The document discusses the benefits of different IT architectures and models. The G-2 architecture allows companies to use best-of-breed applications rather than a single system. RFID has reduced production stops and labor needs while minimizing returns from incorrect shipping. The scalable model shifts from proprietary to in-house Dell technologies and uses a pay-as-you-go approach, offering benefits like incremental scaling, minimized overhead, improved utilization rates, preserved capital, and reduced total cost of ownership.
Dell Direct Model & Virtual Integration
The Dell Direct Model
Dell's award-winning customer service, industry-leading growth and financial performance continue to differentiate the company from competitors. At the heart of that performance is Dell's unique direct-to-customer business model.
"Direct" refers to the company's relationships with its customers, from home-PC users to the world's largest corporations. There are no retailers or other resellers adding unnecessary time and cost, or diminishing Dell's understanding of customer expectations. Why are computer-systems customers and investors increasingly turning to Dell and its unique direct model?
Dell taking maximum benefits from various competitive strategies to counter act the competitive forces prevalent in the PC market.
• Price for Performance. By eliminating resellers, retailers and other costly intermediary steps together with the industry's most efficient procurement, manufacturing and distribution process Dell offers its customers more powerful, more richly configured systems for the money than competitors.
• Customization. Every Dell system is built to order. Customers get exactly, and only, what they want.
• Service and Support. Dell uses knowledge gained from direct contact before and after the sale to provide award-winning, tailored customer service.
• Latest Technology. Dell's efficient model means the latest relevant technology is introduced in its product lines much more quickly than through slow-moving indirect distribution channels. Inventory is turned over every 10 or fewer days, on average, keeping related costs low.
• Superior Shareholder Value. During the last fiscal year, the value of Dell common stocks more than doubled. In 1996 and 1997, Dell was the top-performing stock among the Standard & Poor's 500 and NASDAQ 100, and represented the top-performing U.S. stock on the Dow Jones World Stock Index.
Dell PC & Laptop's Supply Chain ManagementFPT Univesity
Phân tích, đánh giá chuỗi cung ứng PC và Laptop của Dell , phiên bản power point
Xem thêm silde ở đây: http://www.slideshare.net/Yesim_possible/dell-supply-chain-group
Nhóm thực hiện: Đăng Chí - Sơn Lâm - Ngọc Châu - Đức Huy
Đại Học FPT - Cơ sở Hồ Chí Minh
Supply Chain of Dell Inc.
Covering the foll. topics:
- Overview
-Value Chain
-Pull/Pull view
-Responsiveness v/s efficiency
-strategic fit
-Drivers of supply chain
-Distribution
Dell Direct Model & Virtual Integration
The Dell Direct Model
Dell's award-winning customer service, industry-leading growth and financial performance continue to differentiate the company from competitors. At the heart of that performance is Dell's unique direct-to-customer business model.
"Direct" refers to the company's relationships with its customers, from home-PC users to the world's largest corporations. There are no retailers or other resellers adding unnecessary time and cost, or diminishing Dell's understanding of customer expectations. Why are computer-systems customers and investors increasingly turning to Dell and its unique direct model?
Dell taking maximum benefits from various competitive strategies to counter act the competitive forces prevalent in the PC market.
• Price for Performance. By eliminating resellers, retailers and other costly intermediary steps together with the industry's most efficient procurement, manufacturing and distribution process Dell offers its customers more powerful, more richly configured systems for the money than competitors.
• Customization. Every Dell system is built to order. Customers get exactly, and only, what they want.
• Service and Support. Dell uses knowledge gained from direct contact before and after the sale to provide award-winning, tailored customer service.
• Latest Technology. Dell's efficient model means the latest relevant technology is introduced in its product lines much more quickly than through slow-moving indirect distribution channels. Inventory is turned over every 10 or fewer days, on average, keeping related costs low.
• Superior Shareholder Value. During the last fiscal year, the value of Dell common stocks more than doubled. In 1996 and 1997, Dell was the top-performing stock among the Standard & Poor's 500 and NASDAQ 100, and represented the top-performing U.S. stock on the Dow Jones World Stock Index.
Dell PC & Laptop's Supply Chain ManagementFPT Univesity
Phân tích, đánh giá chuỗi cung ứng PC và Laptop của Dell , phiên bản power point
Xem thêm silde ở đây: http://www.slideshare.net/Yesim_possible/dell-supply-chain-group
Nhóm thực hiện: Đăng Chí - Sơn Lâm - Ngọc Châu - Đức Huy
Đại Học FPT - Cơ sở Hồ Chí Minh
Supply Chain of Dell Inc.
