Case HP Deskjet Printer Supply Chain

In 1994, Dell made the bold decision to remove their products from retail stores and focused on direct to customer sales. In 1996 Dell began selling through their website which is to this day their most successful sales channel. By eliminating their retail store presence Dell was able to reduce costs on multiple fronts, reduce inventory, and maximize profits. Dell created an order system which allowed customers to specify and select options, components and features they wanted on their Dell device. Dell 's just in time inventory system lowered inventory holdings to just 3 days from 9 days and storage costs were thus minimized significantly. In 1995, Dell entered the Chinese market where a population of 1.3 billion was a great opportunity to create a significant market presence; IBM, Compaq, and Hewlett-Packard had all penetrated the Chinese market prior to this date and had opened offices in China during the early 1990’s. It wasn’t long before Dell proved to be worthy competition with not only international companies but also with local companies like Toshiba, Samsung, NEC and Acer. With so

Dell uses a just in time order fulfillment policy and accurate forecasting of sales to minimize inventories. This allowed Dell to hold inventory of finished products far below levels of their competitors (10-20% compared to 50-70% industry level) and furthermore allowed them to quickly implement changes to their product lines as new technologies became available. This quick inventory turnover also allowed Dell to retain more capital. Finally, this policy enabled Dell to respond immediately to technological progress in components and deliver state of the art new finished products (e.g. Pc’s holding the newest Pentium microprocessors) while competitors

The advantages of Dells model are: The internet allows Dell an extensive scope and reach for its products at a relatively low price (Dedrick and Kraemer 2001). Using the internet Dell has been able to automate many of its business functions, such as product configuration, order entry and technical support (Dedrick & Kraemer 2001), therefore the company can achieve higher revenues without customer service costs increasing greatly. Online configuration ensures that the customer gets exactly what they want. Dells build to order strategy means that inventory levels are low, they only hold approximately 4-8 days of stock, therefore inventory costs are low (Breen 2004).

Changing Market Conditions In the early 1990's, while technological innovation continued to drive the company's success, many business units were being forced to compete on other dimensions. In consumer product lines, low prices, broad availability and ease of use had become competitive requirements. Lew Platt, HP's current President and Chief Executive Officer, once acknowledged the importance of improving customer service and responsiveness, We're not doing as good a job in order fulfillment as we need to. In fact, it's where we get our lowest marks from customers. We have to be a lot easier to do business with. Improvement in order fulfillment will strengthen HP's competitiveness, increase customer satisfaction and reduce expenses, so this is an

Hewlett Packard (HP) decided to produce 1.3-inch disk drives to become the market leader in a new market and increase HP’s revenue. Although the market for 1.3-inch disk drives was still unclear and still developing, HP decided to organize a special team to develop this new product. This group was multi-talented, with the best engineers from every department in the company. The group also had many priorities for the company. However, things didn’t develop as the Kittyhawk team expected. They failed to sell the new product to the customer they planned. Even though some new customers were interested in this

Kathryn McNeil’s was recently hired and her undertakings as an IBM product manager were complex and extensive. She dealt with the stream of stock for all IBM PCs across the nation, which arrived at the averaged to $40 million every month. To do this, she spoke with the IBM Corporate Headquarters Team regularly to place requests and ensure that each retail outlet had a six-week supply of PCs available. The procedure included arranging conveyance dates and guaranteeing that conveyed items met client details. When IBM reported another product, McNeil evaluated the plausible effect it would have on current items and decided the amount of the new change that ought to be bought. She additionally gave the Sayer administration staff with every day, week by week, and month to month examinations of the product offerings as reports and spreadsheets. At last, McNeil remained in near contact with the field delegates who sold the PCs at the different Sayer-claimed retail outlets all through the nation. She issued declarations to the field delegates when there was a change or an issue with an item, and her phone was an open line for any illustrative who had a question or consumer loyalty issue that required McNeil 's consideration. Her reports were dependably on time and sensibly elegantly composed, great

Computer technology is constantly advancing over software and hardware that is available at any one given time. These constant changes affect how long computer products can sell for a premium price but also can make it cheaper for those consumers that are not interested in the newest and latest components. Personal computers (PC), also known as desktop computers, are common place in jobs, schools and homes. The demand for personal computers is constant and revolving since components of computers gets better and more powerful with time. The target market then becomes anyone that uses a personal computer for home or work. HP uses the fact that computers are a common item in any office or home to their advantage and offers not only PC’s but other accessories pertaining to computers as well. While HP currently excels at providing a product for a decent price they are missing out on consumers that Equalus will focus

