Optimal Supplier Selection for University Technology Store Laptops

Group 2-06 University Technology Store Supplier Selection We have learned as a company that the laptop industry is very competitive and has many big players in the industry. Our company has completed extensive research on the industry and the major companies within it. We looked at companies that we believe best fit our needs and the customer’s needs. We also assigned criteria to the companies we looked into that meet our needs and the customer’s as well. As a company we decided to look into four specific companies for laptops such as, Apple, Dell, HP, and Microsoft. When developing our supplier scorecard, we decided to focus on four main categories such as the performance of the laptop, delivery/lead times, communication, and financial viability. The two categories we weighed the most on were financial viability and performance of the laptop. We want to work with a company that has a strong financial base and provides high quality products that our customers will value. Our third highest weighted category was delivery/lead times. Since we are a University store, we need the laptops to arrive in a timely manner for the school year. Our customers will need to have the laptops in time for the start of the school year. We have found that all the companies we looked into scored high on our scorecard. Since these companies all scored well we decided to go with the company that had the highest total score. As a company, we decided to eliminate Apple, Dell and Microsoft as potential suppliers. These companies performed well, but were not as close to our highest contender. With the elimination of those companies, we decided that HP will best fit our needs as a supplier. HP

excelled in our criteria that we were asking for. As you can see in the figure below, HP had the highest overall score and was close to being almost perfect as a supplier for us. Figure A: Supplier Scorecard Results Viewing the scores on the table listed above made the decision to choose HP as our supplier very easy. Looking into the breakdown of their scorecard they scored 30 on performance, 17.5 on delivery/lead times, 13.8 on communication, and 31 on financial viability. These scores ensured us that HP will be a great fit for us as a company. 2

Appendix A Scenario Development Analysis 1 Our company is a University Technology Store. We primarily service students and faculty on campus. We provide technology needs and services such as laptops and accessories, as well as provide service repairs when needed. The University Technology Store is conveniently located on campus, and our mission statement is to provide services and different technologies to students and faculty. By creating relationships with larger suppliers such as HP, Apple, Microsoft, and Dell, we are able to sell laptops to our customers at a good price. Utilizing many suppliers is very ideal, so our company purchases laptops from various high-quality companies such as Apple, Dell, HP, and Microsoft. These laptops provide value to our customers because the university requires laptops for their curriculum. We also sell other accessories, but our success is directly related to how many laptops we sell each semester. This satisfies our customers by fulfilling their laptop requirements for the school. Analysis 2 Since we will be purchasing laptops, we will need to work out a contract with suppliers that includes the cost of transportation. This will depend on the quantity we buy per order. We buy laptops because with many students and faculty, there is a high demand for them on our campus. We will need to purchase 1,000 laptops for the fall semester and 500 laptops for the spring semester. This will cover the needs of the incoming students and faculty for the fall 3

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

semester, and the 500 laptops will also cover the needs of transfer students and new faculty. We will also work with suppliers having replenishment orders to make sure we have enough inventory throughout the semester. With the rapid growth in enrollment at our university, we did not have enough laptops in the last school year to meet customer demand. This caused us to have many missed sales. In the past, we have primarily bought laptops from Apple and Dell, but now we are looking at working with other suppliers such as HP and Microsoft. In the contract with these suppliers, we agreed to cover transportation costs by purchasing set quantities. We will have these orders submitted months in advance to ensure that these arrive in a timely fashion for the school year. Analysis 3 The suppliers we will be primarily working with are Apple, Dell, HP, Microsoft, Lenovo, and Acer. These are well-known companies that provide laptops that will meet our customers' needs. They provide high-end quality products that will provide value to our students and faculty. These suppliers are also willing to work with us to fulfill our needs with on-time delivery and inventory requirements. 4

Appendix B Category Analysis Scenario Overview As a University Technology Store, we primarily seek to source laptops. The laptops will be sold to students and faculty on campus. The University made laptops required for the curriculum. We will seek to work with suppliers offering high-quality products to meet our customers' needs. Since we will be purchasing large quantities of laptops, we will need to work in contract with suppliers to find areas where we can cut costs through transportation or rebates. This will allow us to compete with other companies by guaranteeing the lowest price. Nature of Item Laptops contain materials such as copper, gold, aluminum, zinc, iron, and nickel. These commodities are relatively widely available; however, if the price of these materials increases, that could increase the price of laptops. This would be something that we will need to consider when sourcing for laptops. The primary use of laptops will be meant for school or work use. We expect students to use laptops for more than just school but also for gaming, streaming services, and other hobbies. Students could also intend to use laptops for internships. We are now seeing students use tablets 5

