SCMG503 Week 6 Discussion

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School

American Public University *

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Course

503

Subject

Information Systems

Date

Jan 9, 2024

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docx

Pages

4

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Good afternoon fellow classmates and professor, Apple is one of the largest technology companies in the world, dominating the digital electronics market. The company’s business model primarily emphasizes on selling its line of products and digital subscription services. Tangible Apple products commonly sold include the iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Apple Watch. The success from Apples business model is derived from focusing on innovative product designs and its marketing strategies. It is apparent that to continue to scale the company and remain profitable, Apple must continue to create new products for consumers to purchase. Therefore, certain general and specific factors must be considered by the company, concerning the storage and transportation of Apple products. General Factors General storage factors to consider consist of determining the type of storage facility needed. The type of storage facility needed depends on location, purpose, operation and stock attributes (Hines, 2013, p. 289). The main warehouse for storing Apple products is located in Elk Grove California near the company headquarters (Clayborne, 2021), and products are distributed to its Apple Store locations used as nodes in a product distribution network (Apple Insider, 2020). This serves the purpose of reducing the reliance of centralized distribution, enabling Apple to expedite order delivery from its stores to consumers. In addition to faster deliveries, it also optimizes transportation costs when having warehouses placed strategically. Safety and security is another general factor to consider. Apple products are considered high-value items and requires secure storage and transportation to prevent damage or theft. According to Apple’s Responsibility Standards and Code of Ethics (2020), security searches are
permitted and applied equally across all employees regardless of position. Additionally, the policy also states that suppliers shall comply with temperature and humidity policies during the handling and transporting goods for Apple ( Apple , 2022). Products such as the iPhone, iPads, and MacBooks all have particular components that are temperature sensitive, which require quality control management to protect against the risk of damage or defective items. Thus, environmental conditions is another general factor that the company considers for warehousing and logistics operations. Specific Factors The importance of consolidating certain products is an example of a specific factors that Apple considers for its storage and transportation requirements. For instance, CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, focuses on non-seasonal products that have life cycles exceeding 12 months (Shrum, 2018). This approach of consolidation, pushes prioritized products to retail locations, avoiding delays and provides quick replenishment of inventory. Additionally, Apple releases new products frequently and certain items due to be launched may require additional storage and transportation capacities. Packaging Apple products is another specific factor that the company considers. The company emphasizes on minimalistic, sleek and ecofriendly packaging materials, which affects storage spaces and transportation efficiency. Lastly, determining transportation carriers and modes are specific factors that Apple considers for its requirements. The carriers have the capacity to transport large loads from high volume orders of such a large company. Carries maybe collocated with distribution centers and must facilitates different modes of transport for varied delivery timeframe options. The calculate lead time is usually the
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