Introduction

Inventory is key are of concern to both manufacturing and service provision industry. It refers to what the organization sells to its customers, and every organization is striving to ensure that they have the best inventory management practices that guarantee organizational success. It is for this reason that inventory management has been a crucial aspect of many organizations (Toomey, 2010). The organization is expected to have the right amount of stock at the right time and the right place to ensure utmost customer satisfaction. This research paper will look at inventory management practices at Apple Inc and Samsung Company, which are two manufacturing companies.

1. Determine the types of inventories these companies currently manage and describe their essential inventory characteristics.

Apple Inc is a leading global manufacturer of leading communication and media devices for a long time. The company has several inventories such as iPad, iPod, iPhone, iPad Smart Cover, iMac, Macbook, Macbook Pro, portable digital music players and, LED Cinema Display among others. Samsung, on the other hand, has several inventories that include; smartphones, Galaxy S-series, phones with mp3 and the lightest mobile phones among others. Most of these inventories have performed exemplary well in the international markets.

Most of these inventories have characteristics that have been very attractive to potential users. For instance, Apple manufactured PC that allowed users to use graphical interface by activating pictures on the screen by the help of a mouse. This business concept has been developed over the years, and most computers nowadays operate using the graphical user interface. Also, the company produced an iPhone which was the first smartphone manufactured by the firm. This device was like a mini-computer since it had a similar function to a computer. Nevertheless, it had features of a phone and would send and receive text messages. The portable mp3 players have the ability to store music and at the same time store video files that are directly downloaded from the device. The iPod for instance is known to have a large memory capacity that allows users to store the large amount of music and audio files (Relph & Milner, 2015). In essence, most of the inventories at Apple Inc. are based on a technology platform that has endeared these products to the customers.

Samsung Company has also been proactive in manufacturing world class inventories. The company is known to produce the first black and white television sets and other communication gadgets. Also, the company has been actively engaged in the production of washing machines, refrigerators, microwaves and air conditioners that had distinct features that were very attractive to the customers. The company has also been manufacturing personal computers and memory chip DRAM that have been very attractive to consumers (Toomey, 2010). The production process at the company is oriented to quality and pricing thus making the products famous amongst its consumers.

2    Analyze how each of their goods and service design concepts is integrated.

Apple has been achieving different levels of success over the years resulting from its ability to use its service design concepts that are carefully integrated. The concept was developed several years ago, since its foundation, and has become critical to the appearance of the entire inventory produced by the company. This development brought a breakthrough to the whole PC industry. Steve jobs have ensured that the company has upheld core values and up to date, Apple uses design, simplicity, modern systems, innovation and creativity in its production process.

Also, the company has ensured that its products are flexible and user-friendly. It is the prerogative of the enterprise to ensure that its products are flexible, more humane and smarter to match the competitiveness in the communication industry.

There are some similarities between the Samsung goods and services design concepts with those at Apple Inc.  It is imperative noting that Samsung had manufactured innovative products even before Apple released its first iPhone.  This has resulted in major conflicts between these two companies as each try to protect its design concepts. Patent issue has become an essential topic when goods and services design and concept between the two companies.

3    Evaluate the role their inventory plays in the enterprise’s performance, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

It is prudent to note that inventory plays a significant role in the organization’s performance, operation efficiency and customer satisfaction.  Effective inventory management at Apple clearly explains why the company’s performance has been on an upward trend over the years (Relph & Milner, 2015). Apple has a complex system of inventory and distribution process but always ensures that the customers get the right product at the right place and on time.  The company adopts a 24-hour schedule to make sure that the customer satisfaction is not compromised.

On the other hand, Samsung Company adopts a work in progress approach which is a clear indication that the inventory is likely to lose value very fast.  It is also worth to note that the company’s cycle times are noncompetitive thus giving the customers an opportunity to switch to vendors with shorter lead times (Toomey, 2010). The two companies have significant value for their customers, and it is on this premises that the two companies ensure up to date release of products and innovations. This has been a crucial aspect of the companies whose customer satisfaction is of great concern to the companies.

4    Compare and contrast the four (4) different types of layouts found with each company; explain the importance of the layouts to the company’s manufacturing or service operations.