as a substitute for laptops. Tablets are cheaper than laptops but lack software to run required programs for classes. Nature of Production Process Laptops are assembled in factories in factories primarily in mainland China. Laptops are assembled in factories where people or machinery assemble laptop components such as display screens, keyboards, motherboards, covers, fans, hard drives, batteries, and graphics cards. The cost to manufacture a laptop includes $100 to $500 for components, research and development ranges from $50 to $100, manufacturing labor $50 to $100, assembly and testing $50 to $100, and shipping and logistics from $50 to $100. Depending on the current geopolitical status of a country, that could impact when we get the laptops or cause an increase in the cost of the laptops. The Market/Demand The global laptop market size was valued at $194.25 billion in 2022. It is expected to grow at an annual rate of 6.9% from 2023 to 2030 (Grand View Research). The technology performance of laptops is increasing every year, which causes the consumer to have a higher demand for the product. Some key players in the laptop market are Acer, HP, Apple, Lenovo, and Dell. These companies compete with each other by offering original designs and software. With new technology appearing on the market every year, you will expect to see an increase in demand for these products. Supply 6

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

The total aggregate supply of laptops produced in 2023 is projected to be around 68 million. This is down from 76 million units produced in 2022. In 2027 the forecasted amount to be produced is 69 million (Statista). Some external factors that affect laptops are import restrictions; for example, India put an import restriction on laptops to increase domestic manufacturing. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) regulates the laptop industry. Laptops are difficult to predict how the technology will change, but the industry is projected to rise between 2024 and 2027. Laptops have a carbon footprint of 422.5 kgs of CO2e annually (LinkedIn). Laptops are generally considered sustainable and sometimes use recycled parts in older laptops. Suppliers we are considering in the selection process are Apple, Dell, HP, Microsoft, Lenovo, and Acer. Price The economic structure of producing laptops is very in-depth. Many parts go into creating a laptop, and several are very costly. Over the past years, the demand for traditional laptops has been rather steady, but as technology advances, the need for 2-in-1 laptops has increased heavily. As the demand goes up, so will the price, and laptops have risen at a price rate of about 1.4% per month and are expected to continue to grow at this rate. Part of this is because the price of manufacturing semiconductors is rising, and these are chips that go into all laptops. As for suppliers, we are looking to buy in bulk to meet the needs of students on campus. Through the guarantee of selling lots of laptops, the profit margins for suppliers will be weighed out by the fact that we are buying lots of laptops. We like to work with our suppliers to attain the best price and then reflect that price onto the students who need laptops for their classes. Offering laptops 7

at a lower price makes us a more appealing option for students who may be short on money. https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/laptop-market Risk Mitigation To ensure a reliable supply of high-quality laptops for our University Technology Store while simultaneously reducing costs, we will implement a multifaceted risk mitigation system. 8

Starting, we will establish long-term contracts with reputable laptop suppliers. This will reduce the risk of supply disruptions and minimize the risk of price volatility. To reduce reliance and diversify our sources, we will work with many suppliers for key components and strategize accordingly when deciding who to partner with. In case of shortages or price spikes, we will offer in-house production options for certain items, which will help us gain more control over quality and supply. A continuous market analysis will help us stay ahead of technology trends and adapt our procurement strategy as needed. Implementing an efficient inventory management system will help balance the supply and demand and help with over or understocking. Ultimately, this comprehensive risk mitigation plan will guarantee a steady supply of laptops and allow us to compete effectively by offering our students and faculty the lowest prices, ensuring their academic needs are met. 9

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Appendix C Scorecard Development Performance Criteria Reason for Choosing Criteria Defense for Weighting Processor Speed We want to offer the best performing laptops for our students and faculty. Many students will primarily be using the laptops for school and work so a high processing speed won't be necessary. RAM Capacity We want to offer the best performing laptops for our students and faculty. Students and faculty will need to be able to run certain programs so RAM over 16GB will be needed. Storage Type and Capacity We want to offer the best performing laptops for our students and faculty. Students will need to save work from classes so they will need enough storage to keep their work. Communication 10

