Hewlett Packard Essay

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Hewlett-Packard Deskjet Supply Chain Case Study SUMMARY OF CASE This case study specifically looks into the supply of Hewlett Packard’s Deskjet printers to the European market. Production of the Deskjets begins in HP’s Vancouver plant (henceforth, Vancouver), where six different versions (based on different customization requirements in language and power supply requirement) of the DeskJet model are produced. Finished goods are subsequently transported from Vancouver to the European Distribution Centers (DC) via shipment. Traditionally, target inventory levels at the Distribution Centers have been maintained at an amount equal to one-month average sales. However, the increasing difficulties in acquiring accurate forecasts have suggested the need to revise the DC’s inventory model. To resolve the existing inventory and service problem, HP has put together a team to come up with a scientifically based safety stock system that will be responsive to forecast errors and lead times. On top of that, the management wants to assess the value of producing generic products instead, and have the final configurations completed at the DCs before shipment to customers. QUESTION 1 – Our Inventory Model We have assumed that Vancouver does not hold any finished goods inventory and will commence production only in response to an order placed by the DC. As such, lead time for the Europe DC is 6 weeks (1 week for production, 5 weeks in transit). As orders are shipped to the DC by Vancouver weekly, and production is initiated by order placements, we have determined the review period of the Europe DC to be 1 week. It may also be concluded that the nature of the situation at Europe DC follows a fixed-time period model. Thus, exposure period is 7 weeks. Europe DC holds six variants of the printer and the average review period demand of each variant is determined from the

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