In 600–800 words, respond to a series of questions about the past success and current challenges of Dell’s supply chain, and offer your thoughts regarding Dell’s distribution strategy, based on assigned library articles.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
Supply Chain Basic Functions
The functions basic to all supply chains are:
Planning.
Sourcing.
Making.
Delivering.
Fundamental decisions are required from supply chain managers to define strategy in developing a supply chain that will effectively meet these four requirements.
To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.
Why is it important to consider uncertainty when evaluating supply chain design decisions?
What are the major sources of uncertainty that can affect global supply chain decisions?
Consider the financial, logistic, political, natural, cultural, and technological sources of uncertainty.
The following resources are required to complete the assessment.
Gray, M. (2007). Revolving around the customer [supply chains customisation]. Manufacturing, 86(6), 28–31. doi:10.1049/me:20070603.
Kapuscinski, R., Zhang, R. Q., Carbonneau, P., Moore, R., & Reeves, B. (2004). Inventory decisions in Dell’s supply chain. Interfaces, 34(3), 191–205. doi:10.1287/inte.1030.0068.
Blanchard, D. (2012). Dell taps into innovation to reach emerging markets. Industry Week/IW, 261(11), 45.
Dell has been selling computers for over 25 years with its unique, direct build-to-order sales model. After reading the related articles from the Capella library (linked in the Resources under the Required Resources heading), answer the following questions:
Why has Dell’s direct supply chain been so successful?
Describe the main supply chain challenges that Dell is now facing and provide your recommendations for solving them.
Was Dell’s decision to sell its products via retail outlets a viable solution? Do you agree with this distribution strategy? Why or why not?
Your assessment should be written in a Microsoft Word document 600–800 words in length. All written assessments should follow APA rules for attributing sources.
