Introduction |

Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or combination of all that helps to identify one company’s products from those of the competitors’ products. On the other hand perception means the ability to see, hear or become aware of something through the sense. Combining both, the brand and perception we get the term Brand Perception which is one of the most important in today’s marketing. Brand Perception means…………………………………………………………………… brand perception is necessary today because psychology has an important effect on brand. Marketers always want to know the customers response about their brand. Customers like or dislike a brand, is fully depends on their psychology. That’s why it is a concerning question for marketers what factors are work behind the brand perception.
Aluminium industry is a technical industry. Customers don’t have enough idea about this industry. But after that it is the 2nd largest used metal in the world.
A few studies have found about the aluminium industry in all over the world. As it a technical industry, it is not so much focused like consumers goods like food or cosmetics. Studies have rarely found on brand perception on aluminum industry. In Bangladesh it is an infant industry. No studies are found about these industries in Bangladesh. Under this context the present study takes an initiative to conduct an empirical study on this particular issue.
This study will reveal that the most significant factors affecting the customers brand perception of Aluminium industry in Bangladesh.

About Aluminium Industry |

The aluminium industry is the largest non-ferrous metal industry in the world economy. Since its industrial production, demand for aluminium has been continuously increasing to around 45 million tonnes in 2004 and its application has extended to variety of economic sectors.
Aluminium is a pure metal than any other kinds if metal. it is 2nd most useful metal after steel.In Bangladesh Aluminum industry is an infant industry. Although it is started its activities in 1979, it was mainly entered into industrial sector properly after 2000. As demand of the aluminium products was increased more and more companies were entered into this industry. Giant company of our country like RFL, Akij will come soon in this industry. As demand is increased the competition is also increased. This demand and competition makes this industry as a potential sector to invest. Aluminium industry is now getting stronger as new competitors come in market. This competition helps to bring the best quality of the product.
The market of aluminium extrusion products used in doors, windows and curtain walls has been growing rapidly as wood is getting scarce by the day. Nearly 1 dozen companies have hit the market in the last few years to cash in on the growing market size now estimated at around Tk 1200-1300 crore a year. Although being a infant industry, Aluminium sectors has a great impact on the industrial portion of our country’s GDP.
Of the new entrants, PHP Group, which is one of the biggest conglomerates in the country, is the latest, and started selling products. Aramit, Nikki Thai, Bikrampur and Dhaka Thai are some other companies, which have come into the market in recent years. “It is less capital intensive and matches with our existing product line, such as float glasses,” said Mizanur Rahman, head of marketing of PHP Float Glass and PHP Aluminium, explaining the group’s entry into the business. PHP is producing “premium-quality” aluminium extrusion products.
Aluminium extrusion products like doors, windows, staircase handrails and supports, railings for verandas and corridors have become popular. The use of aluminium in business and office complexes, buildings, theatres as well as decorative purposes is common. Shops built with lighter materials are also consuming aluminium products. Market players said the advantages of aluminium such as lightweight, strength, corrosion resistance, durability, easy in fabrication, attractive appearance and easy maintenance make it a popular material for use in modern buildings.
“The market is growing at a double digit rate. Scarcity of wooden materials has been prompting buyers to go for aluminium extrusion products,” said SM Sohrab, senior manager, sales of Bangladesh Thai Aluminum (BD Thai), one of the two biggest players in the market. This imdustry is growing day by day. It has a great impact on GDP of our country. Every year their growing market size is increased. This industry will be the golden industry in our country near future. History of Aluminium Industry |

