Dell
Peter
School of Business, Library University
BUSI-740: Managing the Supply Chain
Dr. Deloris Easley
10 April 2021
Author Note
Peter J.
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Peter J.
Email:
, DELL 2
Dell
Introduction
Created in a dorm room at the University of Texas in 1984, Dell was founded by Michael
Dell. The organization operates under a direct business model, meaning consumers do not
directly associate with retailers and purchase products and services from Dell. Operating under
this business model allows consumers to purchase customized systems at a lower price than
competitors. In taking this approach, Dell has risen to prominence within the technology industry
in ranking among the top-five technology manufacturers worldwide in 1993 and reached the top
ranking in 2001. Dell employs over sixty-two thousand employees at three United States
manufacturing facilities and four internationally in Brazil, China, Ireland, and Malaysia. Since its
inception in the mid-eighties, Dell has maintained a direct consumer sales strategy, proving a
successful business strategy leading to annual revenue of $56 billion (Simchi-Levi et al., 2020).
In maintaining a direct business structure, Dell has generated manufacturing cost savings.
In 2005, the organization noticed costs rising in Level 5 manufacturing creating the inability to
quickly produce motherboards to contracted manufacturing facilities (Simchi-Levi et al., 2020).
Dell faces numerous issues to include inaccurate forecasting, third-party supplier concerns, and
desktop computing supply chain quality issues. The main focus of the case study is Level 5 and
Level 6 manufacturing costs comparison and contrast. Additionally, six solutions are proposed in
which Dell can improve, sustainability recommendations are presented, organizational business
process improvement (BPI) team effectiveness is discussed, and solutions are provided to
combat Level 5 increased manufacturing cost root causes.
Managing Costs