Dell ties Australia Post in supply chain
Dell, the global computer manufacturer, has announced a contract with Australia Post for a state of the art supply and delivery operation.
Post Logistics, a division of Australia Post, will distribute Dell’s latest products – printers and ink and toner cartridges – to Australian customers.
Dell has chosen Australia to be the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to roll out the printer product line, first launched in the US market in March this year.
Alec Ceselli, Post Logistics general manager, said the contract to manage the delivery of Dell’s printer business placed Australia Post at “the heart of one of the best direct selling operations in the world”.
He said the operation required a high level of integration between the two companies’ IT systems to provide a seamless exchange of information and up-to-the-minute order status.
Post Logistics has installed a new system, RosettaNet, an “open e-business process” solution, to help integrate into Dell’s IT system and that of its manufacturer, Lexmark.
Mr Ceselli said multinationals had increasingly adopted RosettaNet to interface their business and supply chain systems into their customers’ systems.
The system allows tracking the progress of an order from the time it is placed to delivery. Customer orders will be routed directly to Australia Post’s warehouse management system for processing.
Dell’s customer service operation is also integrated into Post’s call centre to provide real-time delivery information for customers.
The integration of the IT supply chain systems also means that replenishment of stock from Dell’s manufacturer’s factories in China takes place automatically.
Post stocks an inventory of printers and ink cartridges in its warehouse.
According to David Miller, managing director of Dell Australia and New Zealand, the printer comes with software that will prompt the user when the ink runs low. The user can then simply click to place an order online; if the order is placed before noon, it will be delivered the next day.
Deliveries outside the metropolitan areas in capital cities may take longer. Orders of printers will take five to seven days to deliver.
“Dell has built a business model around lean and highly efficient supply chains,” said Mr Cesseli.
The direct sales model has turned Dell into one of the fastest-growing computer companies in the world, grossing global revenues of almost $40 billion in the last four quarters.