After the liberation war 1971, the industrial development has been started. That’s why Bangladesh was in need of aluminium for infrastructure of machineries, buildings and other necessary items. The necessity of this industry is increased after realizing the pressure on nature due to wood and the cost concern of using wood items, aluminium’s potentiality grew.
Seeing all these potentials, Bangladesh Thai started business and got given first mover advantage in Bangladesh. They are the pioneer of aluminium industry. They started their journey in 1979 and when it came to market if had a monopoly power and this power till 1997 before coming KAI aluminium to market. As being the first company of aluminium BD Thai has given subsidies to encourage and protect them.
As aluminium is the 2nd most used metal in the world, its potentiality was being increased in Bangladesh. As the result of this potentiality, in 1997 KAI aluminium came to market. BD Thai was the import based company where KAI was the manufacturing company. In that sense KAI was the first company which started to produce aluminium product in Bangladesh. Although the raw material of aluminium production still need to import as we don’t have any mine but after that BD Thai import the finished goods but for the first time KAI aluminium manufactured aluminium products.
Analyzing the market potentiality and to capture more market share KAI aluminium established a new company with a new brand name under the same management, same industry- Altech Aluminium. Altech aliminium established in 2000 as a sister concern of KAI aliminium. From 2000 to 2015 some other companies has come in this industry, I.e Dhaka Thai Ltd, New Thai Aluminium & Glass Co. Ltd, Chung Hua Aluminium Industry Ltd, Aramit Thai Aluminium Ltd, B.K Aluminium Fabricators, City Aluminum Fabricators Ltd, Classic Thai Aluminium, Pacific Thai Aluminium, Jishaka Aluminium Corner, Kimia Engineering Services, Thai Aluminium, Rahmania Aluminium Factory and Star Thai Aluminium

Prospect of Aluminium Industry in Bangladesh |

Bangladesh is a developing country. Because of its cheap labor force Bangladesh is developing more in industrial sector than any other sectors. Industrial sector has 28.9% share on total GDP. In industrial sector Aluminium Industry is one of the most potential sectors now. It is an infant industry in our country which is growing day by day.
Aluminium is a pure metal than any other metal. It is popular all over the world. Countries especially in south Asia like india, Pakistan chaina are growing fast in this sector. China is the largest producer and consumer of aluminium in the world. The main reason behind the leading position of china is their cheap labor force. For this advantage china can maintain their efficiency in aluminium production than any other country. Europe is the 2nd largest consumer of Aluminium. This countries is focused on this sector because of its easy use and reuse as well as its cheap cost. That’s why Aluminium industry is a potential industry all over the world.
Like china, Bangladesh has the advantage of cheap labor force. Although aluminium industry is fully depended on import raw materials, it is a potential sector because of its factors endowment (land, labor and capital). According to Mr. shah Mozid Raihan, “Aluminium industry is potential sector for any country in the world. It is potential not only because of its more uses but also its less cost.” The first company of aluminum in Bangladesh is BD Thai Aluminim Company. It was established in 1977. After that KAI & Altech aluminium came and now 14 aluminium companies in our country.
Aluminium is the second most useful metal in human life after steel. It is 100% recyclable. It is used in great number of household items as well as industrial equipment. That’s why it is less expensive than other metal. It is flexible and easily usable. It is used mostly in infrastructure like building and industrial equipment. Aluminium is also used to make household things.
Bangladesh is developing in industrial sector because of its labor force. Bangladesh has skilled labor force which is most important than any other resources. Although we have to import raw material, we can cover the import cost with our cheap labor force. Aluminium industry is now contributing in our industrial sector. Though the contribution is not so high like Garment sector but is is increasing day by day. Aluminium industry is now fulfilling the demand of our country. Tand to develop a infant industry it is more important to increase country demand first. As the country demand is increasing and the development of infrastructure is growing than before the uses of aluminium is increasing more than now in near future. As we are now in the 3rd position of RMG in the world, we can also achieve the leading position in Aluminium industry in the world near future if we can maintain the country demand and can produce world class standard products to export. Literature Review |

The Brand:

Today the primary capital of many businesses is their brands. For decades the value of a company was measured in terms of its real estate, then tangible assets, plants and equipments. However it has recently been recognized that company’s real value lies outside business itself, in the minds of potential buyers or consumers. Brand – as a name, symbol, logo or trademark – is consequently only an extension of the product. The other approach considers “brand” more complicated. A part from quality and price, a “brand” also includes image and imegery of the product or service. Brand, therefore, comprises of both physical attributes of product AND feeling/emotion, identity, characteristics, culture, customer relationship etc. (Arnold, 1992; Bratianu and Orzea, 2010; Davidson, 1997; de Chernatony and McDonald, 1992; de Chernatony and Riley, 1998; Farquha, 1990; Gardner and Levy, 1955; Kapferer, 1997; Keller, 1998, 2008; Park et al., 1986; Upshaw, 1995). .“A brand is both, tangible and intangible, practical and symbolic, visible and invisible under conditions that are economically viable for the company” ( Kapferer, 1986).
Perception
Brand Perception
Aluminium Industry Research Methodology |

