Dell has begun using "playbooks," a set of guidelines that documents how the various parts of its supply chain should react to customer requests and other business situations. During a recent CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly webcast on Dell's move toward a segmented supply chain, Donna M. Warton, vice president of global operations planning, explained that the playbooks tell the computer company how to respond to specific customer demand signals.

The guidelines break down the key business events required to fulfill a customer order and specify how Dell should manage those events across its supply chain. The playbooks thus provide a way for Dell to orchestrate various functions, including sales, order management, manufacturing, and logistics, in order to produce a coordinated response to serve a customer. Warton said that the playbooks allow Dell "to align cross-functionally to achieve results."

Click here to listen to the entire presentation on Dell's adoption of a segmented supply chain.