Forward Industries Value Stock - Dividend - Research Selection

Forward Industries, Inc. (“Forward” or the “Company”) designs and distributes carry and protective solutions, primarily for hand held electronic devices. The Company’s principal customer market is original equipment manufacturers, or “OEMs” (or the contract manufacturing firms of these OEM customers), that either package their products as accessories “in box” together with their branded product offerings, or sell them through their retail distribution channels. The Company’s OEM products include carrying cases and other accessories for medical monitoring and diagnostic kits and a variety of other portable electronic and non-electronic products (such as sporting and recreational products, bar code scanners, smartphones, GPS location devices, tablets, and firearms). The Company’s OEM customers are located in: (i) the Asia-Pacific Region, which we refer to as the “APAC Region”; (ii) Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, which we refer to as the “EMEA Region”; and (iii) the Americas. The Company does not manufacture any of its OEM products and sources substantially all of its OEM products from independent suppliers in China, through Forward China.

Corporate History

Forward Industries was incorporated in 1961 as a manufacturer and distributer of advertising specialty and promotional products. In 1989, we acquired Forward US, a manufacturer of soft-sided carrying cases. The carrying case business became our predominant business, and in September 1997, we sold the assets relating to the production of advertising specialty and promotional products, ceasing to operate in that segment.

In May 2001, we formed Forward Switzerland to facilitate distribution of aftermarket products under our licenses for cell phone cases with a major North American multinational and to further develop our OEM European business presence. After the expiration of the last of these licenses in March 2009, staff at Forward Switzerland was significantly reduced and in recent years has primarily served our OEM customers in Europe.

Products

Diabetic Products

We sell carrying cases for blood glucose diagnostic kits (“Diabetic Products”) directly to OEMs (or their contract manufacturers) of these electronic monitoring kits made for use by diabetics. We typically sell these cases at prices ranging from approximately $0.60 to $7.00 per unit. Unit volumes are sold predominantly at the lower end of this price range. We also sell higher end units ranging from approximately $18.50 to $39.00 per unit, but this represents less than 1% of net revenues. The OEM customer (or its contract manufacturer) packages our carry cases “in box” as a custom accessory for the OEM’s blood glucose testing and monitoring kits, or to a much lesser extent, sells them through their retail distribution channels. These kits typically include a small, electronic blood glucose monitor, testing strips, lancets for drawing a drop of blood and our carrying case, customized with the manufacturer’s logo and designed to fit and secure the glucose monitor, testing strips, and lancets in separate straps, pouches, and holders. As the kits and technology change, our carrying case designs change to accommodate the changes in size, shape and layout of the electronic monitoring device, strips and lancet. For Fiscal 2017, our Diabetic Products customers accounted for approximately 85% of our total net revenues.

Other Products

We also sell carrying and protective solutions to OEMs for a diverse array of other portable electronic and other products (“Other Products”), including sporting and recreational products, bar code scanners, smartphones, GPS and location devices, tablets, and firearms, on a made-to-order basis that are customized to fit the products sold by our OEM customers. Our selling prices for these products also vary across a broad range, depending on the size and nature of the product for which we design and sell the carry solution. For Fiscal 2017, our Other Products accounted for approximately 15% of our total net revenues.

Product Development

In our OEM business, the product life cycle in distributing and selling our technology solutions to our OEM customers is as described below. We typically receive requests to submit product designs in connection with a customer’s introduction and rollout to market of a new product that the customer has determined to accessorize and customize with a carry solution. Our OEM customers furnish the desired functionality, size and other basic specifications for the carrying solutions or other product, including the OEM’s identifying logo imprint on the product. Our design and production resources develop more detailed product specifications and design options for our customer’s evaluation. We then furnish the customer with product samples. Working with our suppliers and the customer, samples are modified and refined. Once approved for commercial introduction and order by our customer, we work with our suppliers to ensure conformity of commercial production to the definitive product samples and specifications. Manufacture and delivery of products in production quantities are coordinated with the customer’s manufacturing and shipment schedules so that our carry solution products are available with the customer’s product (and included “in box”, as the case may be) prior to shipment and sale, or to a lesser extent sold by our customer through its retail distribution channels.

OEM Distribution Hubs

During Fiscal 2017, we had distribution hub arrangements with four OEM customers. Effective May 1, 2017, one of the hub arrangements was changed from consignment to FOB shipping point. Accordingly, as of September 30, 2017, we had distribution hub arrangements with three OEM customers. These arrangements obligate us to supply our products to our customer’s distribution hubs (may be multiple locations) where their products are manufactured, kitted, and/or warehoused pending sale, and where our products are packaged “in box” with the OEM customer’s products or, to a much lesser extent, distributed for retail sale. The product quantities we are required to supply to each distribution hub are based on the OEM customer’s purchase orders and forecasts. We do not recognize revenue for product shipped to a hub until we have been notified by our customer that our product has been withdrawn from the distribution hub. Hub arrangements have had the general effect of extending financing for our customers’ inventory build by extending the time between our placement of orders to our suppliers in order to ship and supply the hubs and the time that we are able to recognize revenue. The corollary effect is an increase in our inventory levels.

Credit Risk

We generally sell our OEM products on payment terms of net thirty (30) days to net one hundred twenty (120) days, which is customary in the industry, and without interest. Historically, we have not had significant credit problems with our customers. Our significant OEM customers are large, multinational companies with good credit histories. None of these customers is or has been in default to us, and payments from all customers are generally received on a timely basis.

