Best Supply Chains from Companies around the World

Best-in-class supply chains incorporate a key list of characteristics that define their
success and set them apart with exemplary management. These characteristics include
a proactive use of big data, highly optimized inventory management, flexibility and
speed with order fulfillment, customization with process implementation, energy
sustainability, and of course, compliance. Sustainable supply chain companies are the
ones that will succeed far into the future, since these practices reduce costs and
improve efficiency, in addition to preserving natural resources.

As listed by research and advisory company, Gartner, Inc., the following companies
exemplify excellence with these characteristics, setting the mark high for the demand-
driven supply chains of today.

Group 1:

Unilever:

British-Dutch consumer goods company Unilever is the third-largest of its kind, and
offers food, beverages, personal care products, and cleaning agents. At the beginning
of 2000, Unilever began a five year growth strategy, which included a significant
restructuring of their supply chain management. They focused on organization, global
procurement processes, supply chain executives, supplier involvement, and technology.
As a result, they achieved $14.24 billion in savings in 2003 from its initiatives, and
Unilever became a leader in the consumer packaged industry for technology adoption.

McDonald’s:

The leading fast-food brand has consistently ranked high for excellent supply chain
management due to a system where success is shared and value is exchanged
between McDonald’s and their suppliers. This approach has been wildly successful, as
McDonald’s is now in more than 100 countries with over 35,000 restaurants serving 68
million people each day.

Inditex:

With eight brands and nearly 7,300 stores worldwide, Inditex is one of the largest
fashion retailers in the world. The company has achieved notable success from a
flexible supply chain that includes more than 1,700 suppliers and almost 6,300 factories
that are strategically located in over 50 countries. What’s more, everyone involved in
Inditex’s supply chain shares the same values of social and environmental responsibility
values as set out in the company’s Code of Conduct for Manufacturers and Suppliers.
 Group 2

Cisco Systems:

Leading the world in IT and networking with their revolutionary computing architecture,
Cisco Systems has a highly diverse and extensive supply chain that spans the globe.
The company recently transformed its supply chain management in order to increase
business scale and agility. They were able to increase their agility, resilience and ability
to scale by implementing new business models, a single ERP instance, standardization
and automation throughout the supply chain.

H&M:

Worldwide fashion retailer H&M has been globally recognized for their financial and
marketplace success. The company’s reliance on efficiency and integrated systems for
some of the major components of their supply chain, such as inventory management,
has played a significant role in their success with stock control. H&M’s strategy with
their supply chain is focused on cost-efficiency with production and reducing lead times
for inventory—both factors that have led to their notability for offering chic, trendy styles
with rapid turnarounds.

Intel:

Manufacturing technology and operations are at the heart of Intel’s business, but the
company has put significant additional resources into transforming their supply chain to
be more responsive and integrated in order to meet market demands. This effort has
successfully increased productivity, while reducing process cycle time and making
inventory levels more efficient.

Group 3

Nestlé:

Nestlé is the largest food and beverage company in the world, with over 2000 brands
and presence in nearly 200 countries. Last year, the global food manufacturer launched
a crowdsourcing initiative to engage their supply teams with problem solving and new
business solutions for key aspects of their supply chain, including responsible sourcing.

Nike:

Footwear and sports apparel manufacturer Nike is actually pioneering the industry with
their strategy for outsourcing manufacturing. With more than 700 factories located in 42
countries around the world, Nike has enjoyed unprecedented supply chain success. The
company’s focus areas include lean manufacturing for increased labor productivity and
reduced waste, material consolidation, and innovation and modernization of their
manufacturing process.

Colgate-Palmolive:

Over the past decade, Colgate-Palmolive underwent an extreme reorientation of its

supply chain to move from regional manufacturing to global manufacturing. The
worldwide consumer products company has fixed some serious inefficiencies in its
supply chain through this process, generating more than $4 billion in savings. Four
important changesare factors of this successful transition: the elimination of silos
caused by regional supply chains, expanding the procurement footprint to the global
marketplace, investing in customer service and logistics, and focusing on support.

