Its gone from zero to two million sales in less than two years. The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that costs just £30.
If you want it to, it can run office programmes like spreadsheets and word processors, but its main aim it to teach kids about computing and programming. Just for fun it plays high-definition video and can access the internet via a suitable connection.
And it is not just interesting from an educational perspective – the supply chain is also turning heads. Perhaps thats not surprising for a product that came out of the University of Cambridges Computer Laboratory.
Jonathan Hardie, global head of manufacturing for Raspberry Pi at Premier Farnell, will be revealing the thinking behind the strategy at the Logistics and Supply Chain Conference which takes place in London in April.
In particular, he will be considering the pros and cons of on-shoring – one of the hot topics in supply chain in recent years.
What are the key benefits to the supply chain of on-shored manufacturing – and do greater visibility and decreased lead times outweigh the disadvantages of increased costs?
Anyone choosing to manufacture in Europe has to deal with skills issues – are European countries able to provide the skilled personnel required to deliver onshore products? And is it worth it does Made in the UK increase the commercial performance of a particular product?
It promises to be a fascinating session. You can find more details of the conference at the web site:
http://www.SupplyChainandLogisticsConference.com
