Build in US - Ask Dell?

It is Possible to Build Consumer Electronics in the US!


"Pleased, but Never Satisfied"

Dell is every bit as hard on itself as it is on the folks who make its disk drives and batteries. For proof, just look inside Dell's newest U.S. factory, the Morton L. Topfer Manufacturing Center (dubbed TMC) in north Austin. Along with its sister factory in Nashville, it's the only major computer-assembly plant still located in the United States. IBM, HP, Gateway, and Apple have all offshored their operations to manufacturers overseas. Taiwanese PC makers might be cheaper, but Dell is determined to control its manufacturing...

Dell has brought a maniacal focus to shaving minutes off the time it takes to assemble and ship a computer. By studying videotapes of "the build," as they call it, factory managers have slashed in half the number of times a computer is touched by workers. They've counted the screws in a PC and redesigned it so that the major components -- hard drive, graphics card, CD player -- simply snap in place.

In a blur of synchronized movements, a veteran builder can piece together a Dell OptiPlex or Dimension PC in three minutes. The software burn and testing, which is powered by Dell servers with enough bandwidth to download the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in eight seconds, takes several hours, depending on the amount of customization that's required. The entire process, from the time the order is taken to when the finished PC exits the factory, is wrapped up in four to eight hours.

While the TMC takes up less than half the space of its predecessor, it boasts three times the output. And even that's not good enough. Dell is always on a mission to outdo itself, and the factory is expected to increase its production by some 30% by year's end.

Full article can be found at: Fast Company Issue 88 November 2004 Page 86 By: Bill Breen

Manufacturing in US not Dead

Contrary to common misconception, the U.S. remains the world's top manufacturer. A World Bank report put total manufacturing output at $1.7 trillion in 2001, the most recent reported period. That's almost as much as Japan and Germany combined, both a distant second at $900 billion each.
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The U.S. had been steadily losing factory employment since its last peak of 17.64 million in March 1998. Since then, the factory sector has shed 3.1 million jobs, or 17.6 percent of its work force.
Yet the job decline in manufacturing is universal due to technology driven productivity gains, noted JP Morgan Chase economist James Glassman. China and Mexico also are losing manufacturing jobs due to automation, he said.
"The story is one of automation -- not de-industrialization," agreed Sheldon.
A turnaround?

Stay Up Late!

Sleeping in for Art's Sake

Complain about those night old neighbors, and you may be just suppressing creative genius. That's the implication, the new Italian study showing that evening oriented people form better on tests of creating. Then morning difference could be linked to the way the brain synchronizes the body time by nocturnal types advantage is unclear. But researchers suggest that living outside the clocks conventions Spurs originality.


Seed March 2007 http://www.seedmagazine.com/
Science is Culture