Supply Chain Analysis: Case Study of Apple Company

SUPPLY CHAIN ANALYSIS: CASE STUDY OF APPLE COMPANY 1
SUPPLY CHAIN ANALYSIS: CASE STUDY OF APPLE COMPANY
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Introduction
In today’s world of business, many business organizations are adopting business models
which are customer centered (Beske & Seuring 2014, p.322). The use of supply chain in
procurement which focuses the end customer requires complete visible end-to-end strategy. This
can be achieved by identifying areas which require improvement within the end-to-end supply
chain. The end-to-end supply chain refers to a system which connects all the logistic and supply
chain processes (Bevilacqua, Ciarapica & Giacchetta 2012, p.133). This usually begins with the
customer, works through the manufacturing process and then ends at the supplier base. End-to-
end supply chain is the main driver of an organization which when well managed can lead to
drastic improvement in an organization’s performance by highly raising its profits.
Company of choice
My company of choice is Apple Inc. which was formerly known as Apple Computer,
Inc.; Apple Company was established as an American manufacturing company for personal
computers, computer softwares and computer peripherals. It became the first successful company
dealing with personal computers and popularizer of graphical user interface. The company
headquarters are based in Cupertino, in California (Micklethwait & Wooldridge 2015, Vol.2).
Since the company opened its first store in United States in the year 2001, its stores
globally have boomed to surpass 200 stores after the year 2007 and are still increasing. Most of
its stores are situated in high profile areas and cities in the world such as New York, Berlin,
Shanghai ,London, Sydney, Amsterdam and Osaka just to mention a few and it typically boasts

SUPPLY CHAIN ANALYSIS: CASE STUDY OF APPLE COMPANY 3
of exceptional designs like the famous glass cube traced in midtown Manhattan (Micklethwait &
Wooldridge 2015, Vol.2). .
Its official opening of stores has become a reputable ideal with thousands of its
consumers often turning up in large numbers in response to prize promises, prestige and
giveaways. People have also been reported to line up even overnights at the company stores
whenever the company is releasing new products (Micklethwait & Wooldridge 2015, Vol.2).
Apple’s vision as a company has been considerably detailed to reflect the company’s all-
inclusive approach and to ensure continued growth and success. This company has proved to
work hand in hand with its suppliers which help it improve its sourcing and the manufacturing
procedures. The company however continues to search for ways in which it can improve its way
of doing business. In unison with the suppliers, the company has continued to work towards full
traceability and transparency within the supply chain, an approach which has enabled it to
continue enjoying success due to its close working relationships and the two-way strong dialogue
it has with its suppliers (Micklethwait & Wooldridge 2015, Vol.2).
Apple Company supply chain Analysis
Supply chain analysis is used as a tool to identify various opportunities of growth related
to a certain company in a given industry (Closs, Speier & Meacham 2011, p.101). The
performance of every company depends on the supply chain it adopts in its production process.
A company’s supply chain involves the sequence of the sectors that are involved in the
production process as well as the distribution of its produced goods and services (Christopher &

SUPPLY CHAIN ANALYSIS: CASE STUDY OF APPLE COMPANY 4
Towill 2010, p.206). It’s actually considered from the point the raw materials are inculcated into
the process up to the point the final goods and services are delivered to the targeted consumers.
Apple is one of the companies which have obtained a number of awards because of its
supply chain strategy. For instance, Gartner, who is a US-based research and advisory company,
recently awarded the company with its inaugural “Masters” award after ranking it No. 1 on his
“Top 25 Supply Chains” for the previous 5 years (Linden, Kraemer, & Dedrick 2017).
The key aspect on Apple’s supply chain lies on its multiple suppliers for a similar
component approach. The Governance Leadership Centre has reviewed this Apple supply chain
strategy aspect to scrutinize the roles that can be played by company boards and directors to
enhance the performance of supply chain management and an organizational as a whole (Linden,
Kraemer, & Dedrick 2017).
Apple Company utilizes a large network of third party distributors in its supply chain. A
current research has indicated that Apple has a total of 785 suppliers based on 31 countries
nationwide, with 349 of them based in China (Tang 2016, p.451).
According to the company’s supplier list of 2015, approximately 97 percent of the
company’s supply chain (comprising assembly, procurement and manufacture) was accounted
for by the company’s top 200 distributors. That implied that 585 of its suppliers accounted for
the 3percent remaining portion of the supply chain, giving the company a significant degree of
latent capacity.