When we ship products to our OEM customer’s designated contract manufacturer and invoice such manufacturer (and not the OEM customer), even though our order flows originate with and depend on our relationship with the OEM, our accounts receivable credit risk lies with the contract manufacturer. Our OEM customer does not guarantee the payment obligations of the contract manufacturer to whom the OEM requests us to ship our carrying case products, and such order volumes may be significant from time to time. In most cases, these contract manufacturers are themselves major multinational enterprises with good credit.

Product Supply

Manufacturing

The manufacture of custom carrying cases and other carry and protective solutions generally consists of die cutting fabrics and heat sealing, gluing, sewing, and decorating (affixing logos to) the cut-outs by means of silk screening, hot-stamping, embroidering or embossing. The principal materials used in the manufacture of our products are vinyl, nylon, leather, metal and plastic parts (for clips, buckles, loops, hinges and other hardware), foam padding and cardboard, all of which are obtained according to our specifications from suppliers. We do not believe that any of the component materials or parts used by our suppliers in the manufacture of our products is supply constrained. We believe that there are adequate available alternative sources of supply for all of the materials used by our suppliers to manufacture, package, and ship our products.

Dependence on Sourcing Agent

On September 9, 2015, the Company renewed a Buying Agency and Supply Agreement (the “Supply Agreement”) with Forward Industries Asia-Pacific Corporation, a British Virgin Islands corporation (the “Agent”) on substantially the same terms as its previous buying agency and supply agreement with the Agent, which was due to expire on September 11, 2015. The Supply Agreement provides that the Agent acts as the Company’s exclusive buying agent of carry and protective solutions. The Agent also arranges for sourcing, manufacture and exportation of such products. The Company purchases products at the Agent’s cost and pays a service fee to the Agent. The service fee is calculated at $100,000 monthly plus 4% of “Adjusted Gross Profit”, which is defined as the selling price less the cost from the Agent. The Supply Agreement terminates on March 8, 2019, subject to renewal. Mr. Terence Wise, the Company’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and largest shareholder, is a principal of the Agent. See “Item 1A. – Risk Factors” regarding our dependence on the Agent.

Suppliers

We procure substantially all our supply of carrying solutions products from independent suppliers in China through the Agent. Depending on the product, we may require several different suppliers to furnish component parts or pieces.

We place orders with the Agent at the time we receive firm purchase orders and/or forecasts from our OEM customers for a particular product. Accordingly, we do not have minimum supply requirement agreements with our suppliers to guarantee us supply of finished product, nor have we made purchase commitments to purchase minimum amounts from any of our suppliers. However, from time to time, we may order products from our suppliers in advance of receiving a customer purchase order, or in quantities in excess of those forecasted to us by our customer, for which they are contractually obligated to us, in order to meet our customer’s delivery demands. Beginning September 1, 2013 we began making purchases directly from Forward China. During the years ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, all of our purchases were made directly through Forward China.

Quality Assurance

Forward’s quality assurance manager oversees the process to ensure that our products manufactured by our Chinese suppliers meet our quality assurance standards. He independently verifies and supervises the inspection of products conducted by independent contractors in China that may be affiliated with one or more of our suppliers. In July 2015, Forward China received its ISO 9001:2008 quality certification, which is valid for three years.

Logistics

Once our products are approved for shipment by our quality assurance procedures, our products are typically shipped to our customer’s destination port in the Americas and the EMEA Region on ocean-going container vessels, or by ground transport to our APAC Region customer’s locations in China or Hong Kong. In certain cases, and primarily at our customer’s request, we will expedite the shipment of our products by using air transportation. Most ocean-going shipments bound for the United States are off-loaded at the port of Los Angeles or Seattle, but certain customers arrange for shipments to East Coast ports, such as New York or Boston.

Insurance

We maintain commercial loss and liability, business interruption, and general claims and other insurance customary for our business. We do not maintain credit insurance for our trade accounts receivable.

Competition

The business in which we engage is highly competitive in terms of product pricing, design, delivery terms, and customer service. In the production of our OEM products, we compete with numerous United States and foreign producers and distributors. Some of our competitors are substantially larger than we are and have greater financial and other resources. We believe that we sustain our competitive position through maintenance of an effective product design capability, rapid response time to customer requests for proposals and product shipment, reliable product delivery and product quality, and competitive pricing. We believe that our ability to compete based on product quality assurance considerations is enhanced by Forward China’s local presence, quality control, shipment capabilities and expertise in sourcing.

Employees

As of December 11, 2017, we had 10 full-time employees. We consider our employee relations to be satisfactory. None of our employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

Regulation and Environmental Protection

Our business is subject to various regulations in various jurisdictions, including the United States and member states of the European Community, that restrict the use or importation of products manufactured with compounds deemed to be hazardous. We work with our suppliers to ensure compliance with such regulations. In addition, from time to time one or more customers may require testing of our products to ensure compliance with applicable consumer safety rules and regulations or the customer’s safety or packaging protocols. Because we do not manufacture the products that we sell and distribute, compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations pertaining to the discharge of materials into the environment, or otherwise relating to the protection of the environment, has not had, and is not anticipated to have, any direct material effect upon our capital expenditures, earnings, or competitive position. However, compliance with such laws and regulations on the part of our suppliers may result in increased costs of supply to us, particularly if domestic environmental regulation in China becomes more prevalent.

We have not been engaged in any environmental litigation or incurred any material costs related to compliance with environmental or other regulations. From time to time we incur chemical and/or safety laboratory testing expenses in order to address customer requests regarding our product materials or method of manufacture or regarding their packaging methods and standards.