Covering the foll. topics:
- Overview
-Value Chain
-Pull/Pull view
-Responsiveness v/s efficiency
-strategic fit
-Drivers of supply chain
-Distribution
Dell has built their business:
- Build-to-order manufacturing
- Mass customization
- Partnerships with suppliers
- Just-in-time components inventories
- Direct sales
- Market segmentation
- Customer service
- Extensive data and information sharing with both supply partners and customers.
Based on:
The McGraw-Hill Companies. (1997). Dell Computer Corporation Online Case. Retrieved 3 6, 2011, from McGraw Hill Higher Education: http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/thompson/11e/case/dell5.html
This is prepared simply for practicing presentation-skills and understanding “slideshare”’s online platform. All content is simply for the learning purpose. We don’t claim accuracy or complete information. All information is presented just for overview. Any inadvertent use of company name, images are unintentional. & if brought to notice, we will remove them.
The Design Management elective was one of the highlights of my MBA experience here at Imperial.
Good design = good business. And just like any other business discipline, good design management stems from a systematic, thoughtful and informed approach to design.
For this individual assignment, I chose Dell and I took the role of a design management consultant. I then crafted a strategic plan on how Dell could make a better and more efficient use of design and designers.
Once I identified the Design Management that Dell currently adopts, the strategic plan addressed:
i) how this company can make a (better) strategic use of design, broadly understood in terms of processes, practices, collaborations with design consulting companies etc.;
ii) how design can fit within the company’s existing business model and activities or how the business model needs to be changed accordingly;
iii) how Dell could concretely implement these changes towards a more effective use of design;
iv) how the implementation of the previous changes will help repositioning the company on the market, and what benefits are expected (e.g. in terms of profits, image, reputation, market share, etc.).
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Imperial MBA degree and the Diploma of Imperial College London. I was awarded a Distinction for this Design Management elective.
Here in this study, the supply chain processes that are utilized by DELL will be taken into consideration which is known to be one of the best in the world. DELL s supply chain will be heavily analyzed in the areas of supply chain integration strategies and demand management aspects
Dell has built their business:
- Build-to-order manufacturing
- Mass customization
- Partnerships with suppliers
- Just-in-time components inventories
- Direct sales
- Market segmentation
- Customer service
- Extensive data and information sharing with both supply partners and customers.
Based on:
The McGraw-Hill Companies. (1997). Dell Computer Corporation Online Case. Retrieved 3 6, 2011, from McGraw Hill Higher Education: http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/thompson/11e/case/dell5.html
This is prepared simply for practicing presentation-skills and understanding “slideshare”’s online platform. All content is simply for the learning purpose. We don’t claim accuracy or complete information. All information is presented just for overview. Any inadvertent use of company name, images are unintentional. & if brought to notice, we will remove them.
The Design Management elective was one of the highlights of my MBA experience here at Imperial.
Good design = good business. And just like any other business discipline, good design management stems from a systematic, thoughtful and informed approach to design.
For this individual assignment, I chose Dell and I took the role of a design management consultant. I then crafted a strategic plan on how Dell could make a better and more efficient use of design and designers.
Once I identified the Design Management that Dell currently adopts, the strategic plan addressed:
i) how this company can make a (better) strategic use of design, broadly understood in terms of processes, practices, collaborations with design consulting companies etc.;
ii) how design can fit within the company’s existing business model and activities or how the business model needs to be changed accordingly;
iii) how Dell could concretely implement these changes towards a more effective use of design;
iv) how the implementation of the previous changes will help repositioning the company on the market, and what benefits are expected (e.g. in terms of profits, image, reputation, market share, etc.).
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Imperial MBA degree and the Diploma of Imperial College London. I was awarded a Distinction for this Design Management elective.
Here in this study, the supply chain processes that are utilized by DELL will be taken into consideration which is known to be one of the best in the world. DELL s supply chain will be heavily analyzed in the areas of supply chain integration strategies and demand management aspects
How to Become a Thought Leader in Your NicheLeslie Samuel
Are bloggers thought leaders? Here are some tips on how you can become one. Provide great value, put awesome content out there on a regular basis, and help others.