Criteria Reason for Choosing Criteria Defense for Weighting Easiness of Communication We want to ensure that it is easy for our suppliers to communicate clearly and effectively This category is not nearly as important as others as we would be willing to communicate in other ways, and also because most companies use email to communicate. Communication Wait Time We want to make sure that our suppliers do not take too much time respond so that we can focus our time elsewhere this is important as we need to operate efficiently in the workplace and cannot have suppliers waiting several days to respond Service Quality the last thing that we would want to have would be a supplier making one of our agents feel pressured, feel uncomfortable, or feel threatened when dealing with a supplier This category is important in the sense that we don't want our employees to feel uncomfortable when working with suppliers. Delivery/Timing Criteria Reason for Choosing Criteria Defense for Weighting On-Time Delivery (OTD) We want to ensure our products are always delivered on time whenever we need it. This category is especially important because we need our products to be delivered to our customers as quickly as possible. This is weighted towards the higher end. Lead Time Adherence We want to ensure that our customer receive products when they expect them which helps us risk of backorders and keep happy customers This category is important because we need to have our products stored when we ask for them. Fill Rate We want to know the exact percentage of how many of This category is important because we need to be able to 11

our customer orders are being successfully fulfilled with all the requested items measure how many orders are not being successfully fulfilled Order Accuracy This will help us evaluate our supplier and determine where something may be going wrong or where something could be improved This category is important because we need to be able to determine the problem of why a fulfillment isn't being successful. Financial Viability Criteria Reason for Choosing Criteria Defense for Weighting Liquidity Measures We want to make sure the company keeps its operations up and running. This category is important for day to day operations. Funds Management Ratio We want to make sure the company is managing its inventory correctly. This category is important for day to day operations. Profitability Measures We want to make sure the company can make a profit. This category is important because your supplier needs to be able to make money to stay in business. Long Term-Financial Strength We want to make sure the company will be able to operate for a while. This Category is important because you want your supplier to be reliable. 12

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Appendix D Supplier Analysis HP Abstract Being in our position as a company that sells laptops to students on campus, choosing a proper supplier is critical in our buying process. This report is an in-depth analysis of the potential supplier, HP. HP is a very well-known computer manufacturer, and we are looking to work closely with them in order to achieve the best possible relationship so that both of our companies can benefit from our business. By the end of reading this report, our company will have a better understanding of the reasoning that HP is an attractive supplier for our company. Supplier Description HP is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP is responsible for creating personal computers, printers, as well as 3D printing solutions. HP is the second largest personal computer vendor behind Lenovo in units of sale. In 2022, HP had a net income of 3.2 billion dollars and 13

has 36.63 billion dollars in total assets. In 2022, HP had 58,000 employees worldwide. Some of HP’s most known products are the Chromebook, ProBook, and HP budget laptops for family use. We are considering HP as a possible supplier due to the quality of laptops and laptop reliability. We would like to work with HP because we feel that they would be interested in serving students and possibly giving our store a discount as we will be buying in bulk. If we were to buy from a smaller company, they would not be able to sacrifice the profit loss of us buying in bulk and their laptops will be less known and more questionable in the quality and reliability departments. Supplier Scorecard Results The supplier scorecard results for HP are very telling. They scored very well across the board and proved to show prowess in categories that we value very highly. For example, in the first category of performance of laptops, they get a perfect score has HP laptops are very reliable and high in quality. Numbers for this category were taken from HP’s website and then compared to average specs in laptops. All of HP’s numbers exceeded standards so they were given full points. In the second category, delivery/lead times, they score relatively high, especially in the on-time deliveries criteria. This data was taken by assessing HP’s deliveries for 2 months and ensuring that they were delivered on time. throughout the entire two months, if they have 2 or more shipments be late, we dock .1 off the of the total score. In the third category of communication, they score highly in all categories, which is essential for our business to succeed. This data was taken by monitoring HP service representatives to see how quickly they respond to client emails and how friendly they seem in the emails so that we can make sure that employees from our company will be able to communicate quickly and efficiently with HP. Responses within 1 hour of initial sending will be given full points, for every hour after, .1 points will be taken off full 14