By grafting its system of custom direct sales onto the Internet infrastructure, Dell has transformed these activities, creating an innovative and efficient procurement, production, and distribution network. The innovative advance made by Dell in deploying Internet communication as the foundation of its production network, is a process innovation. Although to some extent, the Internet has enabled Dell to create a new product -- a PC custom-configured through Internet communication -- it is the process of organizing flows of materials and information within its network, from customer order to procurement, production and delivery, by means of Internet communication, that defines the innovation at the Firm. The case supports this notion by stating “While most other PCs were sold preconfigured and pre-assembled in retail stores, Dell offered superior customer choice in system configuration at a deeply discounted price, due to the cost-savings associated with cutting out the retail middleman. Additionally, an important side-benefit of the Internet-based direct sales model was that it generated a wealth of market data the company used to efficiently forecast demand trends and carry out effective segmentation strategies. This data drove the company’s product development efforts and allowed Dell to profit from information on the value drivers in each of its key customer

Apple Inc. is one of the largest technology companies in the world. The company develops consumer electronic gadgets such as smartphones, computers, desktops, laptops, iPods and tablets. The company was formed in 1976 by Steve Jobs with an intention of making computers but later it changed its focus to include the manufacturing of consumer electronics. However, the company was dealt a big blow when its chief executive officer and founder Steve Jobs died. The company will therefore have to search for ways in which it will maintain its market dominance as well as capture new and emerging markets. This research therefore seeks to establish how Apple forecasts demand and manages its inventory (Apple Computer Inc., 2006).

Hewlett-Packard was founded in 1939 by two men, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard who met in the 1930s while studying at Stanford University. Hewlett-Packard is and has always been a highly innovative company that thrives

The PC group within HP PPS has been refocused around customer needs. The PC group changed its product line which had a stronger focus on product design. New business models have been the focus of the print group. Business models such as Ink Advantage, is a program designed to target price-sensitive customers in emerging markets. Ink in the Office is an initiative of the print group that targets business customers. The group has expanded differentiated services and solutions by leveraging HP's portfolio of hardware and software, including combining multifunction printers with Autonomy management solutions to develop cloud-based document management services (HP,

Dell Computer Corporation was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell. From the early 1990s until the mid-2000s, Dell was ranked as a PC market leader relying on their distinctive marketing pattern “Direct Model” which undertook direct communication with customers and provided customized products. Recently, the PC industry is facing inconceivable worldwide competition, and Dell is gradually losing their competitive advantages by using its direct model in critical business segments. The company is facing shrinkage of growth, increasing competition, declining quality of customer service, and limitation of expansion. These issues have an enormous impact on Dell’s position as a technological giant in the PC industry.

While Hurd was considered a decent CEO, a scandal emerged consisting of missing funds and legal issues which ultimately resulted in his resignation. HP brought in Leo Apotheker to replace Hurd as CEO. Unfortunately for the company, Apotheker proved to be an incompetent leader who did not know how to succeed in the market and deal with the press. In August 2011, Apotheker decided to utilize a “surprise press release” to announce that HP was planning to spin off from its PC business. As a result of this unexpected announcement, investor confidence plummeted as did HP’s stock price. After less than a year as CEO, HP’s board of directors fired Apotheker. Meg Whitman, the next CEO who previously ran eBay, unfortunately took control of a company which dropped 50% in corporate value. ("Leo Apotheker Dumped as HP CEO.")

The company I choose to concern myself with in this text is Hewlett Packard - HP. Operating in the Diversified Computer Systems industry, the company concerns itself with the sale of computers, software, and other technologies to customers from all over the world. Some of the company's main competitors in the industry include but they are not limited to Dell and IBM.

Hewlett Packard began in 1939 in Palo Alto, California. The company was founded by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard who were friends at the time and remained that until both of their passing. Hewlett Packard has been a leader in technology that encompasses globally, into space exploration, the entertainment industry, the medical industry, the hospitality industry, and many others. In the early 2000’s, the economic landscape was changing globally and Hewlett Packard was beginning to feel the financial hardships of a very competitive industry. In an effort to remain competitive, Hewlett Packard and Compaq decided upon a merger that did aid in transforming both companies, but only to a degree.