IBM Smarter Buildings: Detailed Overview Steve Cole
IBM celebrated its Centennial in 2011. It gave us the opportunity to reflect on what it takes to be a great company and a great brand. To do that, we remain committed to being a leader in the markets we serve….. and a company that operates on a higher standard than just what is required by law or regulation… A company that continuously reinvents itself and creates offerings that have a positive impact on our planet. And nowhere is this more important than innovations that deal energy efficiency in buildings.
This Smarter Buildings presentation illustrates the real business value of doing more with less ways that benefits the economic, operational and environmental strategies of your organization. This represents IBM’s perspective on smarter buildings, one that will introduce you to 5 key project areas you may not have thought of when you think of a "smarter building".
Our Smarter Buildings discussion presentation will illustrate the real business value of doing more with less in a way that benefits the economic, operational and environmental strategies of your organization.
Transforming Your Business Through Cloud ComputingAMD
AMD Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Mike Wolfe, for offers insight into how AMD is using leading virtualization and cloud computing technologies to transform its business - reducing costs, increasing efficiency and bolstering productivity.
MT01 The business imperatives driving cloud adoptionDell EMC World
Cloud adoption has reached an inflection point, pushing organizations into an "adapt or die" state, forcing new operating models, effective management of internal and external resources, and transformation towards an application-centric mentality. Cloud approaches are maturing past the point of public clouds domination, shifting focus to private & hybrid cloud and effective management of a multi-cloud environment. Attend this session to learn how to realize true business value when the friction of the business dynamic is supported by flexible cloud services delivered with predictability & speed.
We're InvestCloud - California-based with a global presence, known for first-class, financial digital solutions, pre-integrated in the cloud. We create beautifully designed client experiences and intuitive operations solutions using our ever-expanding library of digital modular apps.
Organizations are looking to cloud computing solutions to improve the flexibility of their IT. But in today’s marketplace you still need to control operating expense, improve performance and maintain reliability. You need a cloud infrastructure solution that can help you manage costs and risk.
As information technology evolves, your data center faces a range of pressures from growing complexity. Energy usage and costs are rising; keeping your systems reliable is becoming more difficult; managing the whole system is time-consuming and expensive. You need your IT environment to be simple to manage, responsive to changing needs and cost effective.
The benefits of self-service IT, automated scalability, and governance apply to IT organizations of any size. The architecture of your cloud is highly dependent on your organization's unique needs, but the principles of platform-neutrality, broad integration, modularity and scalability are universal.
Discover how Dell cloud solutions embody these principles, leveraging the power of virtualization and effective management to construct the private cloud environment that suits your needs.
More at http://dell.to/1yZoadx
SnappyFlow is a full stack observability platform providing DevOps and SRE practitioners and Application Developers with a comprehensive solution bringing together metrics, logs, traces, profiling, alerts, and synthetics in a unified platform.
Jade Shop Floor Management (JSFM) Datasheet Jade Global
Jade has made an innovative solution called Jade Shop Floor Management (JSFM) solution that fills in the gaps of the cloud applications. It allows semiconductor and lot-based manufacturing industry clients to migrate to Oracle Cloud or NetSuite SAAS applications.
You need business value from your technology, and you need it quick. You want powerful applications that just work. Nothing more...nothing less. Cheaper, better, faster...the Enterprise2.0 mindset.
It is not about software anymore. It IS the business value of technology that justifies your investment. RidgeGarrett Application Services will partner with your company to bring not only the critical business applications you need, but also many years of experience and knowledge to help you optimize business processes based on improved productivity and intelligence. We will help you understand this ever-changing landscape of technology to ensure your technology-to-business roadmap makes sense for today, and tomorrow.
We get it. Partner with us and you will have it. ...time to do more, with less.
Cable design, costing & quotation software suited for single-factory manufacturers.
CableBuilder Go is cloud-hosted software ideally suited for smaller, single-factory manufacturers to design, cost and quote wire and cables of all types.
Cimteq website: https://cimteq.com
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Embracing GenAI - A Strategic ImperativePeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Acetabularia Information For Class 9 .docxvaibhavrinwa19
Acetabularia acetabulum is a single-celled green alga that in its vegetative state is morphologically differentiated into a basal rhizoid and an axially elongated stalk, which bears whorls of branching hairs. The single diploid nucleus resides in the rhizoid.
