The Seat Sensor

Introduction
One thing I noticed when I first started going to Auckland University was how packed the
lectures were (especially for first year students!). To further add to this issue, people would also
use the seating system very inefficiently with students sitting right at the end of a row which
makes it harder to access vacant seats across the row, especially if youre attending a lecture
with your friends. Students were not getting the seats they were entitled to. This led to me to
think of The Seat Sensor; something which in my opinion will not only help Auckland
University, but potentially other Universities around the world. The Seat Sensor works by
being placed under every seat in a lecture theatre which allows it to detect if a seat is occupied
or not. It that transmits this information to a monitor outside of the lecture theatre which
shows a scaled diagram of the seating plan showing red seats meaning that a seat is taken, and
a green seat indicating a seat is vacant allowing students to easily see which seats are available.

3.1 Vision
Our vision is for The Seat Sensor to be implemented in every university around the world and
assist students in their studies through a more comfortable experience at their lectures. We
aim to ensure that The Seat Sensor is also of high quality and achieves exactly what it
advertises so that universities will be 100% satisfied with our product. We believe that it is
essential for students to be in an environment in which they can easily focus and achieve their
maximum potential.



3.2 Industry Analysis- The Seat Sensor is part of the
electronics industry and more specifically the sensor industry
within the electronics industry.
Force: High/Low: Justification:
Buyer Power:
Low

Buyer power is low because
buyers (consumers) only have
one seller to choose from. This
is because there is no other
company currently on the
market or in the industry
offering the same product
which we offer.

Supplier Power:

High Supplier power is also high
because we are the only
company in the
electronics/sensor industry
offering these unique sensors
Threat of New
Entrants:
High Threat of New Entrants may be
high because the technology
which The Seat Sensor uses is
relatively easy to copy.
However if we were able to get
a patent on our idea, then
threat of new entrants would
become low.
Threat of
Substitutes:
Low Threat of substitutes is low as
there are no close alternatives
to this particular product,
which gives our product a
competitive advantage.
Rivalry among
existing competitors:
Low Rivalry among existing
competitors is low as there are
no close alternatives to this
product.

Evaluation of Industry Analysis:
Overall, I believe that the electronics/sensor industry is an attractive industry for our product to
be sold in. This is due to the fact that this is a new product on the market and it targets a
problem which other companies out there have not attempted to solve. The only concern is the
threat of new entrants in the market because of the fact that the technology relatively easy to
duplicate however, the other sections of the industry analysis including the rivalry among
existing competitors, threat of substitutes, and buyer and supplier power all favored our
company.

3.3 Potential Customers and their needs
Our companys customers will be Universities from around whose lecture theatres we will be
implementing with our Seat Sensors which links to a monitor outside the theatre. However,
many of these universities will have different kinds of seats and lecture theatres. This will mean
that we must adhere to each Universitys needs individually and obtain an appropriate product
which satisfies our customers (the universities). Although this might make it harder to grow our
company, we want to make sure that everything we do goes in line with the companys vision
and ensures that all of our customers needs are met.

3.4 The Product and/or Service
By making sure that all of our customers needs are met, we can make sure that the product
gives our customers the results that are expected. By allowing students to more efficiently find
and access seating in lecture theatres, we believe that this will cause an increase in the
students grades. This will be done by helping students save time by notifying them of full
lectures, and our product will hopefully help students realize that seating is limited and
encourage more efficient use of the seats.

