HOW APPLE AND DISNEY ARE MAKING THE MOST OF THEIR DIGITAL SUPPLY CHAINS
A Management Information Systems Project Assignment: Select two organizations in the same industry and study their SCM. Prepare a report on how the companies are managing their customers and suppliers. Make some recommendations as to how they can improve their efficiency.
Submitted to: Sir Waqas Saeed Submitted by: Muhammad Babar Suleman Hassan Irshad Atif Murtaza Arslan Sadiq Arslan Zafar Ran Amjid Mehmood Ehtisham-ur-Rasool
01. INTRODUCTION
1.1 AMR SUPPLY CHAIN TOP 25: STRONG SHOWINGS BY APPLE AND WALT DISNEY
Apple stays on top with an unbeatable combination of killer financials and stellar opinion scores. AMR Research
The AMR Research institute recently published its list of the companies boasting the best Supply Chain Management procedures (see Appendix 01). Two of the top 25 players represented a radical departure from the traditional Supply Chains. Apple tops the list with a supply chain which is as much a revolution for traditional supply chains as it is a negation of almost everything the supply chains
have previously been characterized by. For one, Apple’s supply chain for its online store iTunes is completely digital in nature. It is the apex and materialization of what Management Information Systems and Information Technology Disney combines demand-driven advancements had hinted at. Another company in the top 25, the entertainment giant Walt Disney combines a digital supply chain with a streamlined traditional one with spectacular results.
replenishment with new collaborative models for pure content distribution. AMR Research
As lines between companies’ offers of physical and digital products become blurred, Apple and Disney are the forerunners of what will be the future of supply chains: The Digital Supply Chain. Additionally, both the companies’ supply chain models are based on the “demand driven excellence” model which is
References: Wikipedia Digital Supply Chain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_supply_chain AMR Research www.amrresearch.com PC World “How Apple’s Supply Chain fared during the 3G Rollout” http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/148429/how_apples_supply_chain_fared_during_t he_3g_rollout.html Cara’s Com425 Blog http://csmithcom425.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/week-6-supply-chain-management/ “Understanding the Digital Supply Chain” Presented at Media-Tech Conference, 23rd April 2009 by Sven Deutschman, CEO, Arvato Digital Services EMEA http://www.media-tech.net/fileadmin/templates/europe09/pdf/presentations/MEDIATECH_2009_Sven_Deutschmann.pdf Business Week “Hollywood Is Worried as DVD Sales Slow” http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_09/b4121056770437.htm MESA Disney developing ‘Keychest’ for Digital Content Access http://mesalliance.org/blog/2009/10/21/disney-developing-‘keychest’-for-digital-content-access/ Information Week “Q&A with Disney 's Patrizio: Digital Content Is the Future” http://www.informationweek.com/news/globalcio/interviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=160403913