Dell's Custom Factory Integration is a frontline solution that integrates hardware, images, applications, peripherals, and documents with your systems, as they're being built. It offers the following benefits:
- Helps simplify and speed up deployment
- Can lead to improved consistency and compatibility
- Helps keep maintenance standards under control
|
The Challenges you face
your business is unique. You often need to balance the requirements of tailor-made solutions against minimising costs and disruption.
At the purchase and deployment stage, this means you could be faced with often costly delays while your
computers are built and customised in multiple locations. This can also impact your IT staff that may have to under take basic installation tasks that could
easily be automated.
In addition, throughout the life of the systems, managing software images is considered by many
organisations a tedious and expensive process, eating away at limited IT time that could be spent on other, more mission critical projects.
The Dell CFI difference – adding value, not cost
At Dell we have the solution; Custom Factory Integration, a logical extension of the Dell built to
order model and as a result, unique in the breadth of solutions we can provide.
It brings you the computers you need, already built to your specification during manufacture at our ISO
9001 certified factories. We work with you to develop your required specifications – and once agreed, build your systems with no additional lead-time. By
automating the process, there is no limit to the number of computers that can be supplied.
The key advantages of Custom Factory Integration – lowering Total Cost of Ownership through:
- Quality – As every aspect of building and configuring your systems is handled in one location, layers of
complexity and human error due to multiple touches are eliminated.
- Consistency – Repeatable production processes yield table, consistent
configurations.
- Expertise – Dell experts and engineering resources support you
throughout the process.
- Global Solutions – Custom Factory Integration can be duplicated in any
Dell factory worldwide, helping ensure global consistency of your systems.
- Improved internal IT staff work – Having systems arrive pre-configured
frees your IT staff from configuring individual systems. They can focus on business-critical projects saving time, effort and manpower.
|
Dell Custom Factory Integration Solutions at a glance:
Custom Factory Integration can be duplicated in any Dell factory worldwide, helping ensure global
consistency of your systems.Key: Order Ready Solutions. Customer Specific solutions:
Custom Factory Integration can be duplicated in any Dell factory worldwide, helping ensure global
consistency of your systems.
Global Solutions
Dell Custom Factory Integration is offered on Dell LatitudeTM notebooks, OptiPlexTM desktops, Dell
PrecisionTM Workstations, and PowerEdgeTM servers
How Does CFI Work?
Step One: creating the technical specification
Working with a Custom Factory Integration project manager and the project engineer assigned to your
account, your system needs are defined and the best way to meet them is defined.
A detailed document, known as the Tech Spec, is then completed by you and a Custom Factory Integration project manager. Once the Tech Spec is complete it is
verified by an engineer and sent to you for review and approval. The project manager then completes the remainder of the project documentation and submits
the project to engineering for development.
Step Two: Engineering Verification
As part of the Tech Spec process, we’ll review your requirements to determine if your configuration
can be produced in our manufacturing facilities. One this is complete, pricing and lead time may be agreed upon.
Step Three: Project Development and Pilot
A project engineer develops the project to the specifications documented in the tech spec. All
hardware and software engineering is accomplished. A pilot unit is assembled to validate the work and help ensure the system can be built in the Dell
factories.
Step Four: Evaluation Unit
As part of the Tech Spec process
Your first system – an Evaluation Unit is built in our manufacturing facility, an engineer
verifies it was accurately manufactured to the requirements agreed upon in the Tech Spec. At this point you have the opportunity to either:
- Receive this
system to test and validate in your network environment prior to volume manufacturing
- Have the system set up in the factory whereupon you can remote-test just as if the
system was in your organisation.
- Sign a Customer Review Unit (CRU) waiver allowing Dell to ship your orders
directly
|
Step Five: Out of Box Audit during Volume Manufacturing
Once a project passes the Evaluation Unit step, volume manufacturing begins. As with all Dell
systems, random out-of-box audits further assure your needs and expectations will be met.
The Parts Replacement Programme offers Dell Custom Factory Integration customers a single point of
contact, should you need to replace many non-standard, internal third party hardware components for the duration of the system's service contract (3-year
maximum).
By choosing Dell's Custom Factory Integration for your custom system needs, you can eliminate the need to contact multiple manufacturers to
replace non-standard parts. All standard Dell hardware components are covered by the standard Dell system warranty and/or service agreement, and now most
non-standard CFI parts can be covered for the same length of time by the Parts Replacement Programme.
Under the Solutions content - create a second tab called ‘CFI Solutions’ and add the following text underneath
Asset Management
Less than 10 per cent of companies worldwide have an asset management policy in place (Gartner - Gartner
reports - Predicts 2005: IT Asset Management Adds Value, Lessens Risk)
Having visibility of assets throughout their life in the working environment can directly impact deployment costs and help you to reduce the total cost of
ownership of IT systems. Keeping an accurate record of installed computer systems is an important part of today's IT environment. Dell offers a choice of
Asset Tagging, Asset Reporting and Asset Security solutions as part of our Custom Factory Integration (CFI) service.
