Dell continued its reorganization amid financial performance challenges with the announcement that it had hired former Solectron executive to head its global supply chain.

Dell said it had hired Michael R. Cannon to serve as President, Global Operations, which is effectively a chief supply chain officer role. In this new position, Cannon will lead a new global organization that will combine all of Dell’s manufacturing, procurement and supply chain activities for the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific/Japan.

Previously, Dell did not have an integrated supply chain organizational structure or executive.

When Michael Dell returned to the CEO spot of Dell two weeks ago after the resignation of Kevin Rollins (see Michael Dell returns as CEO of Company He Founded, Says Dell has Lots of Opportunity to Further Improve Its Suppy Chain, Michael Dell's Memo to Dell Computer Employees Leaked ), he said Dell's legendary supply chain had room for improvement, and that the company was currently recruiting a global supply chain leader.

The search was concluded quickly with the appointment of Mr. Cannon, previously president and CEO and a director of Solectron Corporation, one of the largest contract manufacturers in the electronics industry. Prior to that, he had been CEO of Maxtor, a storage device manufacturer, and had been an executive at IBM.

Given his CEO background, there will likely be speculation that Cannon could perhaps be a CEO candidate if Michael Dell later decides to again give up the operational reigns.

"As we continue to grow worldwide, it is important that we increase our ability, via the Direct Model, to manufacture close to our customer and fully integrate our supply chain into one global organization. This will allow us to drive for even greater excellence in quality, cycle time and delivered cost," said Mr. Dell. "We will innovate and adapt our supply chain model to help drive differentiated product design, manufacturing and distribution models."

Dell has nine manufacturing plants in five countries, including the U.S., and will soon add new plants in Poland, India and Brazil to meet the growing needs of customers in emerging markets.