3.5 Potential Suppliers and Partners
Partners Our Companys partners will be software companies, which will help us to develop
the technology to transmit our seating information to the monitor outside the lecture theatre.
We will also need to work with companies who employ electricians in order to set up the
sensors and all the electrical components in order to make our product work.
Suppliers Our Companys suppliers will be an electronics manufacturer which makes our
sensors in order to detect a vacant and engaged seat. We would also need to be supplied with
wiring and a monitor which are easily obtainable from many different companies (Samsung,
Panasonic etc).
3.6 Market Strategy
Our company will aim their product at a narrow market due to the fact that our product only
caters to universities. Therefore we will employ a focused differentiation strategy due to our
product being high cost. Our business aims to provide a product which is different from other
products on the market, who try to target a broader group of customers (other sensors). The
Universities have needs which need to be specifically catered to therefore there is definitely a
need for differentiation which allows us to further cement our stance on which market strategy
we are looking to take. As a result of this chosen strategy, our company will be competitive as
there are few or no alternatives however, they are only offering their product to a small market
segment. (See reference list)
3.7 Value Chain Activity
The most important value chain activity for our company is under operations, which transforms
raw materials or inputs into goods and services. This is because our vision statement clearly
stated that we aim to ensure that The Seat Sensor is also of high quality and achieves exactly
what it advertises so that universities will be 100% satisfied with our product. Operations is
important because that is the actual process involved with ensuring that our product is of high
quality and there is as least issues possible with our product. If one of the seat sensors
malfunction in a whole lecture theatre of working sensors, then the information transferred
onto the monitor outside the theatre will be faulty showing a vacant seat when it is in fact
engaged. This example clearly shows how important it is for our product to be of a high
standard of quality. Because our market strategy targets a small market, it is important that our
company builds a reputation of delivering a quality product that does exactly what it says it
does. We aim to build customer loyalty to Universities around the world with our product
which could in turn discourage potential entrants into the market. (See reference list)


3.8 Key Business Processes
Process 1:


















This is a key business process which
demonstrates how the system which the
seat sensor uses works. It starts by detecting
whether a person has taken a seat. It then
sends this information to a computer
(system) which interprets the information
and sends it to a monitor outside. If a person
has left their seat during this process, the
system will cancel seat detection
immediately and go back to showing a
vacant symbol on the monitor. This is a very
important process as it clearly demonstrates
how the product works.
Start
Person sits
on a seat
Sensor
detects
occupant
Sends
information to
system(comput
er)
System
interprets the
information
Projection onto
monitor
outside theatre
END
No
Yes
Has the person
moved seat?
Process 2:
This business process focuses on the
actual process which the business
carries out when a University places
an order for their sensor system. It
involves evaluation of the seating
system, purchasing the product and
installation.
Start
University
books for a
consultation
Engineer is sent
to analyse
Universitiys
unique seating
system
University
places an
order
Order is sent
to
manufacturers
Electrical
company
contracted for
installation
Sensors are
recieved
Sensor system
installed
End
Does the university place
an order?
Yes
No
3.9 Functionalities for Business Process
Business process 1- (i) Ensuring that all of the sensor signals are projected accurately onto the
monitor. (ii) Making sure that someone is actually occupying the seat.
Business process 2-(i) Ensuring that the correct sensors are made for a particular university. (ii)
Ensuring that the manufacturers correctly complete an order.

3.10 Systems
Sensor System: This is a crucial part of our business as this system detects whether there is
someone occupying a seat. This ensures that our product does what it says it does. If this
system malfunctioned it would affect many other systems that follow it as the information
which the sensor system receives and sends is vital. (See references)
Wifi System: Wifi is a technology that allows an electronic device to exchange data or connect
to the internet wirelessly. This is another very important system as it is the part of the process
which allows the seating plan with red seats being engaged seats and green seats being vacant
seats, to be correctly displayed on the monitor outside of the lecture theatre, ensuring that the
students who are interpreting this information are not misled.
Order Management System: This software system ensures that our manufacturers know the
details of the order. This is important because each university will have a different seating plan
so we must make sure that their particular needs are catered. (See references)
3.11 Conclusion
Overall our company will offer their product, The Seat Sensor to universities around the
world, which will help their students in obtaining higher grades and a more pleasant experience
at university and their lectures. This will help the university by allowing their lectures to run
smoother and become more reputable with their students (hopefully) improved results.





References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_management_system 3.10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi 3.10
http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/generic.shtml 3.6
http://www.sensorsmag.com 3.10
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_66.htm 3.7