Start-Up Project: FIBLUX

Extraits de l'étude de cas

[...] He will be assisted by a secretary in his numerous tasks. When starting operation, FibLux will be composed of 4 departments: Production, Sales, Finance and R&D (Research & Development) ; each headed by a manager who will hold weekly meetings with the General Manager. - Production department : The manufacturing plant will be operated by about 15 technicians and machinists. They will be qualified to carry out the maintenance and troubleshooting when necessary. They will be supervised by two engineers in their job. [...]

[...] Finance We foresee an increase in sales after a relative initial stability. Once our products are known and marketing strategy implemented, sales will be boosted. Initial expenses will be relatively high compared to those of the forthcoming years due to the purchase of manufacturing and office equipment and high marketing expenditures during the first year. Initial investment and loans minus first year expenses will constitute our initial turnover of euros. Profits will start to become positive in year 2 thanks to sales compensating initial expenses. [...]

[...] Even if the YDF fiber is more expansive, a YDF-based system is less costly than the traditional one which requires expansive electronic amplifiers. Our main buyers on the European market being telecom operators, we will use Internet extensively for our promotion. Hence we will promote our products through advertisement in specialized magazines, participation in scientific and business tradeshows and research for tenders bids. Our first objective being to secure a substantial European market share. - Medium term strategy We will, within two to three years of operation, extend our activity beyond the European level. [...]

[...] Product specification First we will describe what fiber optics are. They are fibers made up of glass used to conduct light thanks to internal reflections. One kind of fiber optics fiber is made up of an internal capillary of glass which is coated with a thin layer of another glass with a different refractive index. When a ray of light enters through one side of the fiber, it undergoes successive reflections so that it comes out of the other. In theory fiber optics can transfer light all along the fiber. [...]

[...] This step principally uses computerized electronic devices. - Manufacturing the perform The first step in manufacturing glass optical fibers is to make a solid glass rod, known as a preform. Ultra-pure chemicals - primarily silicon tetrachloride (SiCl4) and germanium tetrachloride (GeCl4) - are converted into glass during preform manufacturing. These chemicals are used in varying proportions to fabricate the core regions for the different types of preforms. The core composition of all standard communication fibers consists primarily of silica, with varying amounts of germania added to increase the fiber's refractive index to the desired level. [...]