![]() ![]() Forecasting is typically done for a 12-month period. Polaris’ supply chain team collaborates closely with the company’s operations, manufacturing and sales teams on demand-planning processes. “These portals are the primary means of communication with our supply base,” Krishna says. Polaris also communicates closely with vendors through online supplier portals, through which vendors can access production schedules, design and new product development information. Major suppliers have temporary offices located in Polaris’ main engineering center, which gives them direct access to the company’s design and technical teams. “We have gotten them involved earlier in our new product development process.” “For us to be successful, we’ve needed deeper and closer collaboration with our suppliers,” Krishna says. A significant portion of the company’s parts is purchased from suppliers. ![]() “We’ve added more features, greater functionality and introduced more brands.”Īlthough Polaris’ engineering department is at the center of its product development and efforts, its supply chain operations also play a critical role in driving innovation. “When other companies were cutting back during the recession, we kept innovating and creating more categories and segmentation,” Krishna says, noting the company reduced its speed to market from 35 months to 22 months in the past five years. Polaris’ latest product – the Slingshot three-wheeled motorcycle – was introduced earlier this year. The company’s brands include RZR, Polaris RANGER and Sportsman for ATVs GEM for electric vehicles and the Victory and Indian motorcycle brands. Polaris continues to introduce exciting new products and features to its line of snowmobiles, ORVs, motorcycles and small electric vehicles each year. Some of the company’s other milestones include manufacturing the first motorcycle with a six-speed overdrive transmission, producing the first side-by-side two-seat ATV capable of riding on trails and the first snowmobile on the market with a progressive-rate rear suspension. In the decades that followed, Polaris continued to refine and expand on its snowmobile line while introducing new products including the first all-terrain vehicle (ATV) manufactured in the United States. The first commercially available snowmobile produced by the company followed in 1957. After initially manufacturing farm machines and equipment, the company’s founders in 1955 built the earliest model of the vehicle for which it would become most famous: the snowmobile. Innovation has been the driving force behind Polaris since the company was established in a machine shop in Roseau, Minn., in 1954. “The amount of innovation we drive into our products each year is by far the biggest thing that sets us apart from our competitors,” says Suresh Krishna, vice president of global operations and integration for the Medina, Minn.-based manufacturer. has carved out its own identity within a highly competitive marketplace by focusing on one thing. ![]()
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