Apple still number one
For the seventh consecutive year—and allegedly, surpassing its competition significantly—Apple has been placed at number one on Gartner’s annual Supply Chain Top 25 list. Ranking is based on a number of criteria including a company’s growth and overall stock turnover.
Ranked second and third respectively were McDonald’s and Amazon.
To read more, click here.
Supply chain disruption in Vietnam
What started as an oil dispute between Vietnam and China led to violent anti-China protests, looting and damage to factories and industrial parks in Vietnam. Besides supply chain disruptions, relations between the two countries could also be soured indefinitely.
Companies that manufacture in Vietnam, such as Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry, had to temporarily suspend production due to safety concerns resulting from protestor attacks. To date, 100 Chinese have been injured and more than 3000 evacuated from Vietnam.
Although Vietnamese authorities have been able to subdue the protests, The Nikkei Asian Review notes that, should China forbid workers to travel to Vietnam or permanently remove them from companies based there, the Vietnamese economy could be quite negatively affected.
To read more, click here.
Target reports heavy losses in Canada
A year after Target Corp. launched several stores on Canadian soil, the American retailer has reported losses in excess of $1.4 billion. At the root of Target’s failings was inconsistent data management and communication between divisions. Two notable examples included barcodes on items not matching up with the data on the computer systems of Target’s logistics contractor, and inaccurate stock levels. This ultimately led to delays and limited stock availability for many items in stores.
To read more, click here.
Have a nice weekend!