score. Finally, the fourth category, Financial Viability. HP scored very highly throughout all criteria. The most important being profitability measures. This is important because we need to know if they are going to be able to stay afloat with them as our primary supplier. The equation for this would be gross profit / sales. Any supplier with a 20% profit margin would be given full points and HP is very close to 20%. Financial Analysis and Evaluation In terms of financial health, HP looks very prosperous and appears not to be leaving the market anytime soon. HP had a boom during the 2020 pandemic and is slowly coming down off of that boom. The numbers behind this can be seen in the financial analysis. All of the numbers taken in the calculations were taken directly from HP’s website. One of the ratios that we see as very important in this business is the profit margin. The reasoning for this is because computers are not something easy to manufacture and they are also very expensive to manufacture. So, in order to cover the costs of these difficulties, having a high profit margin is expected and can be seen in the analysis. Another important ratio that we look at in this analysis is cash to cash cycle. The reasoning for this is because, being a computer company, it is very hard to have cash lying around. Having your money tied up in important assets that are vital to the company is very important in this business. With HP having a cash-to-cash ratio of 27.26 days last year, they are looking very profitable. A good number of days for a cash cycle to be in is roughly 30-45 days. With HP being at 27.26, they are well above the “good” area for this ratio. With these ratios looking good and the rest of the financial analysis looking promising as well. HP looks like a supplier that would be able to assist us with our company’s needs. 15

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Recommendation After giving an in-depth look at the inner workings of HP as well as a proper financial analysis, I feel confidently that HP would be a good supplier for our company. I would argue with my group that HP is a very strong contender for our final supplier. After looking at both the scorecard and the financial analysis, HP excels in almost every category and would be able to offer students the kind of high-quality laptops that they are looking for. I would be ecstatic if another member of the group analyzed a supplier and found them to be a better fit than HP. I am excited to see the findings of my fellow group members, and to show the capabilities of HP as a supplier. Works Cited Financial summary. HP. (n.d.). https://investor.hp.com/financials/financial-summary/default.aspx HP Gross Profit 2010-2023: HPQ. Macrotrends. (n.d.). https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/HPQ/hp/gross-profit#:~:text=HP%20gross %20profit%20for%20the%20twelve%20months%20ending%20July%2031,a %2028.65%25%20increase%20from%202020. 16

Microsoft In this analysis, I am going to be evaluating Microsoft and explaining how and why they were chosen as one of only four suppliers for my University Technology Store that is in need of a variety of laptops. I will be considering many different factors such as demographic information, scorecard analysis, and financial health. The conclusion suggests that Microsoft may just be a great and viable option as one of our few significantly important laptop suppliers. Microsoft Corporation is a multinational technology company that is a leader in the software and hardware industry. Founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975, Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, U.S. The company is best known 17

for developing, licensing, and selling a wide range of products and services related to computing. Microsoft has had a significant impact on the technology industry, playing a vital role in the development and popularization of personal computing. Microsoft is ranked #13 for Fortune 500 companies and generated an absurd 198.2 billion dollars in just their last 12 months span that ended in June. The company is also home to a staggering 238,000 employees. Some of these statistics and facts alone obviously explain some of the reasoning behind why Microsoft is such an excellent supplier choice for our company. The scorecard for Microsoft was developed through research based on many different factors that Microsoft both excels, and does not excel at. Overall, Microsoft received a very high score of 90.4 which would rank 2nd amongst our four suppliers that we have chosen for our university Technology Store. The criteria used to find this score included categories such as performance of the laptop, delivery and lead times, communication, and financial availability. These categories were given a score based on how important we as a group felt each classification truly was to our company. There were many different key things that stood out within the supplier scorecard. For starters, the performance of the laptop is very good and was given a score of 29.2 out of 30. The categories of storage type and storage capacity each received a maxim score while the category or processor speed received a 9 out of 10. The processor speed is said to be fast and above average, however there are a few companies that have been listed to have faster processor speed on average than Microsoft, hence why it didn’t receive a maximum score. The delivery and lead times were high but did not stand out compared to our other supplier candidates such as Dell, HP, and Apple. For the most part, 18

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

deliveries are made on time and tracking your deliveries has become a lot easier as of late within Microsoft. Most packages arrive undamaged, however in the few cases where there is damage, Microsoft will accept your defective item back and replace it with a brand new one in the fastest time they possibly can. They do well at this, however there have been reports of customer feedback complaints saying that it is not always easy to get ahold of someone within Microsofts’ customer support team. Microsoft utilizes things like real person customer service, as well as a feature where you can text with a chat that isn’t real that tries to help you with whatever problem you may have. This is why communication and service quality did not receive a perfect score on my supplier scorecard. In my groups’ eyes, one of the more important categories in the scorecard is financial viability. This is a good thing for Microsoft because they are in the top 0.01% of generated money by a single company. Microsoft has a working capital of 82.2 billion dollars, an inventory turnover rate of 18.36, a gross profit margin of 71.16%, and a debt to equity of 0.324. Microsoft also has a ratio of 1.66 for the year 2023, which generally indicates a good short-term financial strength according to an article from GuruFocus. Though this number has slightly decreased over the past 3 years as the ratio for 2022 was 1.78, 2021 was 2.08, and 2020 was 2.51, the number is still strong enough to be considered reasonably high. Some may argue that being that the ratio is decreasing every year that Microsoft isn’t a viable option. However, due to the extremely high amount of revenue generated each year by Microsoft it is hard to judge the slightly lesser ratio in 2023 and it shouldn’t really be considered a major deal as to why you would not want Microsoft as a supplier. 19

