Protecting your supply chain

All the disruptions surrounding the global supply chain have just about every business hurting in some way.

During the middle of the week, I wrote about Apple being relatively unaffected from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami despite sourcing many of their parts from affected areas.
So, how did they do it?

“The products are hot, it’s got $60 billion in cash, and it’s a big company,” supply chain and Apple analyst Brian White told CNN.

“Those three factors allow it to get more of its fair share of components, and ultimately market share.”

Another reason for Apple’s continued success through the Japanese disasters has been the relatively few number of products Apple puts out on the market. Apple really only sells five products: the iPad, iPod, iPhone Mac and Apple TV.

Having such a small number of products on the market mean supplying your business is much less of a hassle. In times of duress like the supply chain business is in right now, sourcing your products from all over the world can become a problem.

SEE OTHER TOP STORIES IN THE WDM CONTENT NETWORK

T-Mobile, Sprint merger deal means nothing without the Apple iPhone

Apple iPad 2: The most successful Apple launch ever?

The Top 5 warehouse management software vendors

Check out the latest issue of Supply Chain Digital!

So what can your company do to help its supply chain during challenging times? If you’re just starting out, try narrowing your company’s focus to just a few select items. Doing so will naturally improve your supply chain management, as you won’t need to source from all over the globe.

As Apple is proving, you don’t need a ton of products on the market to grow into a billion-dollar business, just stick with what you know.