By Mr.Natthanai Pitakuldilok, BBA#16
A wise man says, “thousands of books are not worth a trip”, that is why our wise marketing teacher, Dr. James Edward Rubesch, set up a trip to visit three firms – namely, General Seating (Thailand) Co., Ltd, Auto Alliance (Thailand) Co., Ltd and Thai Summit Eastern Seaboard Auto Part Co., Ltd – for those enrolling in MK 201, Principles of Marketing, in order to visualize stuffs we have study in class.
The trip was on Tuesday, October 16, we left Thammasat (Tha Prachan) at six o’clock sharp. The first plant we visited was General Seating (Thailand) Co., Ltd (GST). GST is a joint venture between NHK Spring and Lear Corp to support car seats mainly to Auto Alliance (Thailand). After taking a brief tour of GST, we left the firm and headed for AAT (Auto Alliance Thailand). AAT is also a joint venture between Ford Motor, America, and Mazda, Japan, to assemble cars for both. We also took a glimpse at the factory and, here, we understand more about B2B marketing and their relationship to each other. Then, we had a lunch break at Sila Restaurant and continued our trip at the last firm, Thai Summit Eastern Seaboard Auto Part Co., Ltd. The last one seemed to be the biggest firm of the day as it supplies various types of auto parts. We have seen many huge machines and robots here. Then comes the end of the day, we left the firm and had dinner at a golf court. However, it was not that easy, before dinner, Ajarn Edward had a lecture on “Turing Pro in Golf”! Oops, just kidding, actually it was about what we have learnt from the trip and linked it back with what we have learnt in class.
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From the start of the journey, we have learnt that to be punctual is very important, especially when you go with the BBA office - ^_^ -. The level of understanding B2B marketing was shifted as we visited more firms. The word of the day seemed to be “Kanban”. The card attached to the stock so that we will know when to order the new units. We also grabbed a broader picture of outsourcing – a logistic firm inside a car factory - , which is becoming more important in today’s business world. We might have heard that sometimes stuffs in class is hard to adapt to the real world, yet, from the trip we have recognized that stuffs in class are the integration of the real world. B2B marketing is very complicated, whether in terms of production, transportation or purchasing; the supplier must adjust its production lines to suit its customers’ ones, it is easier to outsource some types of workers than to employ the worker of its own. These things are what we must notice if we want to own a business.
Finally, in the name of BBA#16, I am very grateful to Dr. Edward Rubesch and BBA office that have set up this paradigm-sift trip for us and also thanks for every convenience provided. This trip will be imprinted inside every BBA#16.
Posted date: November 2, 2007 – 17:30 hrs. |