The Roman Empire A Historical Colossus.pdfkaushalkr1407
The Roman Empire, a vast and enduring power, stands as one of history's most remarkable civilizations, leaving an indelible imprint on the world. It emerged from the Roman Republic, transitioning into an imperial powerhouse under the leadership of Augustus Caesar in 27 BCE. This transformation marked the beginning of an era defined by unprecedented territorial expansion, architectural marvels, and profound cultural influence.
The empire's roots lie in the city of Rome, founded, according to legend, by Romulus in 753 BCE. Over centuries, Rome evolved from a small settlement to a formidable republic, characterized by a complex political system with elected officials and checks on power. However, internal strife, class conflicts, and military ambitions paved the way for the end of the Republic. Julius Caesar’s dictatorship and subsequent assassination in 44 BCE created a power vacuum, leading to a civil war. Octavian, later Augustus, emerged victorious, heralding the Roman Empire’s birth.
Under Augustus, the empire experienced the Pax Romana, a 200-year period of relative peace and stability. Augustus reformed the military, established efficient administrative systems, and initiated grand construction projects. The empire's borders expanded, encompassing territories from Britain to Egypt and from Spain to the Euphrates. Roman legions, renowned for their discipline and engineering prowess, secured and maintained these vast territories, building roads, fortifications, and cities that facilitated control and integration.
The Roman Empire’s society was hierarchical, with a rigid class system. At the top were the patricians, wealthy elites who held significant political power. Below them were the plebeians, free citizens with limited political influence, and the vast numbers of slaves who formed the backbone of the economy. The family unit was central, governed by the paterfamilias, the male head who held absolute authority.
Culturally, the Romans were eclectic, absorbing and adapting elements from the civilizations they encountered, particularly the Greeks. Roman art, literature, and philosophy reflected this synthesis, creating a rich cultural tapestry. Latin, the Roman language, became the lingua franca of the Western world, influencing numerous modern languages.
Roman architecture and engineering achievements were monumental. They perfected the arch, vault, and dome, constructing enduring structures like the Colosseum, Pantheon, and aqueducts. These engineering marvels not only showcased Roman ingenuity but also served practical purposes, from public entertainment to water supply.
Honest Reviews of Tim Han LMA Course Program.pptxtimhan337
Personal development courses are widely available today, with each one promising life-changing outcomes. Tim Han’s Life Mastery Achievers (LMA) Course has drawn a lot of interest. In addition to offering my frank assessment of Success Insider’s LMA Course, this piece examines the course’s effects via a variety of Tim Han LMA course reviews and Success Insider comments.
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Dive into the world of AI! Experts Jon Hill and Tareq Monaur will guide you through AI's role in enhancing nonprofit websites and basic marketing strategies, making it easy to understand and apply.
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...
Dell ERP SCM and CRM System
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. The G-2 architecture enables company to run “best-of-
breed applications” rather than only a single enterprise
system.
9.
10.
11. Benefits of RFID
Production stops have reduced dramatically.
Labor can be allocated by minimizing repetitive activities.
Returns due to wrong shipping of products have been minimized.
12.
13. THE SCALEABLE MODEL
A shift from proprietary technologies to in house Dell capabilities.
‘Pay as You Go’ model.
Benefits of the ‘Scalable’ ModelBenefits of the ‘Scalable’ Model
Increase performance and availability by scaling incrementallyIncrease performance and availability by scaling incrementally
Minimize management overhead.Minimize management overhead.
Improve utilization rates.Improve utilization rates.
Preserve capital.Preserve capital.
Reduce TCOReduce TCO
Editor's Notes
Since its inception, Dell has thrived by challenging conventional business wisdom. By taking direct-to-customer and build-to-order techniques to a global scale, Dell has earned a reputation for delivering exactly the right products on schedule, and at a competitive price.
The result is that Dell does not begin assembling a single computer until the company has an order from a specific customer. The order may be for an individual, a small business looking for a few PCs, or a major corporation or government agency that needs thousands of specially-configured servers, storage products, notebook computers or
other products delivered to field locations worldwide. Every
assembled computer has a waiting customer and a short lead-time delivery date. The success of this approach is reflected in Dell's expected US$6.5 billion growth this year. As the company has grown, so has the challenge of balancing evolving computer preferences and demand with a volatile marketplace for the materials and components the company needs to build the computers. To compound the problem, changing technology obsoletes those materials sometimes as rapidly as 2% of value per week.
In true Dell fashion, the company chose a completely new solution for an old problem and once again reinvented its supply chain.
