Those years of getting to know Mr. Dell
It's been about five or six years since I started dealing with Mr. Dell. He is a well - known SQE (Supplier Quality Engineer) in the electronics industry. When it comes to the methodology of supply chain management and cost control, eight out of ten people in the circle would say, "You have to learn from Dell." Just as in the automotive industry, when talking about lean production, Toyota's TPS is always mentioned. In the electronics circle, the "Dell model" is almost a compulsory introductory course.
A "living Dell exhibition"
Once, during a cross - supplier meeting, representatives from two suppliers and our team filled a room with nearly twenty people. When I looked down, I saw that all the laptops on the table were Dell business models. There were the bulky Latitude E series (emphasizing "durability", with bodies as heavy as bricks) and the thin and light Precision (advertised as "portable at 1.1 kilograms"). Their dark bodies were lined up in a row, with different models and sizes, looking just like a Dell product exhibition. At that moment, I thought that if Mr. Dell walked in through the door, his eyes would surely light up like bulbs - this was the most straightforward "market recognition".
Mr. Dell's "Cultural Manifesto"
Mr. Dell is an interesting guy. He never takes credit for himself. Every time when talking about the growth of market share, he always says, "This is not a victory for me, Dell alone. It's the victory of the 'efficiency first, result - oriented' elements in American culture." There is a hint of pride in his words: His approach of "production based on sales and zero inventory" essentially integrates the "pragmatism" in American business culture into the supply chain. So, what wins is not the name "Dell", but the underlying logic of "only focusing on results".
My "minor frictions" with him
However, he wasn't that polite to me. Because I always caused him "trouble": The year before last, a batch of hard drives was recalled. After testing, it was found that data would be randomly lost during reading and writing. The supplier said it was a "batch magnetic head deviation". Last year, a batch of batteries was returned. The battery life was marked as 8 hours, but in actual use, it lasted less than 4 hours, and it got so hot that you could fry an egg on it. Every time I threw the test report at him, he would frown and say, "You Chinese people are just too picky", with the subtext being "My Dell's standards are already high enough."
The "Red Lane Incident" of D420
I was even more annoyed yesterday. My D420, which I bought for 12,000 yuan, was the model that was promoted as "light and thin for business use" that year. The advertisement at that time said it had a 12 - inch screen and weighed 1.2 kilograms, being the "pocket notebook for business people". Suddenly, a bright red streak appeared right in the middle of the screen, so glaring that it was like someone had drawn a line on the screen with a red marker. I wiped it for a long time, but the red streak didn't disappear. Instead, it became even more eye - catching. A perfectly good business notebook suddenly turned into a "work of art with a red line".
When I asked my IT colleague, he gave a wry smile and said, "This is the second one. Just last week, a colleague's D420 had the same problem." Today happens to be March 15th. The IT department directly replaced the entire LCD screen for me - it can be regarded as a "March 15th exclusive repair" for me.
Colleague's "soulful complaints"
A guy next to me leaned over, stared at the new screen and said, "You know, Dell is an international brand. A laptop that costs 12,000 yuan is of worse quality than a Hasee laptop? My Hasee laptop only cost 3,000 yuan and has been working fine for three years without such problems." I didn't respond and just felt the newly replaced screen. The new screen was very bright, but there was always a knot in my heart: Is this the so - called "commercial flagship" quality?
The "quality lesson" of March 15th
After work in the evening, I walked home holding my D420 laptop with a replaced screen. A gust of wind blew, and the laptop in my hand felt a bit cold. I recalled what Mr. Dell always said about "the victory of American culture", and suddenly found it ironic. Behind this so - called "victory", it's the users who have to pay for the quality defects again and again. What I replaced today is not just the screen, but also my perception of "big brands". No matter how resounding the slogans are and how strong the culture is, they can't match the four words "qualified quality".
Forget it. Just take it as the "memorial" from March 15th. It's not a pleasant memorial but a lesson that "quality is always more important than slogans".
March 15th, 2007