Dell Supply Chain - Research Paper Example

Second is the strategic partnership: relationship with supplier, customer and distributors. The development of the communication channels for critical information (market demands, availability of supplies) and operational improvement (transportation issues and compliance of regional specifications for products). Sourcing contracts and other purchasing decisions, more sources of suppliers meaning more options in purchasing with more information flow. A wiser choice could be made in term of pricing and quality of suppliers. 3. Analyze two of the decisions you have to make (one strategic, one operational) using relevant frameworks or models.

Explain the results of the analysis and their implications. (the most important part) 40%marks The key to Dell's success as World's No. 1 Computer System provider is due to its success in integration of both the process and people as in the Dells's Supply Chain DNA (figure below) (Fugate and Mentzer, 2004). The elements in this DNA model include internal collaboration (production), demand management (procurement), financial business fundamentals (sales and finance) and leverage partners (suppliers).

These elements each by themselves is a complicated bodies and managing them successfully require a bed of knowledge. The question is, how does Dell take them all into a smoothly The answer is by strategically integrating them by Dell's DNA (Fugate and Mentzer, 2004) information technologies.To be really specific, Dell is utilizing software - i2 Supply Chain Management to plan the production and communicate with the suppliers (Atlman et al., 2004). "i2 streamlines the supply chain by providing component suppliers and Dell planners with global views of product demand and material requirements.

It also provides real-time factory scheduling and inventory management, so employees can generate key reports based on accurate and timely data, pinpoint inventory on the factory floor, and receive supplier deliveries on a true just-in-time basis" (Altman et al., 2004) The sales, production and supply are linked together through this software. Thus, in the new company, similar software