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I’ve already mentioned the recent white paper , Supply Chain Priorities for the High-Tech Industry. Today I want to draw a parallel between the white paper and what is happening in the marketplace. It’s readily apparent that demand-driven operations strategies have been successful for several well-known high-tech brands, but there is still a long way to go.
In 2012, Gartner named 8 high-tech companies among the top 25 supply chains, and again Apple was named #1. For me, Apple is such an interesting case study—while some observers focus on Apple’s product design and marketing as the key drivers behind its incredible growth, in fact Apple’s product design and marketing have long been considered top-notch. It has only been in the last decade or so that Apple has grown to the behemoth that it is today. What changed? One answer is their supply chain.
Despite overreactions to Apple’s current stock swoon, the fact is that thanks to Tim Cook, their supply chain strategies have allowed them to sell their premium products at competitive prices. That’s a winning combination. So what’s the lesson for other high-tech companies? Make building a demand-driven supply chain a top priority for 2013.
Assuming you agree that a demand-driven supply chain is a worthy goal, what are some tangible steps to take? In my next post I’ll walk you through the seven key supply chain priorities for the high tech industry.
- Supply Chain Predictions for 2017 - February 23, 2017
- Digital Disruption: Supply Chain Planning in the Digital Era - December 12, 2016
- Brexit: What’s the Impact on U.S. Supply Chains? - July 7, 2016