Asset Tagging
 |  | The Dell CFI programme offers
different types of external system labels:
- Dell-generated asset tags, which display system information, ordering detail, warranty dates etc.
- Customer consigned asset tags, which display your logo and
Customer-defined information.
- Ship box asset labels, which display user definable data fields, and
eliminate the need to unpack the box prior to deployment.
|
|
Asset tags will be applied to your systems prior to dispatch. They can include any five or six of the following items:
Asset Tag Number Hard drive Type First Hard Drive Size Service Tag/Serial Number Address First CD-ROM in System First CD-ROM Speed Processor Speed Warranty Exp 3 Year Dell Customer Number PO Number MAC-Address UUID | | Modem Type NIC Installed Installed OS Dell Order Number Computer CPU Type System RAM Quantity Estimated Ship-By Date Sound Card Computer Mode Video Memory Video Type Fixed Text (such as 'property of') |
 | | Fields can be in both barcode and alphanumeric format to facilitate asset recording. |
Applying a Ship Box Label with user-definable data fields can reduce, if not eliminate, the need to remove
the system from its shipping box prior to deployment.
Barcode data allows systems to be scanned into hub services for record keeping and onward distribution.
A 10 character alphanumeric customer asset number can also be written into the system BIOS to allow system tools to remotely interrogate for identification.
The number is not easily removed and provides an additional level of security.Asset Reporting
Asset Reporting will enable you to log system configuration order details in a convenient and
efficient way for managing systems. CFI asset reports containing detailed information are emailed daily or weekly in Microsoft Excel format.
The above are just a few examples of the CFI Asset Management suite. To see our full set of solutions,
see the table below.
For more detailed information, please click here
Asset Security
Dell’s Asset Security Services help prevent loss or theft by enabling the factory integration of various anti-theft devices:
 | | Stoptrack Anti-Theft Label: 3-in-1 protection with a metal label, a ‘stolen; label and tracking services in the event of theft. |
 | | TLS anti-Theft Label: as above but with the addition of UV messaging embedded in to the ‘stolen’ label for additional security and using the Dell logo. |
 | | ComputraceOne allows you to: track your assets; deter theft; investigate loss; delete data on stolen computers and track leases on any system with an internet connection anywhere in the world. A confidential monitoring centre provides you with 24/7 online reports on the status of your assets based on encrypted daily alerts from the system. In the event of theft, alerts increase to a 15 minute frequency allowing for the monitoring centre to track its location. The Absolute Recovery team partners with local law enforcement to track thieves and enable return of your system at no additional cost. You also have the option of wiping data remotely from the stolen system. The Data Delete services helps to prevent a thief from accessing and potentially compromising that data and is included at no additional charge. |
Hardware Integration
Having your hardware installed and configured at one time, in one place, presents many benefits
including standardization and high dependability. Custom Factory Integration makes it possible by helping to ensure the integrity of your unique hardware
configurations and making the process of upgrading or transitioning to new software simple. In addition, Custom Factory Integration standardization helps
simplify system administration, training, and compatibility issues.
Hardware integration services cover:
• Installation of industry-standard hardware components and the appropriate drivers, including: Network interface cards, modems, video cards, sound
cards, internal storage devices, and hard drives.
• Custom hardware settings, including: CMOS/BIOS settings, jumper settings, port settings, special scripting and hard drive partitioning.
Here is an overview of Dell’s Custom Factory Integration hardware integration services:
For more detailed information, please click here
Software Integration
Dell’s Custom Factory Integration is here to help with all aspects of software integration and
management across our full range of client systems and the PowerEdgeTM range of Enterprise systems.
Server Software Integration
Custom or standard configurations of standard, custom or proprietary software can be installed in our
factory environment based on your requirements and schedule. In this manner, you can ensure systems will have the same version of the same software. Server
software integration includes:
Scripted OS Integration
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003
• Microsoft Small Business Server 2003
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• SuSE Linux
Customer Application Solutions
• DBMS (Oracle 10g, SQL Server 2005)
• Microsoft Operations Manager 2005
• Enterprise Resource Planning (SAP, PeopleSoft)
• Disaster recovery and backup
• Proprietary and third-party application installations
Desktop, Notebook and Workstation Software Integration
You can choose custom or standard configurations of standard, custom, or proprietary software to be installed
on your desktop, notebook and workstation systems including:
• Software image loads of all your major operating systems
• Proprietary and third-party applications loads
• Hard drive partitioning
• Image Management Services
