Apple tops 2012 supply chain top 25 for fifth time
The Gartner research group (http://www.gartner.com) has released the findings from its eighth annual Supply Chain Top 25. Apple topped the list for the fifth time in a row.
The goal of the Supply Chain Top 25 research initiative is to raise awareness of the supply chain discipline and how it impacts the business. Analysts announced the findings from this year's research at the Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference (http://www.gartner.com/us/supplychain), which is being held at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa through May 23.
"Last year, we noted that companies were starting to invest in resources and assets again, reflecting a newly recovering economy," says Debra Hofman, managing vice president at Gartner. "This year, that trend continues even more strongly, with many companies investing for growth. The global economic recovery has been uneven and halting in some cases, but, on balance, the result has been expansionary for companies' bottom lines and outlooks."
Average annual revenue growth of the companies in the study increased 29 percent over the previous year. The average return on assets (ROA) and net profits improved by more than 50 percent in 2010, and then stabilized this year, signaling profitable growth.
The supply chain top five included three mainstays -- Apple, Dell and P&G -- and two that are newer to the ranking, but have been rising steadily -- Amazon and McDonald's. Maintaining its record in the No. 1 slot was Apple, delivering total solutions to its customers through tightly integrated design of hardware components, firmware, a proprietary operating system and an ecosystem of applications that run on top of that platform, according to Gartner.
"Stellar financials, which further improved this year, supported by the highest voting scores point to its combination of operational and innovation excellence, a zealous focus on starting with the consumer experience and working back through the design of its supply network, and mastery in orchestrating its end-to-end value network," says the research group.
