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Lingnan Lingnan (University) College, Sun Case Write Up Sandra Deng Connie Wang Page PAGE 5 of NUMPAGES 5 Assignment Form Course: Operational Management Instructor: Chen Gang Homework: Case Write Up – HP Printer Name: Sandra Deng 邓玉艳 Connie Wang 王华燕 Student ID No.:Class: 2010PA STUDENT DECLARATION I declare that this assignment is my own work, which all sources of reference are acknowledged in full and it has not been submitted for any other course. Signature:…………………… Date:………… Questions and Answer: 1. In what way is a universal power supply a postponement strategy? HP has two specifications for its printers, 110-volts for North American region and 220-volts for European region. One of the crucial part of the printer is engine. It is built by one of HP’s manufacturing partner in Japan who needs the specification 14 weeks in order prepare for production. However production period only takes four weeks. The dilemma is that should HP were to develop universal power supply, it can have the flexibility of postponing the specification requirement to its partner by 2 months. On the other hand, should the universal power supply strategy is implemented, HP can respond the demand in the individual market by optimizing is inventory and reducing its indirect cost that hits is SGA. With a universal power supply, HP need not make the decision for customization (whether the printer should be made for the North American or European market) when it places an order with its Japanese partner. Instead, it just had to provide an aggregate order (for both markets) and the final product will be generic. The printer is customized only when HP sees a demand for printers of a certain region. Therefore, customization of the product for the local market is pushed back further down the supply chain i.e. postponed. 2. What are the costs and benefits of a universal power supply? Costs: A. Production cost