The Role Our Global Supply Chain Plays in Dell’s 2030 Vision

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Almost one year ago, Dell Technologies introduced the 2030 Progress Made Real goals – reflecting our core purpose as a company to drive human progress and create a positive and lasting impact on humankind and the planet.

Progress Made Real has four core goals: advancing sustainability, cultivating inclusion, transforming lives with technology, and upholding ethics and privacy. It was a different world a year ago, but changing times do not change our focus. In fact, today’s challenges have only reinforced the enormous difference we can make by simply doing the right thing.

The supply chain plays a critical role in Dell Technologies’ vision for progress. We embed sustainability and ethical practices in everything we do. Whether it’s protecting our planet, supporting the well-being of our team members, partners and suppliers, or providing a safe working environment where people can thrive, social and environmental responsibility is a paramount focus for our supply chain. Dell Technologies’ 2019 Supply Chain Sustainability Progress Report highlights this commitment.

We are committed to creating a supply chain that values transparency, collaborative leadership, innovation, and empowerment. What are some of the ways we accomplish those goals? By implementing ethical recruitment practices; by utilizing audits and regular training to enhance the health, safety and knowledge of labor rights of our team; and by performing onsite consultations with both factory management and workers at supplier locations to highlight and resolve issues.

These efforts are paying off on environmental issues, too. We are reducing our supply chain’s impact on the planet, including by limiting greenhouse gas emissions and partnering with our suppliers to save freshwater. In 2019, over 275,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions were reduced through energy consumption reduction projects at our supplier factories. And our supply chain saved nearly 30 million meters of freshwater and reduced wastewater discharge by 26.2 million meters.

The guiding principles of our supply chain have been especially important as we address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the onset of COVID-19, we partnered with the Global Facilities and Environmental, Health and Safety teams to develop preventative safety protocols across all Dell Technologies sites. We are also partnering with suppliers to do the same for their facilities. These safety protocols were implemented early to protect our on-site heroes working tirelessly to keep technology flowing for the world in need.

The bottom line: Our supply chain plays a vital role in making Dell Technologies’ 2030 Progress Made Real vision a reality.

About the Author: Kevin Brown

Kevin Brown is a global supply chain executive with three decades of leadership in operations, technology, and procurement. Throughout his professional career he has focused on strategic and transformative initiatives, innovations and partnerships to increase efficiencies, savings, and effectiveness. As executive vice president of Global Operations and Chief Supply Chain Officer for Dell Technologies, a Fortune 50 corporation, Kevin leads an organization of approximately 7700 team members in 23 countries and a procurement budget of $67 billion. During his two decades at Dell, Kevin has occupied leadership positions in several of Dell’s business units, including Chief Procurement Officer, and earlier positions setting up lean manufacturing organizations in the U.S and Malaysia. Before Dell, he spent 10 years in the shipbuilding industry, working on U.S. Department of Defense projects. He earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an M.S. in Engineering Management from George Washington University. Kevin was selected as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations where he serves on the National Committee. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and a member of the Executive Leadership Council.
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