Zero Time Organization

Dell's business strategy combines its direct customer model with a highly efficient manufacturing and supply chain management organization and an emphasis on standards-based technologies. This strategy enables Dell to provide customers with superior value; high-quality, relevant technology; customized systems; superior service and support; and products and services that are easy to buy and use.

Essentially, our goal for this project was to first identify those aspects of the Dell manufacturing process that were not operating properly with regard to efficiency and quality and then develop ways to improve them by decreasing the amounts of

Dell developed its internal business process by creating production cells that start assembly at the point of order. It also established an internal information system to make the details of the products under production electronically available to all parties within the chain. To manage the supply of computer parts, Dell maintained close relationships with their suppliers and logistics providers to make their vendors manage the

The direct supply chain model that Dell has been using for many years to sell customized PC’s to customers via the internet has been very successful. Dell designed and structured the supply chain to provide customized computers in a quick manner and with a reasonable price. Customers can visit the Dell website and configure the PC they desired and see the cost options they selected. Once the order was finalized, Dell would then start the building of that customized computer to meet the customer’s selection and ship the finished product directly from the manufacturing

The Dell Direct Model was ingenious. Michael Dell took a simple concept, selling direct to the consumer (Appendix. 1), and built a business model that, quite simply, outclassed his competitors. By selling to the customer direct, eliminating the traditional dealer channel and using a just-in-time (JIT) production procedure, Dell has created unparalleled efficiencies

The proposal presented herein gives the background information of Dell Computers Corporation highlighting the current operation for the manufacture of computers. The proposal highlights the potential of the company to increase its market share and profitability through change of its culture from order based to inventory base.

Dell uses a push-pull strategy. It produces computers by using components after a customer order. Dell’s model is called a Direct model where suppliers deliver to Dell and Dell is directly in relationship with the customer without distributors and/or retailers. The customer is in the beginning (specific order) and at the end of the process. Suppliers are situated very close to the plant which results in a easy coordination. There are few suppliers and it saves money through shipping directly to customers. Next to specific components, Dell also uses some components through all orders. Each order consists of a motherboard for example.

Dell Computer Corporation was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell. From the early 1990s until the mid-2000s, Dell was ranked as a PC market leader relying on their distinctive marketing pattern “Direct Model” which undertook direct communication with customers and provided customized products. Recently, the PC industry is facing inconceivable worldwide competition, and Dell is gradually losing their competitive advantages by using its direct model in critical business segments. The company is facing shrinkage of growth, increasing competition, declining quality of customer service, and limitation of expansion. These issues have an enormous impact on Dell’s position as a technological giant in the PC industry.

The Dell Computer Corporation was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell, who began the company by refurbishing IBM clones out of his dorm room for extra money. From the beginning and through the 1990’s, the company grew quickly and was very successful. Dell used a cost leadership strategy and focus on creating products that were already in the market place, but changed the timing of production and the method of distribution that was in place with the company’s competitors by assembling computers to order and selling directly to the customers. The company focused on creating value for customers and meeting their needs, but into the

Dell Computer Corp. is aware that in today’s markets, the speed of product introduction can be the key factor between success and failure. It is important to obtainmarket share and create industry leadership, and through Dell’s direct sell model, that is exactly what they did. The company with the first product to the market can usually capture premium segments, build strong name recognition, and control a large market share (www.dell.com). Giving the consumer’s exactly what they wanted reduces the time required for Dell sales executives to build a relationship with their consumers (Frick, 2013). Quick innovation and product introduction also expand a

Third, Dell has a rapid-response system for linking all suppliers, workers, managers, and customers to Dell’s value chain. This interactive real time communication system is employed to order parts, manufacture and outsource computer modules, and coordinate assembly and distribution of products to customers. Managers employ this system for all human resource functions, workers and suppliers for all coordination sequencing and quality control processes,

computer industry, opening the way for the IBM System/360 to become the dominant design for the

Dell has a distinct distribution strategy that disintermediating any middlemen as finished goods are delivered directly from plants to end customers by third-party logistics partners (figure 1)

The Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) industry is often dominated by companies founded by engineering-centric entrepreneurs more accustomed to dealing with technologies than with customers. This transformation from engineering to customer-driven company cultures at Apple, Dell and others is significant from a strategic marketing standpoint. The intent of this analysis is to evaluate the standards for best practice that Dell has developed, as they are more forthcoming with the specifics of these strategies compared to many other ICT firms including Apple, who is more secretive in these areas. Dell takes a very metric-driven approach to defining their customer relationships and how they manage the end-to-end customer experience process (Apple Investor Relations, 2012). Plagued with a very low level of customer satisfaction ratings due to their highly automated approaches to customer service, in 2005 Dell realized they needed to transform their entire organization and make it more customer-centric. In that year, Dell created an eight-member Customer Experience Council that concentrates on transforming the entire culture of the company to being more customer-centric, looking to making each customer experience an exceptional one. The mission of the Council is to have the over 13,000 employees of the company continually thinking of how they can

Compaq and Dell stole IBM’s PC market with the right price and the right message.