Case Article: KEY Electronics—Sourcing and Warehouse Analysis
Tim Kraft, Yenho T. Chung, and Feryal Erhun
Department of Management Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, {tkraft@stanford.edu; yhthomas@stanford.edu; ferhun@stanford.edu}
Abstract
KEY Electronics is a consumer electronics retailerthat generated $1.4 billion in total revenue in 2008. KEY has a limited retail presence in Mexico, which it would like to expand from 30 stores in 2009 to 70 by year-end 2012. As part of its growth strategy, KEY must (1) improve its current sourcing of products for Mexico and (2) revamp its existing warehouse operations. The KEY Electronics case introduces students to a practical inventory modeling scenario with real-life data, where solutions are not solely based on minimum cost but also qualitative factors. By emphasizing a holistic modeling approach, the case demonstrates the interdependencies between sourcing decisions and facility requirements. KEY Electronics can be taught as an in-class discussion, a case write-up, or a course project.
Key words
product sourcing; inventory modeling; global operations
History
Received: February 2010; accepted: December 2010.
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Supplementary Material
ited.12.02-ited0065-ProjectCalcs_Key.xls
Teaching Note (visit the Case Teaching Notes and Other Restricted Materials page to download this PDF)
Citation Information
Kraft, T., Y. T. Chung, F. Erhun. 2012. Case Article: KEY electronics—Sourcing and warehouse analysis INFORMS Trans. Ed. 12(2) 89–99. Available online at http://ite.pubs.informs.org/.