Dell Delivers Computer Assembly Plant to North Carolina

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Dell Computer Corporation (NASDAQ:DELL) (Round Rock, Texas) has opened the doors of its new plant in Winston Salem, North Carolina. The plant was designed by Nashville-based architect Susman Tisdale Gayle. Blythe Development Company (Charlotte, North Carolina), working with Stimmel & Associates (Winston-Salem, North Carolina), a land-planning firm, worked 22 hours per day through most of January to prepare the 108-acre site for construction. This $2.5 million phase was completed three days ahead of schedule. The $115 million 750,000-square-foot plant was officially opened on October 5, 2005. The plant was constructed on a fast-track construction schedule. The plant construction was completed in less than eight months by Whiting-Turner Contracting Company (Baltimore, Maryland).

Dell dedicated 500,000 square feet of the plant for production area. The plant contains a two-mile long conveyor system that was designed, furnished and installed by Ermanco, Incorporated (Spring Lake, Michigan) and their subcontractors Brandt & Hill (Austin, Texas) and EMIT, Incorporated (Austin, Texas). Brandt & Hill was contracted to oversee the mechanical installation and EMIT was responsible for the design and field wiring of the conveyor system’s software and controls.

Production began on September 19th, which was the original date that Dell wanted to begin shipping computers to customers from the new plant. Computers that were assembled in the initial production run were donated to SciWorks, Winston-Salem's science and technology museum, and also the State of North Carolina, regional and local governments.

At maximum capacity, the North Carolina operation will produce tens of thousands of systems a day. By the end of 2005, the facility will be able to produce a computer every five seconds. The facility includes a production layout that allows computers to be tested while the components and software are being installed. This on-the-spot build and test operation allows assembly workers to identify and correct any problems on the immediately, instead of waiting until the product is fully assembled.

While many technology companies have outsourced design and manufacturing, Dell has continued to strengthen its domestic production capabilities. Dell is the only computer maker that still manufactures products domestically. Dell’s newest and largest facility adds to the company's considerable U.S. manufacturing presence in Austin, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee. With Dell’s business model of rapidly providing computers built to order, it is more practical to assemble them near their customer base.

Dell Computer Corporation began in 1984 by Michael Dell in a dormitory room at the University of Texas as PC’s Limited. In 1987, the name was changed to Dell Computer Corporation. In 2003, the company became the most profitable PC manufacturer in the world. Today, it has grown to be recognized as one of "America’s Most Admired Companies" by Forbes magazine. Income for 2004 totaled over $49.2 billion and the company employs more than 61,400 people around the world.

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