Everything Supply Chain

Learn from great supply chain companies: Become a Supply Chain MVP

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Supply Chain Companies

One of the ways people improve their supply chain knowledge is to benchmark and research great supply chain companies.  Some great supply chain companies include: Amazon, Apple, Toyota, Walmart, P&G, Starbucks, FedEx, UPS and so on.

For Toyota you may want to start with the Toyota Production System (TPS).  There is a great deal of information out there on TPS via presenations, websites and books.  Jeffrey Liker has quite a bit of information on the Internet about TPS.

For Amazon, a place to start might be Kiva Robots or Amazon Robotics.  Both searches will get you the same information.  It is amazing how the Kiva Robots transformed the Amazon supply chain.  There are also some great information out there on Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon.

For Procter and Gamble (P&G) you may want to do a search along with Walmart.  P&G and Walmart have done some amazing things in the supply chain space.  By sharing data, P&G and Walmart improved the overall efficiency of the supply chain immensely.  There are numerous stories about this and is seen as one of the innovations that changed supply chain.

Apple has been one of the top, if not the top supply chain company over the last several years.

This is just the start of so many companies that can be researched.  Here are some others to check out: Starbucks, Cisco, Coca-Cola, Dell Computers and Intel.

CEO videos

 

Follow great supply chain companies like Walmart, Amazon, Apple, P&G, Toyota

Leadership Quotes of Great Supply Chain Companies:

  • “If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.”  ~ Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. Key component to the amazing Amazon Supply Chain.
  • “You can make a lot of mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you’re too inefficient.”  ~ Sam Walton, founder of Walmart.  Responsible for the Walmart Supply Chain.
  • “Every breakthrough business idea begins with solving a common problem. The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity. I discovered a big one when I took apart an IBM PC. I made two interesting discoveries: The components were all manufactured by other companies, and the system that retailed for $3,000 cost about $600 in parts.” ~ Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computers. The Dell Supply Chain changed the retail computing industry.
  • “We develop and grow leaders. P&G people are given the opportunity – the assignments, experiences, and coaching – to become the strongest leaders they can be.”  ~ A.G. Lafley, CEO P&G.
  • “Winning is what matters—and it is the ultimate criterion of a successful strategy.” ~ A.G. Lafley
  • “Why not make the work easier and more interesting so that people do not have to sweat? The Toyota style is not to create results by working hard. It is a system that says there is no limit to people’s creativity. People don’t go to Toyota to ‘work’ they go there to ‘think’” ~ Taiichi Ohno, father of Toyota Production System (TPS).
  • “Some critics will say Coca-Cola made a marketing mistake. Some cynics will say that we planned the whole thing. The truth is we’re not that dumb and we’re not that smart.” (At the 1985 press conference announcing the return of ‘classic’ Coke following consumer backlash to New Coke) ~ Don Keough.
  • Celebrate your successes. Find some humor in your failures. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Loosen up, and everybody around you will loosen up. Have fun. Show enthusiasm – always. When all else fails, put on a costume and sing a silly song. Then make everybody else sing with you. Don’t do a hula on Wall Street. It’s been done. Think up your own stunt. All of this is more important, and more fun, than you think, and it really fools the competition. “Why should we take those cornballs at Wal-Mart seriously?”  ~ Sam Walton

Walmart Sam Walton Quote

 

Supply Chain Strategic Importance by Toyota, Walmart, Amazon, Dell, P&G, Apple

Great supply chain companies optimize processes through technology

Supply Chain