This paper is the output of both exploratory and descriptive research. This paper is the output of both exploratory and descriptive research. At first, we have conducted expert survey (exploratory research) to find out the factors that are important for customer perception of the aluminum industry in Bangladesh”. Then, we conducted descriptive research to find out the level of significance of these factors.
The sample size was determined by using statistical method. We used proportions sample size determination technique. We selected 40 persons randomly and asked them whether they go to fast food restaurant. Among them 25% percent said they go to aluminum industry.
Then the final sample size of this research was 200 and from the statistical view point, it was enough for this research purpose. We used cluster sampling in order to ensure the precision. We used the cluster to select the sample. Sample was representative of the entire population. So results from this research can be generalized. For conducting our study we followed “Cluster Sampling Technique of probability Sampling Technique.”
1. Target Population
Elements Customers of fast food restaurants. Sampling Unit Fast food restaurants in Bangladesh
Extent
6 cities (Dhaka, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Sylhet and Chittagong). 88 participants from Dhaka and 40 participants from others.
Time
From July 2011 to June 2012. The period is the most recent and will help to get current responses from the respondents.
2.
Sampling Technique
Cluster Sampling. 3. Scaling technique 9 point Likert Scale, which is a part of Non Comparative Scaling Technique 4. Data Used Primary and secondary 5. Sample Size 288
For the research and data analysis purposes we have collected both the primary & secondary data. For the study we have collected primary data through survey method under which we adopted the personal interviewing technique. We decided to conduct regression and discriminent analysis to fulfill our objectives and to find out the answers of our research questions. As a result, questionnaire was developed to collect metric data to conduct regression analysis and also to discrimient analysis. Here, regression analysis is used to measure existence and strength of relationship between customer perception and the selected factors that are mentioned above. Regression analysis is also undertaken to find out which factor or factors are important for ensuring customer perception. Discriminent analysis is used to find out which factors discriminate between two groups. One group consists of those respondents who are satisfied with the aluminum brands existed in Bangladesh and another group is dissatisfied with those. In order to conduct discriminent analysis, respondents’ response about customer perception has been transferred into non metric data in order to comply with the data requirement. The researchers themselves were actively involved in data collection. Utmost care was given in the data collection procedure to minimize biasness and ensure validity and reliability. We have collected secondary data from the follows four sources: Documents (journals, newspaper, and magazine), archival records, internet, and physical articles.

Objective |

The broad objective of the research is to identify and analyze “Customer perception on different brands of aluminum industry in Bangladesh”. Specific objectives of the research are:
1. To provide an overall idea of the aluminum industry in Bangladesh.
2. To know about various factors those are affecting customer perception on aluminum industry in Bangladesh.
3. To identify factors affecting customers perception on Altech. 4. To identify the relevance importance of each factor that contributes to customer brand perception of aluminum industry. 5. To identify customer awareness about aluminum industry especially for Altech . 6. Identifying customer knowledge about fabricators.
7. To identify facilities provided by Altech to their fabricators.
8. To make recommendation on marketing as well branding strategy of Altech including facilities provided to the fabricators

About Altech Aluminium company Ltd |

Altech aluminum ltd company has been incorporate in 2000 with a visionary leadership. The first state of the art extrusion & anodized aluminium products were lunched in the domestic market of Bangladesh on its inauguration. Its Products have been widely used in various sectors such as construction, power, automobiles, decoration, etc.