Here's how it works. Through a suite of web-based applications, Dell is now linked with its core suppliers. This new system automatically converts Dell's sales orders into materials requirements. These requirements are then instantly communicated to suppliers, whose stocking locations are situated no more than thirty minutes from the Dell factory. Those suppliers use an Internet portal to view the
requirements and confirm their ability to commit their own inventory to Dell as the orders are placed.
As Dell factories receive orders and schedule assemblies, a "pull" signal to the supplier triggers the shipment of only the materials required to build current orders, and suppliers deliver the orders directly to the appropriate Dell assembly lines. The factory schedule is refreshed every two hours. As a result, when actual demand varies from forecasted demand, all suppliers, factories and logistics providers are quickly and concurrently notified and can adjust their own inventory allocations and production accordingly. Dell's inbound
inventory is kept to a minimum, its non-ordered finished goods inventory is kept at zero, customer orders are immediately sent upon completion and customers receive what they ordered on the promised date.
The efficiency of Dell's solution has been lauded by business and technology publications alike:
"Dell's new approach takes the concept of just-in-time operations to new levels. The company's most efficient factories . . . order only the supplies required to keep production running for the next two hours. As the two-hour clock winds down, suppliers-who keep gear in a warehouse near Dell's factories-are electronically told what to deliver so Dell can build the next two hours' worth of computers."
-David Rocks
Business Week
Behind Dell's information revolution are a series of projects
designed to deliver a leading-edge decision-support system coupling i2 Technology's Rhythm Collaborative Planner, Factory Planner and Supply Chain Planner and Dell's direct-sales model to create enhanced planning and scheduling capabilities.
The Dell supply chain management program has delivered a business tool that the people at Dell use to interact more efficiently with their suppliers, helping both Dell and its suppliers to respond to the shifting demand in the marketplace. The ultimate objective of this project was to reduce customer lead-time while creating efficiencies within planning and manufacturing operations.
The program has delivered a new business capability which:
* Simplifies the jobs of Dell employees who are responsible for managing material supply,
* Allows Dell to transact business for specific order-driven
purchases of materials and supplies,
* Provides Dell with a global picture of what supply and demand look like at any point in time,
* Gives Dell's planners the ability to focus on exception situations, relieving them of the drudgery of examining every possible supply constraint,
* Makes it nearly impossible for components to grow obsolete in warehouses, and
* Allows Dell to see potential supply constraints earlier and react quickly to correct an out-of-balance situation. In the case of a global shortage, this may mean offering suitable alternatives to its customers to ensure that they receive the products they need when they need them.
Customers always receive the latest technology, exactly how and when they need it, all at a competitive price. This commitment to customer service enables Dell to sustain its leading marketplace position.
Business-to-business interaction via the Internet is the main pursuit for many companies
in today's electronic environment. But Dell's commitment to its enabling technologies and
its willingness to rethink traditional ways of doing business makes it the first corporation
to fully leverage the potential of the medium. This new system that Dell has created is the
first truly private business-to-business exchange with dynamic supply-chain business
transacted on the Web. As noted by The Wall Street Journal, Dell now has:
"[some] of the most advanced computer assembly plants in the world if measured by
integration with the Internet. Up to 50% of the orders flow directly from customers on the
Internet to the aptly named 'air-traffic control room' in the plant where procurement,
assembly and shipping are managed. It sits directly above the sprawling main plant
floor."
-John Dodge
Innovative applications of technology seen in
Dell's solution include:
* Use of complex mathematical models to identify and
predict supply constraints,
* Advanced collaborative techniques using the Web as a
communications medium, and
* New methods of synchronizing demand and supply
to minimize
inventory and material handling, thereby reducing cycle time.
<
BR>Within the system, customer orders are reviewed and compared to supplier
inventory every two hours. Dell then issues pull orders for only the materials needed to
complete the next two hours of order-building, a capability that represents an industry
best. This extremely short cycle helps ensure that the very latest customer demand
picture is being addressed.
From IT in Dell.pdf (serial no.-10)
Global Centralization of IT
The need to balance control and flexibility in the organization
has been evident in the evolution of Dell’s information
technology systems. In the early 1990s, IT was so
decentralized that management lacked even the basic information
needed to make decisions and run the company.
There were a data center and some common applications,
but most of the applications had been developed independently
in various user departments.
