Started in Michael Dell’s dorm room at the University of Texas in 1984

Grossed $75 million in sales in 1985

Made the Fortune 500 in 1992

Ranks 2nd in computer sales

College dropout

Changed how computers were sold

Started his business with $1000 in capital

Now worth $17.3 billion

Dell’s success is a combination of:

Direct Sales

Build-to-order

Supplier Integration

Together these allow for maximum effectiveness with minimum cost

A direct sales system allows Dell to:

Cut costs

Build relationships with its customers

Deliver exactly what the customer wants

A build to order system allows Dell to:Increase inventory velocity

Minimize inventory costs

Build exactly the computer that its customers want

Minimize the need for forecasting

Supplier integration allows Dell to maximize the benefit of its other core competencies

Here is how they do it:Location of supplier warehousesExtranetMeetings with suppliers

The secret to Dell’s success is the synergy between all of its competencies

The direct sales system both enables and relies on the build-to-order system

The build to order system both enables and relies on the supplier integration system

And Dell’s focus on collaboration at every level enables it all

Manataki, Areti: A Knowledge-Based Analysis and Modelling of Dell’s Supply Chain Strategies

Dave Jaffe and Todd Muirhead: Implementation Study: Dell IT Scales Supply Chain Management with Oracle 10g RAC

Dell Case Study - http://www.oppapers.com/print/Dell-Case-Study/84223

Dell ERP - http://www.oppapers.com/print/Dell-Erp/74191 11/5/2008

You Zeng: Learning from Dell - the faithful implementer of 'Just in Time'

Dell on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dell