the minimum and maximum heights and widths of the doors?
Minimum height: m. Maximum height: m.
Minimum width: m. Maximum width: m.
5. Could you describe the position of the doors? They are… O in the same wall O in opposite walls O different, namely
Description of the exterior areas of the cold rooms
6. Are the exterior areas conditioned?
O Yes O No, go to question 8. O n/a 7. What are those conditions? Please fill in the options below.
O The temperature is controlled at °C The relative humidity is controlled at %
O No, I don’t know.
8. Are there draughts going in or out of the cold room when the door is opened? O No O Yes; going in O Yes; going out O n/a
IV
Usage of the cold rooms
9. How often do you enter an individual cold room on average? O 0 – 10 times a day O 51 – 100 times a day O 11 – 25 times a day O ≥ 101 times a day O 26 – 50 times a day O n/a
10. Each time you open the doors, they are opened on average
O 0 – 30 seconds O > 2 – 5 minutes O > 30 minutes O 31 seconds – 1 minute O > 5 – 10 minutes O Always open O > 1 – 2 minutes O > 10 – 30 O n/a
11. In actual practice, are temperatures in your cold rooms constant?
O Yes, they are O No O n/a
12. Which of the following do you encounter (sometimes)?
O The forming of ice on the products inside the cold rooms. O The forming of ice on the floors inside the cold rooms.
O The forming of mist when entrances of the cold rooms are opened.
O A fluctuating temperature inside the cold rooms when the door are opened. O A decreasing temperature outside the cold rooms when the doors are opened. O Other:
Description of the site
13. How much space is there approximately above each door (doorpost till ceiling)? This is to determine the preferred size of the equipment.
O 0 – 20 cm. O 41 – 60 cm O n/a
O 21 – 40 cm. O > 60 cm.
14. Do you know in which direction the evaporators blow?
O Towards the entrance O Away from the entrance O n/a O Other:
15. Do you know the average refrigeration power of the evaporators?
O Yes, it is kW. O No, I don’t. O n/a
16. What are the differences in temperature between the cold stores and the exterior areas?
O ∆T ≤ 20ºC O ∆T = 31 – 40ºC O n/a
V
In the part below I would like you fill in how you value the different aspects that have to do with cold rooms. This does not apply to your personal situation (you may not even encounter some of them), but for determining your opinion about the following phenomena in general.
Not Little Very
imp. imp. Norm. Imp. imp.
17. How do you value: 1 2 3 4 5 n/a
open doorway working O O O O O O
the solving of ice on the products O O O O O O
the solving of ice on the floor O O O O O O
the solving of the mist
when the door is opened O O O O O O
the energy costs O O O O O O
maintaining a stable temperature inside
the cold room when the doors are opened O O O O O O
your need of an air curtain to be little O O O O O O
your need of an air curtain to be silent O O O O O O
a good secretary O O O O O O
General questions
18. Hypothetically, how should the electronical parts of your equipment be controlled? Like Dehumidifiers, air curtains, fast opening doors, etc.
O Manually O Automatically O n/a
19. What are the prices of the equipment concerning your cold room entrances? (doors, strip curtains, air curtains, etc.)
O €0 – €1.000 O €2.501 – €4.000 O n/a O €1.001 – €1.500 O €4.001 – €6.000
O €1.501 – €2.500 O ≥ €6.001
20. How much are you willing to pay equipment that solves ice problems, mist problems, gain energy reductions, helps to stable the temperature and is easy to maintain?
O €0 – €1.000 O €2.501 – €4.000 O n/a O €1.001 – €1.500 O €4.001 – €6.000
O €1.501 – €2.500 O ≥ €6.001
21. If you keep in mind the answer you gave at the previous question, what should the life expectancy be of such equipment?
O 2 – 5 years O 10 – 12 years O > 16 years O 6 – 9 years O 13 – 16 years O n/a
Thank you very much for filling in this questionnaire. Your information will help me a lot in doing the market research for small cold stores.
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Appendix III
Market size small cold rooms
Total volume in m³. The figures about the public refrigeration capacity are fictive
Public AU SU WA IT US P 2002 4.400.000 5.410.000 6.420.000 1.600.000 1.000.000 2.500.000 2004 4.400.000 5.400.000 6.500.000 1.600.000 1.200.000 2.500.000 Private AU SU WA IT US P 2002 7.436.000 9.142.900 10.849.800 2.704.000 1.690.000 4.225.000 2004 7.436.000 9.126.000 10.985.000 2.704.000 2.028.000 4.225.000 The figures from 'Private' are derived from the figures of 'Public'. The figures of 'Private' tend to be 1,69 times bigger. I used the research from 1992 to determine this ratio. Be careful by drawing any hard conclusions from it. But it will give at least an idea of how big the market is.
Total
2002 11.836.000 14.552.900 17.269.800 4.304.000 2.690.000 6.725.000 2004 11.836.000 14.526.000 17.485.000 4.304.000 3.228.000 6.725.000 Because the research from 1992 doesn't investigate the cold rooms under 100m³, we will derive this figure from the figures from the research. In the research, 48% of small cold rooms are under 100m³.
Number of cold rooms per volumecategory
Volume (m³) AU SU WA IT US P 100-999 2050 2615 3148 775 581 1211 0-99 1.892 2.414 2.906 715 536 1.118 0-99 1892 2414 2906 715 536 1118 100-499 1478 1885 2269 559 419 873 500-999 572 730 879 216 162 338 1000-1999 485 618 744 183 137 286 2000-4999 411 525 632 156 117 243 5000-9999 203 259 312 77 58 120 10000-19999 163 208 250 61 46 96 20000-49999 100 127 153 38 28 59 50000-100000 17 22 26 7 5 10 >100000 5 6 8 2 1 3
These figures are based on the division of cold room sizes in France.
Number of cold rooms per volumecategory
Volume (m³) AU SU WA IT US P
0-99 300 300 300 300 300 300
100-499 500 500 500 500 500 500
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Appendix IV
Organization chart Biddle
The Carver Group has another air curtain manufacturer, Thermoscreens. Biddle Export and Thermoscreens cooperate. In theory, the head of Carver Export is the superior of the head of Biddle Export.
Management Team Biddle Export Production NL Export Carver Sales BE Production UK Sales DE Sales CA Sales NL Sales FR Sales UK Research & Development
