“What do you mean, we can’t sell the formulation?” Saul Vance asked, not believing what he was hearing from his supervisor. Wyatt Walsh, had called him into his office before he even had time to turn on the lights, ovens and equipment in his formulation lab that morning. Now, Wyatt was telling him, reading from the note on his computer, that the formulation that Saul had developed and tested was being pulled from the market. Saul took this news very personally after all the work he had put into the formulation. His formulations were his own creations, the result of trying different combinations to get just the right ingredients that gave the properties needed by his customers. Each of Saul’s formulations were precisely put together to meet the application requirements. Saul took pride in being able to formulate specific properties into his mixtures. Now his boss and mentor, Wyatt, was telling him he had messed up on his formulation and it had to be pulled.
Saul Vance sat down hard in the one chair in front of Wyatt’s desk surprised and shocked at the news. As Wyatt’s voice droned on in the background, Saul began to remember the call he had gotten about three weeks earlier from the Purchasing Director, Lois Bidder. Lois had worked in the lab for a short time with Saul, but was now over the entire purchasing department. Lois was known for pricing formulations lower than all the competition and had been promoted quickly within the procurement organization. Saul remembered being surprised when Lois had asked about the formulation and was now complaining about the high cost of the ingredients. Lois said that the cost of the formulation was too high for the market. Saul didn’t like it when Lois Bidder, or anyone else in purchasing, complained about his formulations, especially when the complaining was not based on performance but simply on wanting a cheaper version. Every ingredient was in there for a reason and they all worked together in harmony, like a well-oiled machine.