This extreme IT fragmentation was at odds with Dell’s
organizational structure, which was centralized globally
on a functional basis, with sales, manufacturing, service,
and other functions all reporting directly to Austin. The
company’s growth was outpacing the ability of IT to provide
information needed to manage the business. To bring
some order to its IT house, the CIO moved quickly to
implement an information system, called Information to
Run the Business, or IRB, as a . rst step in giving Dell’s
managers some basic indicators such as product quality,
. nancial performance, and product margins. The CIO
then developed a three-phase plan for evolving IT in the
company.
Phase one was to stabilize the current environment by
installing common hardware and operating systems, and
software and tools to manage it. The new infrastructure
was composed of Tandem and Sun servers, with the overall
network controlled by Tivoli network management software.
Phase two was an interim upgrade aimed at building
capabilities, including DellNet, a virtual private data network
owned and operated globally by AT&T; new data
centers in Austin, Ireland, and Penang, Malaysia; and upgraded
staff skills to operate in the new environments.
Phase three was the development of next-generation applications
that would achieve tighter integration of data
to allow better integration of business functions. At the
core of this process was the decision to adopt an enterprise
system—SAP/R3—as a means of developing a uni-
. ed application environment throughout the company. The
attraction of SAP is that it offers a full suite of tightly integrated
applications, including . nance, human relations,
sales and marketing, manufacturing and distribution, and
customer service and support. Dell was hoping to bring its
disparate IT functions together into one seamless system
through SAP.
The SAP implementation was dubbed the Genesis
The SAP implementation was dubbed the Genesis
Project, and involved a 140-member staff pulled together
from corporate and regional information systems units.
The team had gone as far as implementing the SAP human
resources component when a change in business strategy
caused a reconsideration of the whole project.
In 1995, Dell’s SAP plans were thrown off track by a decision
to reorganize the company along regional lines. The
company was broken into four major regions: Americas,
Europe, Asia, and Japan. The Americas region, by far the
biggest (with about $8 billion of Dell’s $12 billion in 1997
sales), was then further subdivided according to business
markets (large business, government/international, small
business). This reorganization was accompanied by a decision
to push more authority and responsibility down to
the regional managers, with each region having its own
sales, manufacturing, service, and other functions. Given
responsibility for their own operations, pro. ts, and losses,
the regional managers, not surprisingly, wanted to have
control over their own IT budgets and applications as well.
Such a decentralized organization went against the grain
of adopting the highly integrated SAP systems, which require
uniform processes throughout the company. It was
feared that SAP would not have the flexibility needed to
handle the diversity in business practices in the different
regions (and countries within the regions) and could become
an obstacle to growth. As one Dell IT executive
stated, “SAP is like cement, flexible when it’s poured but
rigid once it hardens.” Ultimately, the board of directors
told management that it “must not put an information system
in place that would jeopardize Dell’s ability to sustain
its desired growth rates.”
The CIO left the company in the summer of 1995 and
chief . nancial of. cer (CFO) Thomas Meredith managed
Dell’s IT functions directly for almost 2 years while the
Genesis Project continued. Jerry Gregoire was then hired
as vice-president and CIO in early summer of 1997. After
an initial period of reexamination and discussion with regional
managers, Gregoire pulled the plug on SAP, except
for the human resources component that was already in
place. Beyond SAP’s incompatibility with the new decentralized
organization, Dell’s rapid growth was also an issue
in the decision, as stated by another IT executive: “Dell
was $2.5 billion when the Genesis project was started and
was a $10 billion company by the time of deployment. Deployment
is dif. cult to handle when a company is growing
that fast. It is dif. cult to get business units to be willing
to do business one way worldwide. Business growth led
to segmentation and a customer orientation that was not
consistent with the enterprise (SAP) model.” A 1997 Wall
Street Journal article claimed that Dell canceled the project
after its budget swelled and tests showed that it couldn’t
handle expected sales volumes (White et al., 1997).
Abandoning SAP did not eliminate the need for better
integrated systems, however. The regions themselves were
becoming large companies, and there was still a strong
need for corporate information systems to support top
management decision making within each region as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------
HP debacle …
Too bad no one can bring themselves to do enough of it.
Christina Hanger had little reason to be pessimistic in May 2004, when she was moving one of Hewlett-Packard's biggest North American divisions onto a centralized ERP system from SAP. As the leader of an IT consolidation project rooted in HP's acquisition of Compaq two years earlier, Hanger, HP's senior vice president of Americas operations and IT, had an unbroken record of success migrating five product groups within the two former companies onto one of two SAP systems.
