Purchasing and Supply Management for iPhone 8-myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about thePurchasing and Supply Management for iPhone 8. Answer: Apple and its Supply Chain One of the research firms by the name of Gartner has ranked the supply chain of Apple as the best in the business for the period 2010 to 2013. Apples latest model, the iPhone 8 would be offered as a limited release for the issues within their supply chain. It is important for every manufacturer to keep an eye on the release of its new products, as strained relationships might jeopardize the production of the product and can harm the expectations of customers (Monczka et al. 2015). However, Apple is one lucky company who is never pegged back by such kind of incidents. Strategic Sourcing of Apple: As an integral part of their strategic sourcing preeminent practices for the market of smartphone, Apple mainly focuses on the production of iPhone, even for its latest edition in China for some quick productivity. Apples decision related on the ways of manufacturing and assembling of their products has a serious impact on the foreign and local domestic labor market in various ways (Guo 2016). Several reports have shown that Apple assembles all their iPhones in the Chinese factories. This decision of outsourcing is not only for the cost-savings of labor but for the fact that Chinese factories have the ability in manufacturing larger volumes at rapid rate. Tactical Sourcing: Tactical sourcing is generally being used by the small or medium sized companies for attaining the companys strategic plan. It is generally short term with the decisions of procurement are mainly being based on price. Apple does not need to follow the tactical sourcing path as it is stated to be the less efficient way of procuring the goods and services. Apple believes in delivering their customers the best possible quality products, and for that Apple would always go for higher investments in making its product worth buying for their loyal set of customers. Apples Dual Sourcing Strategy: Apple is in the habit of sourcing its components (even for iPhone 8) from two suppliers atleast for the purpose of diminishing the risk and has the conciliation of strength. In the year 2016 too, the company used this dual-sourcing method for its cellular modems. Recently, Apple has gone in for sourcing its components from the multiple suppliers for reducing their trust on the single supplier (Inoue and Ikawa 2014). Suppliers are also doing the same with Apple. Relationship of Apple with its suppliers: Apple needs each supplier to meet the highest possible customary for all its goods and services. Their requirement takes in a commitment to accurate quality guarantee. Adding to that is the fact that suppliers need to be committed, making sure the highest standards are being maintained of social responsibility (Chen and Baddam 2015). The business environment of Apple is fast and competitive. The suppliers need to be agile, flexible and dynamic in the way they respond to the changing conditions of business. Above everything, Apple believes in innovation. They have been appreciating the suppliers who understand truly and share in the challenges, helping them in finding the best probable solutions. Transportation of Apple products: The process of transportation starts in China, where the iPhone pallets are being shifted from the factories in safe containers accompanied with details of security. The container then gets loaded on top of the trucks and is being shipped via pre-bought airfreight space. The journey of the iPhone ends in the stores where Apple makes regular adjustments as per the demand of their customers (Chan, Pun and Selden 2013). Apples Outsourcing strategy: Apple is not in the habit of producing customized products and for that it does not need to distribute quickly, all its products are generally mass-manufactured and standardized. Adding to that is the fact that Apple does not modify its assortment- with even the new iPhone 8 would be in sale for a year or two. The bigger challenge for Apple has been the availability of supplier, changes in engineering along with flexibility. The volumes of its productions are much unpredictable with the changes in the engineering requiring manufacturing flexibilities. USA lacks such engineering capabilities (Inou. and Ikawa 2014). So, Apple outsources from China, where manufacturers can arrange thousands of collocated engineers for introducing the changes required overnight, supplying larger labor either to ramp up or ramp down the production quickly. USA does not have a factory where 2, 50,000 workers can be employed day in and day out, surrounded by the proficient suppliers. It is not only for labo r cost, but also for manufacturing risk where it is being best controlled. Reference: Chan, J., Pun, N. and Selden, M., 2013. The politics of global production: Apple, Foxconn and China's new working class.New Technology, Work and Employment,28(2), pp.100-115. Chen, J.Y. and Baddam, S.R., 2015. The effect of unethical behavior and learning on strategic supplier selection.International Journal of Production Economics,167, pp.74-87. Guo, R., 2016.Strategic Sourcing Under Supplier Responsibility and Relationship Risks(Doctoral dissertation, Stanford University). Inoue, K. and Ikawa, Y., 2014, July. How sourcing knowledge is acquired in companies. In Management of Engineering Technology (PICMET), 2014 Portland International Conference on(pp. 1784-1789). IEEE. Monczka, R.M., Handfield, R.B., Giunipero, L.C. and Patterson, J.L., 2015.Purchasing and supply chain management. Cengage Learning.