Group 4:

Starbucks:

Due to size alone, Starbucks’ supply chain has a lot of potential for inefficiencies and
procurement waste. However, the popular coffee company’s dedication to sustainability
and efficiency help keep the supply chain operating smoother than you may expect for a
company with 15,000 stores in more than 50 countries. This is because
Starbucks employs some critical supply chain best practices such as centralizing their
management system, leveraging digital technologies, managing their supplier
relationships, strictly vetting suppliers, committing to innovation, and eliminating waste
and inefficiency.

PepsiCo:

As one of the leading food and beverage companies in the world, PepsiCo is the parent
company for hundreds of diverse and beloved household brands. The company has
done a great job transitioning its supply chain capacity to handle more complex
products to follow consumer trends to more nutritious foods than carbonated soft drinks
and processed snacks. PepsiCo has developed significant improvements such as
sustainability initiatives, collaborative production scheduling, setting inventory buffers,
and selective procurement and sourcing, to achieve a resilient and efficient supply
chain.

3M:

Formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, 3M produces

more than 55,000 products including adhesives, laminates, electronic materials, medical
products, optical films, dental and orthodontic products and more. Starting in 2012, the
company underwent a massive restructuring of their supply chain, from a linear, analog
structure to a technology-based one. “Digitization became the tool of choice for
synchronizing all links of the 3M supply chain, promoting collaboration and open
communications both upstream and down, with suppliers and customers alike,” Supply
Chain Brain reports.

Group 5

Johnson & Johnson:

The manufacturer of pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods and medical

devices has been making consistent improvements to their supply chain, with significant
advancements happening as recently as last year. Developments include procurement
sustainability, measuring energy use and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, lean
manufacturing, responsible sourcing, and increasing standards for suppliers.

The Coca-Cola Company:

As the world’s largest beverage company, Coca-Cola has 21 billion-dollar brands, with
nearly 4,000 different beverages to choose from and a presence in every country on
Earth. In order to serve consumers with greater efficiency and reduced cost, 95 percent
of the beverages are made in the country where they are sold. By keeping
manufacturing and sourcing local, The Coca-Cola Company is able to minimize
production time. Sustainability, technology and retailer relationships are also key areas
of focus in the company’s supply chain.

Nokia:

Communications and information technology company Nokia owes much of their supply
chain management success to a dedication for agility. A history of adaption, coupled
with precise supply chain management and long-standing good supplier relationships
has resulted in Nokia’s global success. The company’s supply chain agility can be
replicated by implementing the following efforts: an effective flow of information between
suppliers and customers, collaborative supplier relationships, a plan and design for
postponement, inventory buffers with key component stockpiles, a dependable logistics
system, and contingency plans with assigned teams for crisis management in the event
of a supply chain disruption.
 Group 6:

BASF:

As the largest producer of chemicals in the world, German company BASF uses
science and innovation to create chemical products that serve the society of today as
well as the future. The company applies a combination of social responsibility and
environmental protection to its production efforts, and sustainability is at the forefront of
its supply chain management priorities. BASF is currently working toward their 2020
goal of reviewing the sustainability performance of 70 percent of their relevant suppliers
and developing action plans for necessary improvements.

Schneider Electric:

Safety, reliability, efficiency and sustainability are at the top of the priority list for
Schneider Electric’s connected technologies and solutions. According to the company’s
CEO and President, Annette Clayton, “As a purpose-led company, we have the
responsibility to bring safe, sustainable, reliable, and connected energy to our
customers, so the supply chain plays an essential role now more than ever. With our
digitization efforts, our supply chain continues to grow smarter and enables us to
understand how we must tailor our offerings to meet customers’ needs and achieve our
purpose.” Schneider Electric’s supply chain is tailored to be collaborative, lean, agile,
project-driven, and fully flexible.

Wal-Mart Stores:

Multinational retailing corporation Wal-Mart is the second-largest employer in the United

States, and their supply chain management is a logistical and operational masterpiece.
Efficiency and effectiveness are particularly important, since Wal-Mart has more than
11,000 stores located in 27 countries, with an average of $32 billion in inventory to
manage. The company has made their supply chain work for them with fewer links in
the chain, strategic vendor partnerships, a cross-docking inventory tactic, and
technology innovations to cut costs.