Supply Chain Management: World’s Companies Experience

The article covers the study of the biggest and strongest world companies with the best supply chains. The reason is that nowadays unique supply chain can be competitive advantage for the enterprise. Strong supply chain can help to minimize costs, reach new customers, maximize profit, etc. In the article collaboration of the supply chain and its performance drivers (production, inventory, location, transportation and information) is performed; strengths and trends that can affect supply chains in the future are defined. Based on ranking results of Gartner, Inc. 2017 supply chain leaders in the world are highlighted. In 2017 such companies as Unilever, McDonald’s, Inditex had the best supply chains, and perennial supply chain leader Amazon has become “supply chain master”. According to the supply chains’ analysis (Amazon, Inditex (brand Zara) and Unilever) it was defined that each company builds its own supply chain, which is based on specific key elements. So, for example, for Amazon the most important elements of supply chain are warehousing, products’ distribution, own logistics, own production; Zara while constructing its supply chain focuses on such key elements: combination of manufacturer and retailer functions, fast response to trends, low inventory level, environmental responsibility, products’ distribution; Unilever bases its supply chain on such elements as sustainable power utilization, environmental responsibility, strategic partnerships all across the world, own logistics, blockchain development, supply chain transparency and products’ distribution.