Contents

• Introduction
• Notion of Supply Chain
• Supply Chain Network at Apple Inc
• Benefits of Supply Chain Network at Apple
• Issues Associated with Sustainable Supply Chain Management
• Establishing Effective Supply Chain Network at Apple
• Conclusion
• References

Description

In this era of intense market competition, supply chains are viewed as important links, which connect a corporation’s inputs to the results and outputs (Handfield and Nichols, 1999). From a traditional perspective, some of the common supply chain challenges include lowering operational costs, focusing on Just-In-Time (JIT) deliver and minimising risks in order to effectively address organisational objectives. However, constantly rising market needs, natural calamities and consumer demand for eco-friendly products has forced several firms to invest in developing sustainable supply chains. Since last few years, sustainability has emerged as an evolving concept linked to a continuous increment in the global business surrounding. According to Handfield and Nichols (1999), every single day, leadership and senior management across various organisations struggle determining the impact of their company’s operations on society, natural resources and environment in general. The biggest challenge lies in guarantying sustainable operations and supply chain cycle. The strategic aim is to reduce ecological footprint as well as enhance resource productivity and efficiency. Sustainability in supply chains is perceived as an advanced technique of logistics management. In simple terms, it is profitable supply chain where needs of the markets and consumers are considerably taken into consideration. At many instances, companies are not also able to measure sustainability of their business operations due to limitation of extending evaluation to customers and suppliers. Insufficient operational control also limits the waste removal ability (Handfield and Nichols, 1999).
Taking into consideration, the continuous necessity to achieve sustainability in business surrounding, this paper attempts to discuss the supply chain network at Apple Inc. The paper also highlights the benefits and weaknesses associated with the supply network at Apple Inc.