BY JAMES A. COOKE, EDITOR AT LARGE
GLOBAL LOGISTICS - EMEA
strategicinsight
Inside Dell’s global
command centers
DELL’S MANUFACTURING FACILITY IN
XIAMEN, FUJIAN PROVINCE, CHINA
The technology giant’s global command centers coordinate parts logistics and field
technicians to respond swiftly to customers’ requests. They even monitor potential
problems like natural disasters and work with customers to develop contingency plans.
This story first appeared in the
Quarter 3/2012 edition of CSCMP’s
Supply Chain Quarterly, a journal of
thought leadership for the supply chain
management profession and a sister
publication to AGiLE Business Media’s
DC VELOCITY. Readers can obtain a
subscription by joining the Council of
Supply Chain Management Professionals
(whose membership dues include the
Quarterly’s subscription fee). Subscriptions
are also available to non-members
for $34.95 (digital) or $89 a year (print).
For more information, visit
www.SupplyChainQuarterly.com.
WHEN A MANUFACTURER SELLS ITS PRODUCTS WORLDWIDE, ITS CUStomers expect that it will also service those products on a global scale. It’s not easy
to meet those expectations in a consistent and timely way. But thanks to “global
command centers” that oversee delivery of parts and field service, the technology
giant Dell Inc. is able to ensure that its enterprise customers worldwide get the
service they need when they need it.
A global command center provides companies with visibility that allows them
to monitor supply chain activities and make adjustments in real time as events
occur. Although command centers are a relatively new supply chain initiative for
many companies, Dell opened its first one nearly 10 years ago for service parts.
(Dell also operates several command centers on the fulfillment side.)
Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, makes and sells personal computers, servers,
data storage devices, network switches, and computer peripherals. The company
outsources much of its on-site technical support for those products to outside
field engineers; it also contracts with third-party logistics companies to handle the
