Customer Segmentation in Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Market in China
Wang, Qinwei (2019)
Wang, Qinwei
2019
Industrial Engineering and Management
Tekniikan ja luonnontieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences
This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2019-05-27
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201905311821
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201905311821
Tiivistelmä
The rapid urbanization industrialization in China have resulted in massive generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) every day, which makes China the largest MSW producer in the world now. Compared to traditional landfill and compost, waste incineration is becoming the main disposal method in China now. In western developed countries, the waste incineration has led to wide-spread production of solid refused fuel (SRF) and its incineration in various types of technical combustion processes. This has created opportunities for western suppliers who provide solutions to SRF production and mechanical treatment (MT). However, due to the unique MSW management system in China, internationalizing such business to Chinese market might be a challenge.
The main research question of this thesis is what customer segment the case company could serve the best in the Chinese MSW market. To answer this question, this thesis collects the data involves in the MSW incineration business in Chinese market. The data of around three hundred and sixty Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plants and seventy cement plants with the MSW co-processing line was collected. Based on the data, an industrial customer segmentation framework was created and applied on the collected data of plants. Two variables were applied in segmenting- Industry and company technology. After profiling the segments, it is necessary to evaluate the segments. Two evaluation are made on the two groups of segments – the attractiveness evaluation and the match evaluation. Finally, the segment selection is made based on the result of evaluation.
The result of the customer segmentation gives information about the MSW incineration market and the potential customers in the market. By evaluating the attractiveness of the segments with response to the industry variables, the WtE plants in WtE industry shows more market potential while MSW co-processing business in cement industry is cannibalized by co-processing business of hazardous waste and sewage sludge disposal. By evaluating the match of the case company’s capability with segments, the case company recognized the segment they could serve best with the resource.
However, the market trends of WtE industry shows that it has strong preference to certain incineration technology that does not require the pre-treatment system that case company can provide. Thus, in Chinese market, thought the MSW incineration industry seems in a growing, the SRF market is still in developing.
The main research question of this thesis is what customer segment the case company could serve the best in the Chinese MSW market. To answer this question, this thesis collects the data involves in the MSW incineration business in Chinese market. The data of around three hundred and sixty Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plants and seventy cement plants with the MSW co-processing line was collected. Based on the data, an industrial customer segmentation framework was created and applied on the collected data of plants. Two variables were applied in segmenting- Industry and company technology. After profiling the segments, it is necessary to evaluate the segments. Two evaluation are made on the two groups of segments – the attractiveness evaluation and the match evaluation. Finally, the segment selection is made based on the result of evaluation.
The result of the customer segmentation gives information about the MSW incineration market and the potential customers in the market. By evaluating the attractiveness of the segments with response to the industry variables, the WtE plants in WtE industry shows more market potential while MSW co-processing business in cement industry is cannibalized by co-processing business of hazardous waste and sewage sludge disposal. By evaluating the match of the case company’s capability with segments, the case company recognized the segment they could serve best with the resource.
However, the market trends of WtE industry shows that it has strong preference to certain incineration technology that does not require the pre-treatment system that case company can provide. Thus, in Chinese market, thought the MSW incineration industry seems in a growing, the SRF market is still in developing.