BY LINDA UWAOMA, SHANSHAN LI, REHANA DAYANANDA AND ANDREA VAN DER WEST

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT REPORT- DELL
COMPUTERS

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Table of Contents
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT REPORT- DELL COMPUTERS ...................................................1
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT REPORT- DELL COMPUTERS ...................................................2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..............................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................3
BODY..................................................................................................................4
EXAMINATION OF DELL’S SUPPLY CHAIN OPERATIONS .......................................................4
• Direct to customers (DTC); a pull based system: ...............................................4
• Direct to Retailers (DTR); Employing Partners and specialty stores: .......................5
A Problem statement: ........................................................................................7
RECOMMENDATIONS ...............................................................................................8
• MARKETING AND PRODUCT IMPROVEMENTS: .................................................................9
• SUPPLY CHAIN IMPROVEMENTS; A HYBRID PLAN: ............................................................10
• A NEW SYSTEM STRUCTURE AND VALUE CHAIN MODEL:......................................................10
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................12
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................13

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BY LINDA UWAOMA, SHANSHAN LI, REHANA DAYANANDA AND ANDREA VAN DER WEST

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OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT REPORT- DELL
COMPUTERS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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This is a report on the findings on Dell Computers marketing, distribution and supply operations, as it relates to their production and delivery strategies.
‘Dell’, as it is commonly called was well known for its innovations in supply chain management and electronic commerce, particularly its direct-sale model and its
"build to order" approach to manufacturing - delivering individual PCs configured to customer specifications. The company was also popular for greatly reducing parts, inventories and virtually eliminating stocks of finished machines (Wheelwright,
1998). However, in the shrinking PC industry, Dell Computer continued to lose market share, as it dropped below Lenovo to number three in the world.
Some key elements identified that led to its operational problems include poor restructuring of its supply chain in a bid to fight competitors, a great divide between the company’s vision and mission statement and their actualisation; evident in the lack of a well-defined service structure, a declining ability to stay relevant in a highly competitive market, and poor customer service delivery while trying to cut margins and grow revenues.
The recommendations led to a review of the current supply change structure and a proposal for a new operational and service blueprint. It was recommended that
Dell diversify their product offering to be competitive in a changing e-commerce market place to better meet demands. Secondly, as pertains to supply Chain improvements Dell encouraged is to adopt a hybrid model, utilising direct sales

BY LINDA UWAOMA, SHANSHAN LI, REHANA DAYANANDA AND ANDREA VAN DER WEST

model with non-centralised distribution channels. Finally it was also recommended that Dell move to a new system structure and value chain model, and in doing so moving to a more service based structure.

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INTRODUCTION

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This case study has been limited to the scope of Dell’s troubles share as presented in a 2008/2009 end of chapter case study (Jones et al, 2012). Beyond the scope of this report is the real-life situation of Dell computers,