Altech aluminum is a sister concern of KAI aluminum. From the beginning of the Aluminum industry in Bangladesh BD Thai was the only aluminum company. After that as the second aluminum company KAI Aluminum was come in 1997. Aluminum sector is a potential sector for any country. Understanding this point KAI aluminum company’s management took a different strategy to increase their current market share. They established a new brand name called ALTECH with same product of aluminum under the same management. Today they become successful with their strategy because they can achieve maximum market share in Aluminum market. Combining the market share of these two brand they can achieve nearly 40-50%. But the supply chain manager and the head of HR department of Altech Aluminum ltd Company Mr. Rayhan said that in this 40-55-0% market share, Altech has the more market share than KAI. Altech Aluminum Ltd Company, A fully integrated organization with its unbeatable technology & highly efficient process assure quality standards, responsiveness & customization, innovation & creativity are the prerequisites for our product development & customer services. They are the first company who used modern technology and leaser print logo.

Aluminum industry is an infant industry and its product is technical that’s why end customers are not so much aware of it. For this reason ALTECH target dealer as their customers. To satisfy their customers they provide different benefits to them. A consistent effort for customer satisfaction and continuous research & development process truly translate their experience, commitment & reliability.

Altech believes that Fabricators are the king of aluminium industry. That’s why to support the fabricators in their designing process altech runs training program with foreign trainers. Besides this they provides supportive materials like lock, screw and so on to the fabricators at a lower price.Altech’s main target is to facilitates the dealers and create customers demand. They also run their business for profit but they also concern about their product quality. Designing and developing of customers demand is their main concern and in this case they haven’t any error.

Altech Aluminum’s production factory is in Gazipur. They import raw materials from Australia. they always try to import at a lower price. They use modern technology like CNC machine for design and development of their products. Quality is their main target. They don’t compromise with it.
China, Pakistan & India’s companies are now in the top position in south asian countries. Although it is tough to compete with them in global market, Altech believe that they can compete with them because of their labor force and technology. That’s why they target Thailan as customer. They have a plan to export aluminium products to Thailand near future.

Altech Aluminium Industries Ltd. has been certified ISO 9001-2000 for its quality management system. This ISO certification is the recognition of standard management system that evolves in the organization which is committed to provide quality product & services. They are also certified by BUET and UKAS. Besides this their logo is trademarked from Department of Patent & Trademark under Ministry of Industry.
Altech now try to increase customers’ awareness about aluminium industry. They have a statutory warning in a national news paper,“ always purchase aluminium products after seeing altech’s leaser print.”

Back Mission statement of Altech Aluminum Company |

According to Mr. Ebrahim D. Mamoon, managing Director of Altech Aluminum Company Ltd, “Our Mission is to work for the success of our customers, by providing best quality aluminum profiles at a very competitive price. Management of Altech Aluminium Industries Ltd. has taken the challenge of the new millennium to be the best extrude of the nation. It is our utmost desire to improve our product & services to serve our customers better. Our Commitment for excellence will continue by providing customers driven solution.”

Departments of Altech Aluminum Company Ltd |

According to the supply chain head Mr. Shah Raihan Mozid they have mainly two departments. * Official departments * Production Departments
Each department has their sub departments. Under the official departments there are- * Administration Department * Human Resources Department * Accounting Departments * Finance Departments * Marketing Department * Sales Department * IT Department
Under the production departments there are- * Powder putting * Quality Management * Powder generation * Production Management

Target market |

Aluminium is technical product. Final customers don’t have any idea about this product. Many people even don’t know what company’s aluminium actually used in their house. That’s why Altech Aluminium target dealers as their customers because using dealers as a target customers they can capture the market share. When final users need aluminium products then they contact with dealers. They have nearly 150 dealers around the country. Mainly they target the Dhaka city because housing and Real estate companies are mostly in city area. Besides high stored buildings are now built in Dhaka city. Rural areas are not so much architecturally sophisticated. That’s why they target mostly the Dhaka city. They have future plan to target the rural area gradually. The list of their honorable dealers are given below- Name of dealers | Name of delers | Banana Thai Aluminium Center | M/S R.H Thai Aluminium Fabricators | M/S. Grameencolor Thai Aluminium | Trade Consult | Fancy Glass House | M/S Sultana Aluminium | M/S Aluminium Furnish | M/S Alam Glass Store | M/S Ananda Glass Agency | NAJAT Traders | Janata Glass House & Thai Aluminium | Star Thai Aluminium (Saver) | Aftab Fabricators | M/S Fancy Thai Aluminium | Anis Aluminium Fabricators | Wafi Builders | Haque Aluminium &Glass Company | M/S Suhe Enterprise | M/S Aluminium Builders | M/S Samata Enterprise | M/S Aluminium Technical Concern | M/S Shapla Enterprise and Builders | M/S Good Luck Engineering Company | M/S Rush Aluminium Fabricators | M/S Green Vine Corporation | M/S Reliance Trading | M/S Madina Aluminium | M/S Meghla Thai Aluminium Fabricators | M/S Sunrise Thai Aluminium | M/S Margin Aluminium Center | Noor Thai Aluminium | M/S Jatrabari Thai Aluminium Glass & Hardware | S.M Enterprise | M/S Aluminium Vision | SCALE | M/S Inter Thai Aluminium Center | Sony Glass & Aluminium Fabricators | M/S Bengle Glass house | The Aluminium- Glass International | M/S Narayangonj Aluminium ltd | M/S Ornate Thai Aluminium | M/S Rajshahi Thia Aluminium ltd | MS. Ireen Thai | Sadman Electric and Thai Aluminium | M/S Cosmic Aluminium & Glass Thai | M/S Eastern Thai Alumnium | J/K Aluminium Fabricators & Glass | |

