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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Voltaire who wrote (76939)	11/7/1998 11:25:00 AM
From: Chuzzlewit	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 176387

Voltaire, what a number of people miss about Dell is the nature of the financial engine powering this juggernaut. When manufacturing companies experience hypergrowth they generally need to rely on external financing (either debt or equity) to fund the increases in accounts receivable, inventory, and capital expenditures. Meredith has focused on those issues which are under Dell's control and unified them by conceiving of a metric he calls the cash conversion cycle, which is a measure of how quickly orders are converted into cash. I think of it as a cash flow speedometer. The faster an order is converted into product, the less inventory required to convert components into finished goods, the faster the goods find their way to the customer, the faster the customer pays for those goods, and the better the terms Dell receives from its suppliers -- these are all grist for the financial mill. But notice that execution depends upon many people working towards a common goal. Unless you understand the cash conversion cycle, you really cannot understand Dell. Meredith may have spearheaded this effort, but it is a team undertaking. And the success of this undertaking is manifested in a phenomenal ROIC. TTFN, CTC

To: Voltaire who wrote (76939)	11/8/1998 8:39:00 PM
From: kemble s. matter	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

Voltaire, Hi!!! <<Thanks for the welcome. Great analogy about Mr. Meredith and Ted Williams. I am not sure Tom is appreciated as much as he should be. >> Yes....quite true...I imagine every Dell employee should receive more attention and compliments from all of us...the tour of the Metric Facility was shocking ....what we witnessed was an room full of perfection...IMO the employees being tied to the company's growth through their hard effort and option rewarding is a real driver for this company going forward...the way the leaders are training others so fast is an immense task...when Mort talks of 250 being hired each week in Austin alone...things like this really impress me...Dell has succeeded in obtaining some outstanding talent....one comment comes to mind...Frequently, friends ask me if there is something that I foresee that could keep Dell from being the next Dell...I like to steal Michael's words once again: "I believe that the only problem long term we have with Dell's growth will be in finding quality people.." Thanks also for the kind remarks...so many on this thread have given so much expertise to this small brain...I guess when I didn't listen very often in high school or college...I left some room up there...but, I listen to the integrity of so many on this thread and it sticks... Best, Kemble

To: Voltaire who wrote (76939)	11/8/1998 10:02:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

'The Chair' recognizes THOMAS MEREDITH- 'He da man'.<g> Voltaire: I am sure you have seen this but just in case you haven't here is one example that Tom Meredith is not ignored by people in the know.I think we all know (most of 'us') Tom Meredith is right up there and he is certainly appreciated. Sure he doesn't get that much press but I think his contributions to the company and the industry is widely recognized at least by some but hopefully most. Oh before I forget here is the article I was referring to which by the way was posted here already. cfonet.com So anyway how is the view from the porch?<g>