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Apple’s Supply Chain Strategy
Today, market places have become very competitive. Businesses must have both consistent and innovative strategies to modernize their supply chains to capitalize on productivity. The presence of modern technologies in the supply chain, organizations like Apple Inc., can control their business and remain ahead of its competitor like Samsung. Technology simplifies Apple’s supply chain management and allows the company to operate more effectively. Apple has over 50, 900 employees globally and to control its inventories and minimize its operating costs; technology is critical in its supply chain. Moreover, the technology the company uses in its supply chain enhances customer satisfaction and high retention rates. This essay describes the current technologies apple’s uses to manage its supply chain.
Computerized shipping and Tracking System
Currently, Apple Inc. uses modern technologies and computer-based software like the transportation management system (TMS), to simplify its supply processes and drastically minimize shipping errors. In addition to TSM, Apple has installed customer risk management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) to incorporate all elements of its supply chain in a central place. TMS enables the organization to plan inventory data, manage and monitor shipping processes, track information and produce bills of lading electronically. Currently, this technology has dramatically reduced the time the organization spends in shipping, tracking, receiving and arranging orders hence cutting the companies expenses. Customers, on the other hand, monitor the status of rules they have placed.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Apple’s RFID is a crucial technology that is providing numerous benefits. Through RFID chips embedded on each Apple’s products, the organization can track their inventory. RFID clips have high visibility which has dramatically improved the efficiency of the supply chain by discovering order abnormalities as they appear and allow Apple experts to correct errors instantly. RFID allows the company to exercise maximum control and visibility of its products. Radio Frequency Identification is also helping Apple in its logistics. The technique enables Apple customers to connect to stores through virtual worlds. Through this, Apple has managed to maximize their customer experience. The method offers Apple magic bands and easy-to-use wristbands which have inbuilt RFID chips that provided clients with a pre-planned itinerary with wait times based on visitors’ interest with no need of carrying cash since the bands are linked to customers’ credit card.
Apple uses social media to streamline its Supply Chain.
Social media is a well-known technique that has revolutionized the business world. Currently, close to 288 million people are subscribers of Twitter and Facebook has more than 1.25 billion scribers. It is not coincidental that Apple has turned to social media to express its presence and gain visibility. More than 80% of all Apple stores in the world use social media as their supply chain management and marketing strategy. Using social media, Apple has established more open communication with is clients, improved its market visibility, enhanced the demand of the organization’s products like iPhones, lowered operational costs and improved the company’s productivity. Apple uses social media to interact with its clients, answer their questions, create automated updates, and report accidents. To increase its supply chain collaboration, Apple uses social media to ask existing clients to offer suggestions, collect improve ideas, collaborate among business units and enhance information sharing within its suppliers.
Big Data
Apple uses big data supply chain technology to accelerate and provide sufficient data to drive its contextual intelligence. Apple big data allows for more complex supplier network that concentrates on collaboration, completing transactions and knowledge sharing. Due to big supply-chain analytics, Apple has managed to venture into many new markets over time. Its expansion is based on two new things. First, it increases the data set for evaluation past the internal data, traditionally contained in the ERP and SCM systems. Second, Apple applies powerful statistical strategies to both old and new data sources. This helps the company to develop new insights that improve its supply chain decision making, up to the improvement of its frontline operations and strategic choices like selecting the right operating models within its supply chain. An example, Apple uses the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine to avoid unscheduled downtimes. Big data solutions also help to reduce delivery delays by evaluating GPS data and traffic data to perfect delivery routes better. Big data helps the company to manage responsive supply chains as they understand their customers better and market trends.
Major providers of current technologies for the industry
Computerized shipping and Tracking
The primary provider of computerized shipping and tracking systems to Apple is Arviem. Arviem addresses the challenges of getting visible and intelligent trade by issuing real-time end to end monitoring services. Arviem works by providing an exact location and excellent condition monitoring of cargo on transit throughout the global supply chain. Arviem removes milestone-based supply chain visibility solutions and alerts Apple on the location and state of the goods. Since Arviem is installed automatic sensing and locating technology on multimodal cargo and containers, it addresses the requirement of decision-makers for timely, end-to-end, quality data. A wide array of services obtained from Arviem enables Apple to transform its supply chain by including big data, latest sensor techniques and clever data analytics. Arviem’s supply chain visibility and cloud-based infrastructure software have transformed Apple in the manner in which it uses collected data. Using Arviem’s computerized shipping and tracking systems, and pay-as-you-use monitoring services are enabling Apple to optimize it is operative and financial supply chains even without purchasing assets or technology.
Big Data
The primary provider of big data to Apple is the international Business Machine (IBM). IBM is an American organization whose headquarters are based in New York. The organization is the biggest seller of big data and other products. Big data that Apple obtains from IBM provides it with features such as manage data, store data and analyze data. IBM derives its data from several sources that are availed to its customers. Examples of big data solutions Apple acquires from IBM include Hadoop system that stores structured and unstructured data. Hadoop is created to process big volumes of data. Stream computing enables organizations to conduct in-motion analytics such as real-time data processing and IoT, and analytics. IoT uses IBM Streams, and it helps Apple to gather and analyze data in motion.
Omni-ID Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
This is a manufacturing industry that offers devices and tags that facilitates critical business processes. Omni-ID is the leaders of RFID tag technology and currently complementing core products with broad, high-performance gadgets that connect to the IoT. Due to increased process complexity and uncertain demands, Apple had been forced to acquire devices to enhance its tracking, monitoring and creative solutions. Omni-ID creates a reliable, connected end-to-end asset management in real-time control and process visibility to companies and businesses. Apple used this RFID and other mixtures of contemporary technologies together with manageable working conditions to speed up their operations and meet customer demands. To support significant customers like Apple, Omni-ID ensures that all its lines are open and their representatives can be contacted at any time.