Product and services |

As aluminium is mainly used as input material to other industries, its products can be distinguished by semi products, ingots, sheets, etc., and final products, window frame, beverage cans, etc. Altech produce aluminium sheets. Product | size | Color | Aluminium Sheet | Customize size ( max 21 feet) | Silver and SS |

Services that Atlech Aluminium provided are- 1. Fully Automatic State: Fully Automatic State of the art hot top Continuous Casting System &Homogenizing Furnace for Prime Standard Billet 2. High Precision CNC: High Precision CNC wire-cut & EDM Machine Facilities

3. Extrusion facilities: High range of Extrusion facilities by 880, 1460 & 1650 US ton extrusion presses.

4. Latest PLC : Fully Automatic latest PLC Controlling System with Modern Handling Equipments 5. Fully Equipped: Fully Equipped Laboratory for Chemical Analysis. 6. Quality of our products is monitored by foreign expert. 7. Latest Anodizing Plant for Bronze, Silver, Black, Golden & SS Color. 8. Pricing |

In setting price Altech uses Value Based Pricing. Their main concern is product’s quality. According to Md. Shah Raihan Mozid (Deputy Manager, Admin & HR) they never compromise their product quality for lower price. To compare with competitors Altech’s products price is reasonable. They can remain the product price low because they use the latest technology. Latest technology reduces the lead time in production and they can produce more products in a shorter time than others. That’s why they can maintain a lower price with best quality. They are imposing VAT on their goods because every year they have to pay a huge amount of tax to government.

Supply sources: |

Procurement of raw material is the most important part before production. Though Bangladesh is not sufficient enough for raw materials of aluminium, Altech collects them from foreign countries specially Malwaysia, Singapore, Australia. Altech does not use iron, manganese or other scraps that do not go with its quality issue it should use different countries as the source of raw material.
Altech uses its own transport system for collecting raw materials and sending final product to the end users. Huge cost including traffic management occurs while collecting and sending raw and final product.
To collect its products and then send them to the customers’ hand Altech follows a flow. This flow is given bellow- Benefits toward different groups: |

Altech provides different benefits to its suppliers, dealers, fabricators, employees, salespeople and customers. Benefits provided by Altech are mentioned bellow- Suppliers-
•Altech provides employment opportunities to the suppliers. •Besides this to maintain good quality of their products Altaech trains the suppliers how to maintain the quality of raw materials and how to carry them and so on.
Dealers-
•Profit share benefits are provided to the dealers.
•Products are provided them at a lower cost to help them profit maximization.
•Warehousing facilities are provided for them for the availability if supply.
Fabricators-
•3% to 10% profits are shared with the fabricators by Altech.
•Advanced tools and technological benefits are provided to them including → CNC (computer numeric control) → EDF (equal dimension form) → Hard wares including screw, locks and other profiles.
Employees-
•Training facilities are provided while needed.
•Bonus including different festival bonuses are provided that motivates its employee and workers that results into a 0% employee turnover.
•Profits are shared with employees too to motivate them.
Salespeople-
•Salespeople get commission benefits on their sales volume.
Customers-
•Products are delivered to them as per order because of customization.
•High quality is maintained on customer product.
•Customers get products at low cost.
•Low fluctuation of colors is maintained in products.
•Customers get in time delivery of products.

