Citation
(2004), "Top of the store", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 53 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm.2004.07953bab.009
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Top of the store
APEX - EMC Corp. is producing 50 per cent more data storage devices from its Apex manufacturing facility since February 2001, even though the company has slashed staff by 40 per cent over the past three years.
EMC, based in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, USA, makes data storage devices, large boxes the size of refrigerators that cost from $10,000 to $2 million. The company’s Apex plant is spread over 110 acres and houses 380,000 square feet of space.
The company has spent nearly $10 million upgrading its 300-employee Apex plant and 250-employee software shop at Research Triangle Park in the past three years. Most of that money was spent to install “different types of assembly lines, floors and power distribution mechanisms”.
EMC also changed its distribution structure. Currently, one-third of the devices made are distributed by Dell, one-third by other partners, and one-third are sold directly to customers. Previously, all units were sold directly.
The efficiency improvements are showing up in the financial figures in such numbers as a lower value of inventories on hand. In January 2000, the company maintained $98 million worth of goods as inventory. In January 2004, that dropped to $14 million.