On the other hand, Dell is not perfect, either. The Dell site had some weaknesses, but it was reasonably easy to use and allowed me to order the desired high-end machine. Three days later I received a confirmation email stating that the machine was expected to ship 6 weeks later. When I called up Dell, I was told that the late delivery was because my requested tape drive was out of stock. Customers need to be told about delays and inventory problems while they are still researching their purchase online and can consider alternative options.
Chances are the tape drive was out of stock at the supplier.
Dell often gets paid for the computer before it is manufactured. They probably pay suppliers after parts are used in a computer that has already been paid for. Many business events are really stimulated by, and dependent on, other events. It means that the end-use demands are the only independent demands in a value system, and all other demands are dependent in quality, quantity and timing on those independent demands. One implication of this idea is that Purchase and Sales Orders for dependent demands are unnecessary baggage.