re: 3Q Earnings - Executive Q&A

Robert L Williams — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:05:45 GMT

Robert, Thank you for your question. We are driving several initiatives around working capital including a working capital council that Brian leads that’s driving key process improvements and should result in an improvement of our cash conversion cycle back to historical levels – which is closer to negative 30 days, plus or minus. In addition, our receivables were down in the third quarter with the lower revenue but our payables were down more, as we reduced spending in the second half of the quarter to make the demand environment. When our shipments, production and procurement return to a more typical relationship, we expect a reversal of this cash dynamic. Thanks again! Rob

re: 3Q Earnings - Executive Q&A

robert_mulyono — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:57:05 GMT

Mr Dell and Mr Gladden - this is the 3rd (??) quarter in a row that the cash conversion cycle is trending down. Are you going to put a stake in the ground at some point and decide that the CCC cannot exceed a certain day number? How important is this factor to the overall health of the company?