Ultimately, these great numbers and statistics are good indicators as to why Microsoft scored very highly in the category of financial viability. Listed below is a graph of Microsoft’s percentage of growth and year over year growth to give some further depth as to where Microsofts’ money is coming and going from. Microsofts’ % of Revenue/YoY Growth https://www.mekkographics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Cascade-Microsoft-Earnings- chart.png Overall, Microsoft is an excellent company that has proven for years now that they belong in the conversation of one of the best if not the best laptop suppliers in the entire world. The number of satisfied customers combined with the number of revenue generated each year by this company is at an elite level, therefore it is clear that Microsoft would be an outstanding supplier to a company like ours. Ultimately, Microsoft could and should be considered a strong viable option for our company and my group will heavily consider them as the best supplier option we have for our University Technology Store. 20

Sources https://www.microsoft.com/en-ng https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/definition/Microsoft https://www.gurufocus.com/term/current_ratio/MSFT/Current-Ratio/ MSFT#:~:text=Microsoft%20has%20a%20current%20ratio,good%20short%2Dterm %20financial%20strength . https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MSFT/microsoft/financial-ratios Dell Dell is headquartered in Round Rock, Texas, and has around 133,000 employees. Dell’s revenue is 102.3 Billion dollars, up 1.1% from last year. Dell is a large company currently ranked 31st on the Fortune 500 list. We are considering this company because they have a good reputation and can provide the number of laptops we need for our store. This would help fit the strategic needs of our store because it would provide options for students as to which laptop they want to buy so they can pick the one that is best for them. They are also a big company, so 21

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

it would be easier to set up transportation agreements, and they are already well established. The biggest thing with Dell is they have a really good business in terms of organization and structure, but their financial numbers may not support that. However, I think they are financially okay with them being on the fortune 500 list and with them being around for a long time. I am not worried about their financial viability. The biggest thing is the performance of their laptops, and they got really good scores for that. How I determined that was by looking up all of those criteria on web articles, and if it was up to par or got good reviews, I gave them a good score. They scored well in Delivery and lead times as well, based on articles I found that described their communication process and highlighted their delivery method. I used those articles in the reference part of this report to get an idea of where they are, and then I judged how I thought they were doing. I looked all of Dell’s financial numbers up and compared them to some of the other suppliers we were considering. They did not have as good of numbers as the other suppliers, so I ranked them lower because of that. This was the lowest ranking for Dell regarding the scorecard analysis. Regarding the financial health of the supplier, I have mixed thoughts on it. On one hand, overall, it is great, and them being a company for as long as they have been, they have proven they are a financially viable company. However, their numbers could be better when you compare it to our other supplier so they are not as financially strong as the other options. Overall the company is in a healthy spot when it comes to financials. The biggest things that stood out to me were the debt-to-equity ratio and the gross profit margin. Dell was about twenty percentage points lower than competitors for gross profit 22

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

margin, and their debt-to-equity ratio was negative. These two factors were the biggest contributors to their ranking. This supplier is a viable option and would be a good one to work with. However, I would try to see if some of the other options work before going with Dell. References “2 Key Take-Aways from Dell’s ‘Perfect Order’ Journey: Waypoint Group.” Waypoint Group | Customer Success Is a Journey. Increased Revenue Is the Destination. , 7 May 2018, waypointgroup.org/2-take-aways-from-dells-perfect-order-journey/. “Dell (Dell Technologies) Inventory Turnover.” DELL (Dell Technologies) Inventory Turnover , www.gurufocus.com/term/InventoryTurnover/DELL/Inventory%20Turnover/ Dell%20Technologies%20Inc#:~:text=Dell%20Technologies%27s%20Inventory %20Turnover%20for,company%20has%20in%20the%20inventory. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023. Johnson, Ellen. “What Is Dell Working Capital? (NYSE:Dell).” Macroaxis , Macroaxis LLC, 17 Nov. 2023, www.macroaxis.com/invest/ratio/DELL/Working- Capital#google_vignette. Plc, GlobalData. “Dell Technologies Inc Company Profile - Dell Technologies Inc Overview.” GlobalData , www.globaldata.com/company-profile/dell-technologies-inc/#:~:text=The%20company 23