Hanger had every reason to believe that the sixth would go well too. Even so, she knew to be prepared for problems. At approximately US$7.5 billion in annual revenue, the division involved with this latest project, Industry Standard Servers (ISS), is much larger than any of the others that Hanger had migrated to SAP to that point. So Hanger took the contingency plan that her team had developed for the other five migrations and adjusted it to accommodate the ISS division's larger sales volume. She planned for three weeks of IT snafus, mostly focused on what might happen as a result of tweaking a legacy order-entry system to work with the new SAP system. The contingency plan addressed business impacts too. HP banked three weeks' worth of extra servers and took over an empty portion of an HP factory in Omaha to stand by for any overflow of orders that needed special configurations (for example, an unusual component or software combination) and could not be stockpiled ahead of time.
But the plan wasn't pessimistic enough.
Starting when the system went live at the beginning of June and continuing throughout the rest of the month, as many as 20 percent of customer orders for servers stopped dead in their tracks between the legacy order-entry system and the SAP system. As IT problems go, this wasn't too big: Some data modeling issues between the legacy system and the SAP system prevented the SAP system from processing some orders for customized products. These programming errors were fixed within four or five weeks. But Hanger and her business colleagues from the ISS division who were on the project steering committee never envisioned the degree to which these programming glitches would affect the business.
Orders began to backlog quickly and HP did not have enough manual workarounds to keep servers flowing fast enough to meet customer demand. Angry customers picked up the phone and called HP—or worse, arch-competitors Dell and IBM. In a commodity market such as servers, customer loyalty is built upon a company's ability to configure products to order and get them delivered on time. HP could do neither for much of the summer. In a third-quarter conference call on Aug. 12, 2004, HP Chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina pegged the financial impact at US$160 million: a US$120 million order backlog that resulted in US$40 million in lost revenue. That's more than the cost of the project itself, which AMR Research estimates to be US$30 million.
The headlines all claimed an IT disaster, but in fact, HP's disaster resulted from a few relatively small problems in IT that snowballed into a much bigger problem for the business: the inability to cope with the order backlog. This was a disaster that could have been prevented—not by trying to eliminate every possibility for error in a major IT system migration, which is virtually impossible, but by taking a much broader view of the impact that these projects can have on a company's supply chain.
CIOs don't run the supply chain in most companies, so they have trouble envisioning what will happen to sales if a critical system doesn't function as expected for a few days or weeks. Businesspeople, meanwhile, have trouble imagining an IT programming glitch getting past the walls of the data centre and causing hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of lost sales. The chasm between cause and effect is almost too vast to contemplate.
But if CIOs want to stop being held liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for relatively small IT problems, they have to convince business leaders of the vastly increased risks that major enterprise software projects pose to businesses with high-volume supply chains. They must use that awareness to build—with full support and cooperation from the business—a business contingency plan for IT projects that is as robust as the project plans they create for the new software.
"The potential benefits to the supply chain are much bigger than the IT costs in projects like this," says Bill Swanton, vice president of research for AMR Research. "But the potential risk to the supply chain is also much bigger." If business contingency planning continues to play a secondary role to IT project management, the problem is only going to get worse as computer systems become more powerful, integration methods improve, and companies consolidate their critical business processes on fewer and fewer systems.
In retrospect, HP CIO and Executive Vice President of Global Operations Gilles Bouchard does not see the data modeling problems between the legacy and SAP systems as the source of the US$160 million impact. He focuses on HP's inability to keep pace with orders in the supply chain once the problems were discovered. "It was mostly capacity issues, material issues and factory issues," he says. "We had a series of small problems, none of which individually would have been too much to handle. But together they created the perfect storm."
From IT in Dell.pdf (serial no.-10)
According to Gregoire, G-2 is a blueprint for how to architect
systems, execute development, and implement rollout
that delivers on the failed promises of client-server computing,
that is, low cost to build and manage and easy
to use. Gregoire says that in an environment of 60% annual
growth in transactions processed, one cannot afford
IT projects that take 2 years to implement. The G-2 architecture
was designed to be exible, meaning that changes
could be made iteratively, without having to shut down
whole systems or retrain workers. The G-2 architecture is
layered, with a Web browser user interface sitting on top
of an applications layer, a message broker, and a database
(Figure 3).
