WSJ: Dell could sell off Winston-Salem plants
Written on September 5, 2008
Dell Inc. is planning to sell off its computer manufacturing facilities around the world, according to a report in today’s Wall Street Journal.
Dell opened its plant in Winston-Salem in 2005, winning about $300 million in state and local incentives. The factory employs about 1,150 people.
According to the Journal article, Dell is shopping its factories to contract manufacturers with the idea that those manufacturers would then make Dell’s computers.
Dell’s manufacturing model is based on taking orders directly from customers and building units efficiently. However, the market has shifted away from Dell’s desktop specialty to laptops for which Dell already uses contract manufacturers in many cases.
Dell wouldn’t comment directly to the Journal, but pointed to a recent SEC filing that indicated the company is continuing to expand its use of design manufacturing partnerships manufacturing outsourcing relationships.
The article noted that selling some Dell plants, including the one in Winston-Salem, could be especially difficult because of the requirements of the incentives attached to them payday loans. North Carolina, for example, required that Dell create 1,500 jobs by 2010 to qualify for the full package.
Filed in: technology.