Apple Tops Gartner’s Supply Chain Top 25 for the Seventh Year in a Row

Apple has the best supply chain management, according to Gartner’s annual Supply Chain Top 25 list. This year Gartner celebrates its tenth annual list, and Apple has taken the No. 1 spot for the past seven years, the market research company emphasizes.

Apple took the top spot, outpacing every other member of the list by a wide margin on the composite of financial and opinion measures. McDonald’s ranked no. 2 for the second time in a row, while Amazon grabbed third spot.

The top five-ranked organizations in 2014 include four that topped the list last year — Apple, McDonald’s, Amazon and Unilever — plus another familiar leader, P&G. Two new companies joined the Top 25 this year with Seagate Technology (No. 20) appearing for the first time and Kimberly-Clark (No. 21) re-emerging after a year’s hiatus.

What the Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 list emphasizes is that these players are taking the customer needs and behaviours as the starting point for go-to-market and operational support strategies. Apple, for example, presents elegant solutions to its customers, but these solutions are driven by a conscious supply chain orchestration behind the scenes, resulting in a high-quality customer experience, Gartner highlights.