It is wise to note that the layouts are of paramount importance to the business’s manufacturing or service operations. Apple and Samsung companies have various layouts that they adopt in their manufacturing process. These layouts should be new and innovative for them to remain competitive in this dynamic industry (Müller, 2011). It is imperative noting that Apple has unique keyboard, unique touchpad, sensor screen, retina display.  This is also the case at Samsung where special features such as proximity sensor in Galaxy smart phone, unique keyboard layout in Galaxy S3, Samsung Hub and Samsung TouchWiz are some of the distinct layouts evident in Samsung products.

The success experienced by Apple can be attributed to its distinctive features and a competitive strategy that has won a majority of its customers. Over the years, the company has developed a unique brand that has attracted several consumers of mobile technology. Also, layouts form an integral part of the company’s success. Sensor screens, retina display, and unique keyboard are some of the essential features that define Apple’s products. This has also been the case for the Samsung, who have also resulted to them designing new and creative keyboard layout in Galaxy S3 as well as the proximity sensor (Relph & Milner, 2015). These layouts have been essential in ensuring great design and excellent quality of the manufactured inventories in these companies.

5. Determine at least two (2) metrics to evaluate supply chain performance of the companies; suggest improvements to the design and operations of their supply chains based on those metrics.

Effective inventory management requires the organization to have a balanced supply chain performance. For this to happen, it is imperative for the company to have the right metrics that links to the overall strategic objectives of the organization. The companies should use metrics data to evaluate their supply chain performance as well as the operating margins and return on assets. These two companies must make some improvements in their supply chain to ensure utmost customer satisfaction. It is prudent for the two companies to automate their supply chain performance systems to ensure that there is total control of the inventory movement within the organizations.

The supply chain management systems will enable the company to meet the demand for its products and to a great extent reduce the costs of logistics and procurement. It will also be essential in managing the company’s raw materials, production and distribution of finished products. In essence, the supply chain management should be concerned with ensuring that the companies have the right raw materials at the right time to ensure that customer demands are met on time. The objectives are to improve service levels, optimization of the production cycle, a decrease in inventories, improving business performance, increase in profitability, and control of the manufacturing process.

6   Suggest ways to improve the inventory management for each of the companies without affecting operations and the customer benefits package. Provide a rationale to support the suggestion.

As aforementioned, effective inventory management is critical to the success of any organization. It plays a significant role in the financial health of any organization and as a result, this has become a critical area of business management (Müller, 2011).  Different organizations have different inventory management principles. For instance, inventory control strategy involves maximizing inventory, minimizing inventory and optimizing inventory. This is a good strategy as it helps the company decide on the optimal stock levels that effectively complement each other.

For the case of Apple, the company should consider maximizing inventory since there is considerable demand for its products as it was experienced in the first years of iPhone and iPad release. By adopting this strategy, the organization will ensure that there are timely supply and any delay by the suppliers and contractors will not have adverse effects on consumers.  This strategy should be encouraged in situations whereby the loss of customers and sales exceeds the costs of reducing inventory levels (Relph & Milner, 2015).  Apple should, therefore, ensure that they have maximum stocks that meet the ever increasing demand for its products.

It is, however, essential to note that this kind of inventory management is not feasible if there are no adequate systems of inventory management. The strategy requires a high degree of accuracy in predicting sustainable stock levels (Müller, 2011). Failure to have such levels of accuracy can be very costly to the company and hence it is prudent to engage the several departments of the organization. To have an effective inventory control model, it is advisable for these enterprises to adopt different approaches to inventory management for various headings. Automation of inventory control systems will be of great importance to effective inventory management practices. Only the simultaneous use of all the principles of nomenclature for different groups in the conditions of our reality can improve the efficiency of inventory management, and thus the profitability of the enterprise and inventory turnover (Müller, 2011).

References

Müller, M. (2011). Essentials of inventory management. New York: AMACOM.

Relph, G., & Milner, C. (2015).  Inventory management. New York. Cengage publishers.

Toomey, J. (2010). Inventory Management. Boston, MA: Springer US.

 
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