Challenges in any given industry are inevitable and will always occur. Nevertheless, the success of an industry depends on how well these challenges are resolved. According to the 2018 Resilinc Annual report, Bindiya Vakil, the CEO, and founder of Resilinc starts reporting by giving a brief background of her experiences and expertise. From Vakil's speech, as she delivers the report, it is evident that the Hy-tech industry is her field of specialization, having worked in the supply chain management for many companies, Cisco systems included (Vakil 2019). The world's known Hy-tech companies include Apple, Microsoft, Cisco, Google, and Hp. Notably, while the Hy-tech industry experiences unique challenges, there are always solutions to counter these uncertainties, and this case is evident in how Apple company mitigated its challenges.
One of the challenges expected in the supply chain for the Hy-Tech industry is the drastic impact of commodity prices on the cost of raw materials. Most Hy-Tech companies rely on metals, materials, and other supplies to manufacture their devices. Arguably, an increase in the price of commodities such as gold, lithium, silver, and silicon directly impacts reduced profit margins (Blume Global 2021). This situation happens in case the expenses are not well controlled or signified in the end pricing. Therefore, companies should understand price fluctuations and supply uncertainties for Hy-Tech materials and commodities in solving this challenge. This initiative should be a role of the supply chain company managers since they are responsible for understanding both the internal and external environment and how this impacts the pricing of commodities.
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Another challenge in this industry is the delay in technology manufacturing due to the complexity in routing and sourcing Hy-Tech parts. Most technology hardware such as servers, smartphones, TVs, and other products comprise many complex parts. Most of these parts are manufactured in different places and must all be supplied to a specific company when they are required for assembling. Therefore, it is challenging to manage such exceptional complexity in the supply chain without enormous skills, timely information, accuracy, and trustworthy logistics (Blume Global 2021). Notably, any slight delay in supply on one part can stop the entire production process. Therefore, as part of the mitigation process for this challenge, Hy-Tech companies should streamline routing and technology manufacture through their supply chain. The company can achieve this solution through various practices such as centralizing the supply chain platforms by the managers, taking advantage of AI modeling and machine learning in predicting future demands for spare parts and related products (Blume Global 2021). Besides, the use of IoT devices is also a good initiative as it helps track all the necessary parts.
Despite the recent success in the Apple company, it is still facing some challenges, such as an ever-changing and stiff competitive market. According to Van De Vliert (2021), the company's idea of a strategic move into the mobile communication and portable entertainment sphere has exposed Apple to a very competitive market. This challenge arises due to the more significant number of other companies also specialized in the same field. As part of the mitigation strategy for this challenge, Apple has embarked on producing the best devices with unique features to attract a larger market. In addition, the company has invested in advertisement and marketing, utilizing nearly all social media platforms.
In conclusion, the Hy-Tech industry has many challenges, especially in supply chain management, and different companies apply various solutions to counter these uncertainties. Some common challenges include the diverse impact of commodities on the cost of raw materials, and the routing and manufacturing complexities, as every device requires over one thousand parts. Apple, an excellent example of a company in the Hy-Tech industry, experiences a challenge of stiff competition. However, the company is currently capitalizing on its products' quality and frequent advertisements to grab a larger market.
References
Blume Global . (2021). Supply Chains for High-Tech Companies: Unique c hallenges and s olutions . https://www.blumeglobal.com/learning/high-tech-supply-chains/.
Vakil, B. (2019, March 20). Resilinc CEO, Bindiya Vakil, on How Resilinc delivers business value and competitive advantage [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/embed/wc-IhNWwtO8?wmode=opaque&rel=0.
Van De Vliert, D. (2021). Apple iPhone: A Market Case Study. MacEwan University Student eJournal , 5 (1). https://doi.org/10.31542/muse.v5i1.2010
