Original Equipment Manufacturers are looking to Tighten Up and Go Global

Over the last six years we’ve seen an explosion in Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) customers who have figured out that it makes a lot of sense to leverage the global footprint of a tier one provider for the technology needs of the customer solutions they design and manufacture.  What these same customers may not realize is the extent to which Dell’s services capabilities could streamline their supply chain even more.

Trying to leverage “big-name company” PC architecture is in many ways like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. However, one big advantage of Dell is the OEM-dedicated global teams that understand the unique use profile and business model of over 40 OEM verticals to ensure customers get the right solution.  These OEM teams now include services consultants and services operations managers that can work with sales, engineering and operations to integrate relevant services capabilities. With input from our various OEM customers, we mapped our capabilities to a typical OEM value chain. It essentially breaks down like this:

  • Engineering Services—many of our customers are interested in staff or resource augmentation for distinct, standalone projects (such as housing design for a mobility component of a larger overall machine as an example).
  • Application Services—many of our customers outsource testing with other firms today, or like engineering services, might have standalone projects for which they need additional development and testing resources on a temporary basis or to balance peak loads. Use of Dell’s application services enables our customers to leverage their buying power and consolidate vendor base with a best-of-breed supplier.
  • Cloud Services— at this point, almost all OEM customers we talk to are exploring cloud-based software or content delivery models for some components of their solutions and they need consulting and hosting.
  • Configuration and Fulfillment Services—many times our customers are looking to consolidate their vendor base through the elimination of integration partners and significantly streamline their supply chain and/or deployment with upstream integration.
  • Installation and Support Services—the need for globally consistent availability and scale is a common requirement in this arena and something smaller integrators are typically unable to provide. Our customers repeatedly tell us that support, in particular of an aging installed base, is one of their biggest cost drivers.

What an OEM has the potential to maximize with Dell’s industry-specific best-in-class capabilities across the categories I describe above are as follows:

  1. Vendor consolidation
  2. Leveraged buying power
  3. Facilitation of most OEM’s global supply chain expansion with our own global footprint
  4. Support of most OEM’s expanding global customer base with a vast standardized infrastructure and extensive ability to customize a solution

It may be a good time for OEM’s to expand their horizons (and partnerships) by taking stock of opportunities to tighten up their supply chain, consolidate vendors and buying power and ensure they have a solution provider that scales globally with their supply chain and customer base.

What other questions do you have about how OEM Services could help streamline your supply chain?  For a specific evaluation, please contact a Dell OEM representative.

About the Author: Amy Musgrave Brown