The History of Timbuk2 and its Phenomenal Rise in Sales
Timbuk2 Case Analysis
Summary
In 1989 Rob Honeycutt, a bicycle messenger in San Francisco, purchased a used sewing machine, fabric and buckles and built his own messenger bag. Rob received so many inquiries from non-messengers that he decides to build other bags just like it and sell them at a local bike shop. Rob’s company was originally named Scumbags, but he felt that it lacked the necessary credibility of a real bag company, so he changed the company name to Timbuk2 after the inspirational African city. (Timeline) Rob’s goal was “to make a messenger bag rugged enough for real bicycle messengers, yet stylish enough to appeal to a broader market of young, hip urbanites… (Cachon, Cattani and Netessine) The company’s simple philosophy is: “create good-looking, tough-as-Hell bags you can truly make your own.” (About Us)
In 1993, Honeycutt selected Brennan Mulligan, a recent graduate from the University of California, to assist in the implementation of a lean manufacturing / mass customization concept into the company’s business model. By 1996, Timbuk2 had developed an extremely efficient manufacturing operation, producing a variety of bicycle messenger bags and similar products resulting in many changes to the factory floor. Additional sewing machines were acquired to reduce setup time, factory layout was altered to accommodate small batch sizes, sewing team size was optimized at five members each and a “bump-back” process was implemented to balance the workload. (Gerard Cachon) By 1997, Timbuk2 was producing bags in various batch sizes while maintaining the versatility produce to manufacture multiple sizes, fabric types, colors and options. Leveraging this success, the company created a “Build Your Own Bag” page on its web site in 2000, allowing an additional marketing venue which allowed customers to choose from various colors and options. (Gerard Cachon)
At the beginning of 2002, the company consisted of roughly 40 employees responsible for the
Summary
In 1989 Rob Honeycutt, a bicycle messenger in San Francisco, purchased a used sewing machine, fabric and buckles and built his own messenger bag. Rob received so many inquiries from non-messengers that he decides to build other bags just like it and sell them at a local bike shop. Rob’s company was originally named Scumbags, but he felt that it lacked the necessary credibility of a real bag company, so he changed the company name to Timbuk2 after the inspirational African city. (Timeline) Rob’s goal was “to make a messenger bag rugged enough for real bicycle messengers, yet stylish enough to appeal to a broader market of young, hip urbanites… (Cachon, Cattani and Netessine) The company’s simple philosophy is: “create good-looking, tough-as-Hell bags you can truly make your own.” (About Us)
In 1993, Honeycutt selected Brennan Mulligan, a recent graduate from the University of California, to assist in the implementation of a lean manufacturing / mass customization concept into the company’s business model. By 1996, Timbuk2 had developed an extremely efficient manufacturing operation, producing a variety of bicycle messenger bags and similar products resulting in many changes to the factory floor. Additional sewing machines were acquired to reduce setup time, factory layout was altered to accommodate small batch sizes, sewing team size was optimized at five members each and a “bump-back” process was implemented to balance the workload. (Gerard Cachon) By 1997, Timbuk2 was producing bags in various batch sizes while maintaining the versatility produce to manufacture multiple sizes, fabric types, colors and options. Leveraging this success, the company created a “Build Your Own Bag” page on its web site in 2000, allowing an additional marketing venue which allowed customers to choose from various colors and options. (Gerard Cachon)
At the beginning of 2002, the company consisted of roughly 40 employees responsible for the
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