ABSTRACT
Toshiba Consumer Products (TCP) was established in Plymouth in May 1981, to manufacture colour television receivers for sale to the UK market. The marketing of consumer durable products of the type Japanese manufacturers' manufacture is one of the keenest in the UK and the rest of Europe, and there is continuing pressure to reduce prices and provide a high degree of service to their customers. There are tremendous market pressures on all suppliers of consumer products to shorten the inspection time of any new product. Of all the considerations taken into account when purchasing, the one that is given more time than any other is normally the cost. The problem was that each section was so busy ensuring the parts were at TCP in time for production that they had no real time for price negotiation and cost-down.
