Question

Visit the website of Intel Corporation and research about the company on the internet. As best you can, identify Intel’s production and assembly locations. What types of products does Intel produce? Do you think Intel is following a centralized or a decentralized production strategy? Explain your answer. Where does Intel conduct much of its R&D and why is it performed there?

Answer 1

Intel majorly manufactures microprocessor chips for clients like Apple, Lenovo, HP and Dell. The manufacturing process of microprocessors and chips is called fabrication. Hence, the manufacturing units producing these chips are named as Fab units by Intel. Intel also manufactures devices and accessories related to networking communication and computing like motherboard chipsets, graphic chips, flash memory, network interface controllers, integrated circuits, server boards, data centre blocks and many other devices. Intel is the manufacturer of Pentium, Celeron, Xeon, Core, Atom, Movidius and Quark Processors which it markets in its own name. It also manufactures workstations, minicomputers, desktops, laptops and modems.

Intel uses proprietary process technologies to carry on all production and manufacturing activities in its own facilities. Intel’s innovation stays focussed towards advanced manufacturing processes and packaging, architecture, interconnects, and embedded security features. According to Intel, as declared in one of its Annual Reports, "Additionally, we aim to have the best process technology, and unlike most semiconductor companies, we primarily manufacture our products in our own facilities. This allows us to optimize performance, reduce our time to market, and scale new products more rapidly." (Source: https://s21.q4cdn.com/600692695/files/doc_financials/interactive/IntelAR2011/business/strategy/)

This declaration clarifies the point that Intel follows a centralized production strategy as one of its major goals is to do seamless Research and gain the ability to scale new products frequently and implement them in the market.

As Intel undertakes all its production and manufacturing operations in its own facilities, similarly its R&D is also conducted in its own laboratories. Intel has different teams responsible for different stages of R&D until it is implemented successfully to some projects. All these teams work side-by-side in coordination till assembly of the final product. Named as "Intel Labs", there are six peak research laboratories at Berkeley, Washington, Pittsburg, Cambridge, Oregon and Santa Clara (California - Headquarters). Majorly, Intel collaborates with leading universities to conduct extensive research governed by a non-disclosure agreement abiding by the intellectual property rights subjected to the jurisdiction in which the university is located. These units and called Intel Research Lablets.

The R&D Strategy of Intel is such as it developed an open collaborative research model in 2001. According to this model, researchers are required to collaborate with professors and focus on R&D according to the innovation strategy of Intel. This is done by Intel to get access to the already setup laboratories of the universities and use the experienced professors and members of teir research team. In this strategy, it focuses towards acquiring more research centers to scakle up the development team, as investing behind the construction of laboratories at various locations will indulge the company in various sorts of time-consuming formalities and construction processes.