Customer Service: |

Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. Dealers and Fabricators are the main customers of Altech because through them it communicates with its final customers. Services provided to these two groups are mentioned bellow:
Services to the dealers-
•Commissions are provided to the dealers if they can meet their target sales.
•Proper inventory is managed to meet the demand of dealers when their response time.
Services to the fabricator-
•Technical experts are hired from Pakistan and China to guide them.
•Tools are provided to them so that they can design products based on technological advancement.
•As fabricators are assumed as the key personnel for Altech, it provides learning facilities for them from efficient technicians. Services provided to dealers and fabricators turn ultimate services to the end users of Altech. These services are pointed here-
Customer services-
•Customers get in time delivery facilty whenever they place an order.
•Dedicated sales teams are always available to serve customers.
•Customized products are provided to them.
•Diversification of products is available for customers because of exclusive fabricators.

Positioning: |

Positioning means arranging for a product to occupy a clear, distinctive and desirable place relative to competing product in the mind of the target customers. Positioning is very important for any organization. Altech has a good position in their customers mind.
Some important point for which customers think that Altech is the best among all brands are-
•Altech is process oriented.
•It has a great quality management system.
•Operation quality control of Altech is good enough.
•It has trust on its quality.
•It communicates with its regular customers (retailers) to have market updates.
•Though it is the first aluminum industry in Bangladesh it has a unique brand position on customers mind..
•Customer interests are provided by purchasing raw materials at a lower cost.
•It provides product with high thickness specially designed by fabricators.
•Products designed by Altech have no leakage nd most of them are waterproof which is important for infrastructures. Besides these it takes different promotional activities to take place a special position on their customers mind.

Promotion |

In promotional activities Altech uses up the line promotion like bill board, banner, TV advertisements etc. But most of their promotion is Dhaka based because Dhaka is their main targeted segment. They have the largest numbers of bill board in all over the country. They also have some TV advertisements. But they mainly focus on billboard because they believe that as aluminium is a technical product they can’t target more people through TV advertisements. People haven’t so much idea about aluminium. That’s why TV advertisements are not so much fruitful for them. To contact with their target customers, the dealers they use mainly billboard and banner. But recently they spend more in promotional activities than before because they want to aware customers about this product. According to Mr. Shah Raihan Mozid “it’s time to be aware about Aluminium. To make people aware and knowledgeable about this Aluminium industry Altech will make some TV advertisements and billboard. The reason behind this brand and product awareness is that the middle men and some fraud company are now trying to cheat people by providing bad products using the Altech brand name.
Mr. Shah Raihan Mozid said “sometimes fabricators provide the wrong products using the name of Altech and peple can’t understand it. That’s why to be aware about the brand and the product we take some promotional activities like print advertisement. We provide awareness notice about our products, how customers identify our products from duplicate products and so on in a national newspaper called Bhorer Khobor every day.”
Besides this Altech now sponsors some programs so that general people at least know the brand name. for this reason they sponsor a talk show in channel 71.

Market Strategy: |

Organizational strategy of Altech combines all of its marketing goals into one comprehensive plan. It focuses on the right product mix in order to achieve the maximum profit potential and sustain the business.
From the market standpoint Altech considers three major factors to set its strategy. They are- 1. Customer need.
2. Competitive factor.
3. Organizational advancement.
Strategies followed by Altech are given here- Quality management-
Quality is the primary issue for it through which Altech attracts its customers. It is the first mover aluminum industry in Bangladesh which maintains its product quality to customer need. Brand name-
It uses a unique brand name that is easy to recall for customers. By hearing the name Altech customers can recognize it as an aluminum organization which is absent in competitor’s brands. Low profit margin-
To differentiate itself from other brands it uses low profit margin. It collects raw materials at a lower cost and then sell final products at a lower price which is determined by cost based pricing.