The key to this structure is the message broker layer,
which is based on an IBM MQ series application integration
system. It serves as an information bus, linking all
applications and databases to each other, so they don’t all
have to talk to each other separately. It also allows new data
engines or applications to be added to the system without
having to make changes throughout the system. For instance,
a new database on customers (e.g., how much they
have spent on various products in the past) can be added at
the data engine level and be linked via the message broker
to Dell’s customer service representatives’ order management
system. This information can be made available as an
extra button on the Web browser interface without needing
to change the users’ applications or retrain the users.
It also makes it possible to “run Dell on Dell,”
using the products that Dell and its strategic partners sell:
Dell servers, desktops, and laptops; Windows NT and the
Explorer Web interface; and Oracle databases. The G-2
architecture has extended the life of Dell’s legacy applications,
such as the DOMSandDell Product Services (DPS),
which are written for Tandem hardware, even as other applications
are shifted to Windows NT servers, because the
message broker layer allows these different systems to talk
to each other. Also, migration from legacy applications to
NT-based applications can be done incrementally, migrating
individual functions over to new applications one at a
time, rather than having to rewrite entire applications or
move entire databases all at once. Such exibility enables
Dell to expand the capabilities of its information systems
to meet the demands of rapid growth without major disruption
to the business’s functioning. Creating and maintaining
all of the linkages and interfaces required for this
exibility is reported to be complex and costly, and problems
sometimes result, but Dell’s IT people seem to have
made application integration work to serve the company’s
needs.
RFID as Applied at Dell
By establishing its integrated sales, manufacturing, and customer call center in Xiamen, China, Dell Computer Corporation became the second largest integrated computer manufacturer in the Asia-Pacific region. This facility manufactures Dell's OptiPlex desktop PCs, Latitude notebook PCs, and PowerEdge servers for customers and distributors in China. When initially established, the facility was challenged by the lack of data capture automation for its production operations. This situation created bottlenecks throughout different production points that impacted productivity. A system was needed to increase productivity and efficiency and to track inventory throughout the plant (“RFID Brings Computers up to Speed,” 2003). RFID was already a known technology and became a candidate for review. The challenge for RFID is making the case to ensure financial success. The supply chain management implementation of RFID will impact many divisions within one corporation. Being able to assign a benefit value requires a broad look at the entities that might gain or lose from implementation.
Dell has instituted a “scorecard” for measuring what tool might be most beneficial for assisting in the supply chain management at its facilities. This scorecard weighs the benefits against cost and future projections (“Building a Business Case for RFID at Dell,” 2004). From a benefits perspective, the scorecard looks at the current processes and requires evaluation of whether those processes will be improved by the use of RFID. These processes might include the amount of labor currently required to manage the supply chain. The implementation of RFID is expected to reduce the man hours required for management. Additionally, the user error rate, while not currently perceived to be at risk, can also be expected to decrease. Finally, the use of Auto-ID tags (optical scanning) is also reviewed. In the case of Dell’s facility, the use of optical scanning as a way of managing and reducing inventory is not perceived as improvable by RFID technology.
During RFID implementation, the first inclination is often to conduct a very limited rollout in an effort to minimize implementation costs. This strategy may result in poor RFID performance because of the limited implementation. Conversely, with effective implementation planning, restricted rollout may result in significant benefits while controlling initial costs. Dell decided to identify some limited project areas in which the potential for financial success is greatest. The fact that the implementation will be in a limited footprint is viewed in a positive light from a cost perspective and receives the appropriate points on the Dell Scorecard
rganizations today need to improve the performance, availability,
manageability, and serviceability of their IT systems to
meet corporate goals. At the same time, businesses are trying to
keep costs down and reduce complexity. Fortunately, IT systems
are becoming more flexible and systems management tools are
becoming standardized—easing the burden for IT executives.
There is an ongoing shift from proprietary to standards-based
technologies driven by companies seeking to replace legacy computing
products with more flexible IT systems built on Intel®
processor–based platforms that provide a high return on investment
(ROI) over time.
Corporations no longer need to be locked in to expensive RISCbased
systems. Instead, they can easily deploy an infrastructure built
with inexpensive, high-performance systems based on industrystandard
technology, which can easily grow alongside business
requirements. The current movement to these low-cost, flexible
computing platforms allows companies to simplify operations and
improve resource utilization, helping to reduce the risks inherent in
any major technology investment. Dell is leading this effort to help
drive down the cost of owning and maintaining the enterprise.