Time Quality Mgmt. of Dell

Introduction

Dell was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell, the longest-tenured executive to lead a company in the computer industry. The company is based on a simple concept: by selling computer systems directly to customers, Dell could best understand their needs and efficiently provide the most effective computing solutions to meet those needs. This direct business model eliminates retailers that add unnecessary time and cost, or can diminish Dell's understanding of customer expectations. The direct model allows the company to build every system to order and offer customers powerful, richly-configured systems at competitive prices. Dell also introduces the latest relevant technology much more quickly than companies with slow-moving, indirect distribution channels, turning over inventory in just under five days on average.

For more than 20 years, Dell has revolutionized the industry to make computing accessible to customers around the globe, including businesses, institutional organizations and individual consumers. Because of Dell's direct model--and the industry's response to it--information technology is more powerful, easier to use and more affordable, giving customers the opportunity to take advantage of powerful new tools to improve their businesses and personal lives.

Services and Products

Dell offers a variety of services and products which are exclusively designed through the Dell Effect. The services and products include servers designed to provide customers affordable performance, reliability, and scalability, storage products offer customers a comprehensive portfolio of cost-effective hardware and software products to store, serve and protect customer data, and printing and imaging systems which feature a wide array of Dell-branded printers, from photo printers for consumers to large multifunction lasers for corporate workgroups. The Dell printer product line is focused on making printing easier to buy, own, and use.

Dell's Precision desktop and mobile workstations, including notebooks, are intended for professional users who demand exceptional performance to run sophisticated applications, such as three-dimensional computer-aided design, digital content creation, geographic information systems, computer animation, software development and financial analysis. Dell also provides such services as managed, professional, deployment, and support which allow their customers to customize the equipment bought all the while reducing costs and making it more convenient and timely to order and ship the products. Shown below are the revenues earned by Dell within their product and design services:

Dell is a company who focuses on their product design and the decisions involved. With Dell customers buy satisfaction, not just a physical good or particular service which is fundamental to the organization's strategy throughout the operations function. Dell prides themselves on trust, integrity, honesty, judgment, respect, courage, and responsibility also known as the "Soul of Dell." Through the services offered Dell has differentiated and customized their products at a low cost for their customers. Their ability to rapidly respond to their customers has also set them apart from their competitors and has made them number one in the computer industry.

Through the Taguchi concepts of total quality management, Dell is able to produce products uniformly and consistently in the adverse manufacturing and environmental conditions of the computer industry. They also provide target-oriented quality by yielding their products in the best quality loss function. Dell has a lower loss of customer dissatisfaction, warranty and service, internal scrap and repair, and costs to the society by making sure their customers receive the value deserved through the "Dell Effect."

Location

Currently Dell operates under the direct model allows the company to build every system to order and offer customers powerful, richly-configured systems at competitive prices. When a customer orders a Dell product it is made at the closet manufacturing plant and shipped to the customer.

Dell realized that in order to satisfy all of their customer needs they would need to open retail locations. Prior to July 2006, there were three ways to order Dell products, go to one of the 185 kiosks located in malls and airports around the United States, call 1-800-WWW-DELL, or shop online. In July 2006, Dell opened a pilot retail store, in Dallas, which offers consumers a chance to get hands-on experience with Dell computers, notebooks, widescreen TVs, and other products. The world's largest PC vendor will operate the 3,000 square-foot stores that feature separate living room and home office areas and a gaming space. The store will allow Dell to show many more products than its smaller 120 square-foot kiosks. Dell won't stock merchandise at its stores. Instead, the company will continue to use its direct-ordering system and let customers purchase products online from the stores.

Total Quality Management requires a never ending process of continuous improvements. In opening these new retail location Dell will improve upon the quality of their customer service. Dell is currently implementing the PDCA cycle (plan, do, check, act). Dell identified that it needed to a way to improve upon its customer service so they created a plan to open retail stores. Dell it currently in the do stage of the cycle, they have opened a pilot retail stores in Texas. In three months year Dell will examine how well the store is doing and it is doing well then Dell will open more stores around the country.

Opening retail locations will increase Dell's quality of customer service. Prior to opening the retail locations, Dell customers complained about having length time one had to wait to speak to a Dell customer service representative. But, with the newly opened retail stores an unsatisfied customer will be able to go into Dell and speak directly with a Dell representative. Prior to the retail locations, Dell customers also complained about the type of customer service that they received on the phone. The retail stores will now be able to offer various type of support to customers such as technical and sales.

Overall, in opening retail locations Dell will improve upon the quality of its customer service because it will make the company more customer-friendly.

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