Market Share: |

Altech's growth over the last few years has involved a transformation of its strategy and image. In the year 1987 Altech's brand image was not so strong. But by the changes of decades revolutionary changes are seen in its market growth. There are some key reasons behind their market growth and share. They are-
•Though it uses CNC system there’s low chance of having error (0.05%) in its product.
•Its designs are inimitable to copy by its competitors.
•Patent and trademark both are registered from ministry parliament.
•Purchase raw materials at a lower cost and sell final good at a profitable rate.
•Value based pricing is used to capture the ldomestic market.
•Besides domestic sales Altech tries to export its produced goods to India , Bhutan and other South Asian Countries. Market share of Altech increases from 15% to 20% each yerar. Based on the information provided by Altech a graphical presentation is given bellow-

Main Competitors and differentiation |

Aluminium industry is a infant industry in Bangladesh. But as it is potential industry many company are entering into this industry. So competition is not low. Altech has to face strong competition to run their business in this market. There are mainly 11 Aluminium companies in Bangladesh. Among them the main competitors of Altech are- * BD Thai * Alco Aluminium * Chu- hua Aluminium * PHP Glass and Aluminium
Besides this there are some other new company * Rahmania Aluminium Fabricators * Star Thai Aluminium * New Thai Aluminium & Glass Company Ltd * Dhaka Thai * Armit Thai * B.K Aluminium
From the beginning Altech Aluminium maintain their market leader position in market share. But competition is increasing day by day. Some branded company will enter into the aluminium market soon. According to Mr. shah Raihan Mazid “new competitors are coming soon. Parn –RFL and Akij group are the main upcoming and strong competitors. As they are already popular brand it will be tough for Atech to compete with them because people believe in Brand name more than others.

At present though Altech has so many competitors, they are still market leader. They maintain their market share growing and make them different from other by using their customize strategy. Altech is the only company which make customize products. They deliver their product in time. Deputy Manager ( Admin & HR) Mr. shah Raihan Mozid strongly said that their main target to deliver customized product in time and that’s why they are different than other. Besides this they use latest technology for their aluminium design like CNC, EDN. They spend nearly 2 millions in a month for advertisements. They have largest sales team which helps them to maintain a strong influence on market. That’s why Altech is the market leader and different from other companies.

SWOT Analysis |

Weakness: * No formed association * High raw material import cost. * High cost in continuous power supply

Strength: * Provides products at 50% less price than others. * Large inventory storage to meet sudden raising demand. * Delivered customized products * Strong and excellent HR policy * Latest technology in use

SWOT Analysis

Opportunity

Threats: * Giant companies like RFL, Akij are coming in Aluminium Market. * Government pressure * High Tax rate

Challenges |

Altech is the market share leader of Aluminium industry in Bangladesh. From the beginning of its establishment it is popular because of its art extrusion & anodized aluminium products. But still it has faced some challenges to run their business. Some main challenges are pointing below- * Lack of targeted Location: still aluminium market is city centered because rural area is not so much developed to use aluminium in their infrastructure. That’s why all the companies target the city area. Competitions are stronger day by day but they can’t divert in other area because of proper development of these area. * Price: Altech never consider their product quality to reduce their product price. that’s why they have to face a strong challenge to set up their price .

* Power supply problem: one of the big challenge they face now is gas and electricity problem. Government don’t provide them any extra benefit to solve this power supply problem.

* Import based raw material: Altech import raw material from Australia as we don’t have any mine. It’s much more costly for them. They have to spend more but they have to keep their price low.

* Transportation: transportation is their main challenges. They can’t use large truck at 8:00 am to 10:00 pm. It creates some supply and demand problems.

* Lack of end users awareness: The end users of the Aluminium products are general people like the householder. But they are not aware of this technical product. That’s why customers are cheated and Altech’s goodwill is in danger.

* Government intervention: As infant industry aluminium industry needs government support. But government and pressure groups don’t provide so much support to this sector. Besides this they don’t get any kind of government subsidy or easy import rules to import their raw materials.

Reference |

http://altechaluminium.net/# http://www.kaigroupbd.com/kbal/altech.php http://eobangladesh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=100&Itemid=126
https://bangladesheconomy.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/aluminium-business-pulls-in-newcomers/