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We placed our order for tablets for students and faculty upgrades with MPC in mid-July. We ordered E-295Cs for students and the bulk of faculty upgrades and a small number of E-155Cs for faculty upgrades. At the time we placed the order, we were told the 295s would ship in about 10 days and the 155s would ship in about 5 weeks. On August 8th, we were advised that shipment of the 155s would be delayed until mid-September (because of supply problems with batteries and processors) but the 295s should arrive the third week of August. If we were willing to accept a lesser processor and a smaller battery in the 155s, they would be shipped at the same time as the 295’s. Although we could adjust plans to accommodate the arrival of the 295s in late August, we did not believe faculty would be happy with the less-powerful machine. And, we did not believe that faculty would be happy with a ship date in mid/late-September. Accordingly, we canceled the order for the MPC E-155C tablets and placed an order for an equal number of Fujitsu T1010 tablets.
On August 20th, we were advised that production issues at the new MPC assembly plant would also delay shipment of the 295s – moving that ship date to the second or third week of September. Weighing the hassle of a new vendor against the furor of late distribution, we elected to switch vendors. Consequently, we canceled the order for E-295C tablets and ordered an equal number of T1010 tablets with expedited shipping. In essence, 10 days before the beginning of the 2008FA term we canceled our tablet order and submitted our order to a new vendor.
I was thus mistaken when I said Gateway/MPC knew about the order for a year. Still, the company managed to blow a sizable contract with a long-standing client... and several hundred students and some professors are left in the lurch. Ugh.
Cory:
ReplyDeleteMid-July is much different than a year ago. You should've gotten your facts straight before going off the deep end.
This sounds more like a lack of planning on DSU's part rather than a total failure for Gateway. We shouldn't be waiting until the last minute to be ordering computers.
A sign on a professor's door summed it up for me: "A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."
Gateway certainly has it's share of self-inflicted troubles. I could never get a straight answer when my Gateway laptop would be repaired. I called repeatedly. The only answer I could get was: "When the parts come in we will get it repaired and back to you." They had no clue and failed miserable at customer service. I didn't care when I would get the computer back, I just wanted to know a date. The morning of the day my computer arrived by UPS, Gateway customer service said the needed parts for repair we still on back order.
Well there appears to be no end to the depth of Gateway/MPC's inability to satisfy its customers, big or small.
ReplyDeleteDSU was a long-standing customer. Are you seriously going to defend Gateway's inability to fulfill the order in time? Cognoscenti, feel free to fill us all in on standard computer industry practices in inventory and production that might enlighten us as to whether we can really shift the blame to DSU.
I'm not defending Gateway at all...BUT DSU shouldn't be surprised that an order in mid-July is delayed. It's all in the planning. DSU should've been able to order sooner. Waiting until the last minute usually means something will go wrong...Murphy's Law applies always.
ReplyDeleteYet Fujitsu can make the order happen in mid-August. That tells me Fujitsu wants the job and is willing to hustle for it, while Gateway/MPC can take it or leave it.
ReplyDeleteI wonder: can DSU place the order any earlier, given changes in enrollment?
Please note that DSU cannot order until mid July because they don’t have any money until the new fiscal year starts. DSU and other state institutions cannot order until after the new year starts and the money hits the accounts, meaning that it is mid July before they can start ordering things. And then after they order the State of South Dakota has to approve it. Manufacturers don’t want you to order anything from them until you both have the money and the state approval. Ordering after new fiscal year money arrives doesn’t normally affect government agencies too badly, but since schools sometimes need to make large purchases before school starts in August\September (and they don’t have the money to make such large purchases with the previous fiscal year budget {or they are not allowed too}) they can get into a pinch if there is even a tiny delay between when they order in mid July and when the product actually arrives. Gateway was able – once – to provide 900 tablets to DSU on time. Tablets that were ordered mid July and delivered at the end of July. Most manufacturers are able to provide laptops to schools on time all over the US in the fall. Gateway’s inability to provide schools with laptops on time seems to be just another symptom in their long running downfall. (not that they exist as anything more than a label on an Acer or MPC computer anyway, but…)
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