The Top 3 Supply Chains of 2014…Who will make 2015?

According to Gartner's Supply Chain Top 25, leadership, structure and efficiency is what makes all the companies excel each other and make the list. With best practice and continuous improvement of supply chain being a desire for all companies worldwide, understanding what companies make this list, why and how is vital and can provide key takeaway ideas for all.

This week I have blogged about the three companies which made the Gartner Top 25 in 2014. Have a read and see what can be learnt from their practices…

Number 3… Amazon. This worldwide, largest internet based retailer in the USA came as no shock at making number 3 on the list for 2014. Known in the industry for their operational excellence and outstanding supply chain strategies, Amazon is a company everyone should and can be learning from. Whether this is from their CEO, Jeff Bezos gets stuck in their dealing with the customer services issues or their strong and persistent use of customer purchasing analytics, Amazon, there's no doubt that they will definitely be in this year’s top 3 again!

Number 2... McDonalds. As described on Wikipedia, “The McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries across 35,000 outlets”, no wonder that they made number 2 on the Supply Chain countdown! With the supply chain based on the three-legged stool concept (suppliers/company/franchises), the use of E-Procurement, the use of its “Cold Chain” supply chain in India and 38 long term suppliers, McDonald’s continue to strive and develop worldwide, consistently improving supply chain efficiency too.

Number 1… Apple (for the 7^th year running!) So what makes Apple continue to secure the top spot? Well, not only are they hot gossip in all things technological, they are world leaders in innovation and branding. The supply chain core processes is complex… Have a look at the brief overview of their supply chain:

Supply Chain Planning at Apple Inc

Through overcoming supply chain challenges, acknowledging their potential risks, analysing their number of suppliers and warehouses, and their products life cycles, Apple works extremely different to other companies in the list such as Amazon. With the company setting high but realistic expectations from their suppliers and agreements to meet the volume of products needed, relationships with suppliers increased over time thus improving the supply and demand processes which is one of the key reasons that makes Apple the global supply chain leader.

So what can you learn from these companies in order to improve your supply chain processes and increase profit? Keep an eye out for the 2015 list and let’s see who can make the cut!

As a tomboy child, Holly enjoyed watching wrestling and was The Rock’s biggest fan. She is from a tiny farming village in the north of England and has moved to Sydney to enjoy the city lifestyle. As a conference producer at Akolade, Holly enjoys researching with and learning from key professionals within a range of sectors to produce timely conferences. Furthermore, Holly enjoys how each day in the life of a conference producer is always different and exciting!