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

%20has%20business%20presence,Rock%2C%20Texas%2C%20the%20US. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023. Apple Summary Paragraph Apple is a major player in the laptop industry. They are well known for their sleek design laptops that have high performance. As a company we would be making a mistake overlooking Apple as a supplier. As a company we need to evaluate Apple to be sure we can use them as a supplier. Supplier Description Apple’s headquarters is located in Cupertino, California. Apple is estimated to have over 12,000 employees working in this 175 acre campus (Apple). Apple’s headquarters features research and development facilities, a plethora of office spaces and a visitor center. Apple’s headquarters is also known as “Apple Park.” They officially opened it in 2017 which cost the company $5 Billion to build (Apple). In the year 2022, Apple made $394.328 Billion. This company had high performance last year. Further into this analysis we will look at the companies reports from the past three years. Apple has been a high performing company in this particular industry. Every year they come out with new innovative products. Most of our customers will be looking at this company before they look at any of our other products. Apple works with many universities from across the world already. As a university store, they will fit our needs by helping provide our customers with innovative and high performance products. Supplier Scorecard Results 24

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

(Figure A): Apple Supplier Scorecard Referencing Figure A, this is the supplier scorecard for Apple. The company excels in their performance of their laptops. The new MacBook Pros have a high performing laptop with a processor speed of 4.05 GHz, RAM capacity of 36GB, and a storage capacity of 1TB. Since the laptop specifications were higher than what we were looking for they received a score of one per criteria. This fulfills all our requirements for performance of the laptop. All this information can be found on the main Apple website. Delivery and lead times are an important factor for our company. We need to be able to get these laptops in a timely manner for each school year. Apple has had a good history of delivering products on time with no damage. The only reason why they are not receiving perfect scores of one is because of some instances of boxes being slightly damaged. But overall, the company does very well with delivery. Communication is a key factor in having success with a supplier. Apple does a solid job communicating in a timely manner. Apple’s response time is always within the hour. This is crucial for our company. And finally financial viability, overall Apple has done a solid job in this category. In just the year 2022, Apple had a working capital of $50.672 billion. This is crucial for making sure this 25

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

company can effectively operate itself. Looking at the number, you can see that Apple is fully capable of that. Financial Analysis and Evaluation (Figure B): Financial Analysis over the past three years. Referencing Figure B, Apple is a financially healthy company. Looking at their profit margin over the last three years you can see it is always increasing. The profit is close to over $300 billion over the past three years. Apple is a very profitable company. The return on equity has been quite impressive. The owners and investors have been profitable over the years. Owners and investors are making good returns on their money. Examining the debt to equity ratio shows us Apple does not have a hard time covering its liabilities since it is a relatively small number. Recommendation Apple would be a viable supplier for our company. Apple provides high quality products with exceptional service to its customers. Apple is also a well off financially healthy company. This will allow us to do more business with them for the years to come. I would put Apple at the top for potential suppliers. 26

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Sources Apple 2020 Financial Statements. (n.d.-a). https://s2.q4cdn.com/470004039/files/doc_financials/2020/q4/FY20_Q4_Consolidated_F inancial_Statements.pdf Apple Inc.. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (unaudited). (n.d.-b). https://www.apple.com/newsroom/pdfs/FY21_Q3_Consolidated_Financial_Statements.p df Apple Inc.. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (unaudited). (n.d.-c). https://www.apple.com/newsroom/pdfs/FY22_Q4_Consolidated_Financial_Statements.p df Higher education - institutions . Apple. (n.d.-a). https://www.apple.com/education/higher- education/ iFuture. (2023, January 24). “Apple Park” design, History & Facts : $5 billion Apple’s Cupertino HQ . https://apple-store.ifuture.co.in/blog/apple-headquarters-apple-park/ #:~:text=Facts%20%26%20Figures%20about%20Apple%20Park%20Building&text=The %20headquarters%2C%20located%20in%20Cupertino,home%20to%20over %2012%2C000%20employees.&text=The%20headquarters%20can%20accommodate %20over%2012%2C000%20employees.&text=The%20building%20is%202.8%20million %20square%20feet. MacBook Pro . Apple. (n.d.-b). https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/ 27

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Supplier Selection

Related Documents