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APPENDIX 12A. MANUFACTURER IMPACT ANALYSIS INTE RVIEW GUIDE

TABLE OF CO NTENTS

12A.1 MISCELLANEOUS REFRIG ERATION PRODUCTS

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APPENDIX 12A. MANUFACTURER IMPACT ANALYSIS INTERVIEW G UIDE12A

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QUES TIONS FOR PRELIMINAR Y MANUFACTURER IMPACT ANALYSIS

PRELIMINARY MANUFACTURER IMPACT ANALYSIS TOPICS

1 K EY I SSUES

1.1 What are the key issues for your company regarding this product rulemaking?

1.2 Are there any patent, technology, or other issues that you are aware of that would prevent

you or your competitors from implementing higher

- efficie ncy designs?

2 S HIPMENT P ROJECTIONS

2.1 To help DOE understand the market and the relative importance of various product types

to specific manufacturers, please disaggregate your annual unit shipments for each product

category as shown in the table below. Here we define “wine/beverage coolers” as

refrigeration products that are not designed to achieve a compartment temperature of 39°F

or lower. Please indicate whether you purchase these products from other manufacturers

(i.e. private label), and what fracti on of your product is manufactured in the United States.

Please provide your answers in the table below (Table 2.1)

Table 2.1 Market Share and Domestic Manufacturing

Product Type Yearly

Shipments Market

Share

( %) %

Made %

Bought % Made

in U.S.A

Vapor compression wine

chillers/

beverage coolers with

manual defrost

Vapor compression wine

chillers/

beverage coolers with

automatic defrost

Thermoelectric wine chillers

Thermoelectric refrigerators12A

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Absorption refrigerators

Absorption wine chillers

Hybrid Refrigerators a

Residential Ice Makers

2.2 Would you expect your market share to change o nce standards become effective?

2.3 Does your outlook change with higher efficiency levels?

2.4 How would you expect shipments to change for the industry as a whole as a function of

standards

, and why?

2.5 Looking at price/cost effects only, how would you expect shipments to change for a 5%,

10%, 25%, or 50% manufacturer price/cost increase?

3 C ONVERSION C OSTS

3.1 What level s of investment in research & development and manufacturing capital would

you anticipate making to manufacture products compliant with higher efficiency

standard s ? Please describe what they are and provide your best estimate of their respective

magnit udes.

3.2 How would the imposition of new energy conservation standards affect capacity utilization

and manufacturing assets at your domestic production facilities? Would a new standard

a Hybrid refrigeration products are refrigerators or freezers that contain one or more wine/beverage cooler

compartment12A

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resu lt in stranded capital assets? Would any faci lities be closed or d ownsized? Added or

upgraded?

3.3 If you do not manufacture products domestically, do you own the factories in which you

manufacture products overseas, or do you OEM from other product manufacturers?

3.4 How might a new standard impact product innovation?

3.5 At what efficiency levels do you expect to:

 Retire lower

- efficiency platforms? How many?

 Close current manufacturing plants rather than upgrade them to make higher

efficiency products? (e.g. moving production to new facilities, out

- sourcing, or

ceasi ng operations altogether).

 Require the development of a “clean sheet” product platform to meet higher

efficiency levels?

3.6 How would manufacturer tax credits for higher efficiency products affect your decisions

regarding research and development for high ly

- efficient wine chillers and residential ice

makers? Could manufacturer tax credits influence any of the above manufacturing

decisions?

4 P RODUCT M IX AND P ROFITABILITY

4.1 How would your company’s product mix and marketing strategy change with changes in

the efficiency standard?12A

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4.2 How would you expect manufacturer tax credits for highly

- efficient wine chillers and

residential ice makers to affect your current product mix and profitability?

4.3 What distribution channels are used from the manu facturer to the retail outlet? What is the

share of product going through each distribution channel?

4.4 Generally

, how would new product standards affect your customer mix, distribution

channels, and corresponding profit margins?

4.5 What is the approximate percentag e of shipments for each product across your portfolio ?

5 M ARKET S HARES AND I NDUSTRY C ONSOLIDATION

5.1 In the absence of new standards, do you expect any industry consolidation?

5.2 How would new standards affect your ability to compete?

5.3 Could new standards disproportionately advance or harm the competitive positions of

some firms?

5.4 Do you or any of your competitors own intellectual property that confers a significant cost

advantage regarding achieving certain energy efficiency levels ?12A

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5.5 Could new standards result in disproportionate economic or performance penalties for

particular consumer/user subgroups?

5.6 Beyond price and energy efficiency, could new standards result in products that will be

more or less desirable to consumers due to changes in product functionality, utility, or

other features?

6 C UMULATIVE R EGULATORY B URDEN

6.1 Are there recent or impending regulations on your specific product or other products that

impose a cumulative burden on the industry?

6.2 If so, what is the total expe cted impact of those other regulations in terms of required

capital investments, engineering hours spent addressing these issues, and/or product costs ?

6.3 Under what circumstances would you be able to coordinate any expenditure related to this

and other regulations

, thereby lessening the cumulative burden?