Local Tech Wire 

Ahead of Plan: Dell Is Hiring More Workers, Adding Server Production Line at Winston-Salem Plant

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Computer production and hiring of new personnel is running well ahead of schedule at "WS 1", the massive computer manufacturing facility Dell opened only eight months ago.

Soon, Chairman Michael Dell said Wednesday, workers at the Triad plant will be churning out a new PC every 2.5 seconds. The desktop machines are already rolling out of the 750,000 square-foot plant at a rate of one every 5 seconds.

Since the $100 million facility opened, its workers have produced more than 1 million computers -- with the No. 1,000,000 machine being presented to Atkins Academic and Technology High School. A smiling Principal Dan Piggott accepted theand a hearty handshake from Dell's chairman -- as the company's founder opened a 45-minute press conference.

Encouraged by the enthusiasm, productivity and skill shown by the plant's workforce, Dell said the firm was already well ahead of its hiring pace with more than 1,100 people now working there. That's 350 more than planned. And Dell said additional workers would be hired this year.

"When I was here last, we talked about creating 750 jobs. Today, we've exceeded that. We have 1,100 employees, and we expect to add 200 more," Dell said. He was on hand when the plant opened in October of last year.

The company accepted more than $300 million in tax and other incentives from state and local governments to build the plant and committed to hiring 1,500 people over five years.

Dell, the No. 1 PC manufacturer in the world, recently surrendered some of its market share to a resurgent HP. It also recently reported an 18 percent drop in quarterly profits, leading the company to commit to cutting $3 billion out of its cost structure.

The chairman cited WS 1 as delivering a means to cut costs -- through productivity.

"This is one of our most productive plants in the world, and that helps reduce costs," he said. "What we're talking about is becoming more efficient." Dell cited WS 1 workers' skills, training and management of inventory as being among the productivity drivers.

Additionally, the chairman confirmed that Dell would launch a production line at WS 1 for its PowerEdge server product line.

"Obviously, we are ahead of our plan," Dell said. "The plant is coming up very well."

Travis Simpson, Dell's vice president for North Carolina operations, saluted the plant's employees for playing key role in WS 1 exceeding expectations.

"This is our largest, most technologically advanced facility," Simpson said, but he noted that workers were crucial to improvements in areas such as productivity. The plant has a "supply logistic center", for example, that was designed to get material to the line in such a way that "we build quickly and touch it less". WS 1 has also embraced a "team build concept" so that workers can "provide each other immediate feedback for quality."

The workforce is also "very flexible", he added, and can be "moved to different areas of the plant as needed."

While the server assembly line is still being designed, Simpson and Dell both said picking WS 1 for the additional capacity was not a surprise. "Some of our original team members who were trained in Texas were also trained on servers," Dell explained.

Simpson said building servers in the Triad "was something we certainly had thought about. As the plant ramped up, we decided it was a good idea."

The company currently uses WS 1 to produce OptiPlex and Dimension desktop machines.

"We have a very energized workforce," Simpson added, pointing out that workers showed initiative in solving a variety of problems or improving processes. He also said there was no room for complacency, noting that workers had embraced the goal of continuous improvement. "We need to get better here. We need to get better everyday."

Dell: www.dell.com