Founded : 1976 , Los Altos , California , United States

Revenue : $ 275bn In 2001 , Apple was one of the first companies to outsource its manufacturing to China – drastically increasing profit . Its COO at the time was Tim Cook , the high priest of the ‘ just in time ’ inventory model . Many other supply chains followed Apple ’ s success .

Yet , Apple ’ s supply chain has nevertheless been hit by manufacturing disruptions , from China ’ s zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19 , with climate extremes – including floods and drought – to boot . As a result , Apple plans to assemble and package some of the iPhone 14s in India for the first time .

Founded : 1975 , New Mexico , United States

Revenue : $ 41bn

As the largest IT company in the world , Microsoft aims to predict and prevent supply chain delays , and also aims to make its supply chain more sustainable . In a bid to cut plastic pollution in the oceans , for example , Microsoft has embraced innovation , with its designers creating the Microsoft Ocean Plastic Mouse , made from 20 % recycled ocean plastic .

“ The Microsoft team wondered why it couldn ’ t make a resin out of plastic in the ocean and make a difference there ?” said a spokesperson for the Windows & Devices team . “ And so we started formalising this idea .”

138 December 2022