Days of working capital

In response, companies tightened their belts and slowed manufacturing. In the recession, for 6 percent of the Fortune f 000 companies, their days of working capital grew. Facing new market obstacles in collections, payables, and inventory management, companies scrambled for cash. 

Each step in advancement of the S OP process delivers incremental, positive business results. In the Great Recession, companies with strong market-driven S OP processes sensed and aligned to the economic impacts five times faster than laggard companies. They were also able to obtain better year-over-year results in days of working capital. 

In 1998, the company had two days of working capital and in 2010 it operated with a negative 31 days of working capital. It successfully built supplier and information systems to fund the supply chain. To do this, the company pared down its supplier companies from 204 to 47 and moved to a just-in-time (JIT) inventory program with suppliers warehousing their components only 15 minutes from the Dell factory. This JIT inventory system decreased inventory costs and led to a 6 percent profit advantage in components. 

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