Internationally respected research firm Gartner Inc. has announced its eighth annual Supply Chain Top 25.
Capturing top honors at Gartner’s Supply Chain Executive Conference in Palm Desert, California were some familiar household names: Apple, Amazon, McDonalds, Dell, and P&G.
Rankings are based on a combination of financial results (such as return on assets (ROA), revenue growth, and net profit), and subjective criteria, explained as follows:
About the Gartner Supply Chain Top 25
The Supply Chain Top 25 rankings comprise two main components: financial and opinion. Public financial data gives a view into how companies have performed in the past, while the opinion component provides an eye to future potential and reflects future expected leadership, a crucial characteristic. These two components are combined into a total composite score.
Gartner analysts derive a master list of companies from the Fortune Global 500 and the Forbes Global 2000, with a revenue cutoff of $10 billion. Gartner then pares the combined list down to the manufacturing, retail and distribution sectors, thus eliminating certain industries, such as financial services and insurance.
The Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch released the details this morning:
PALM DESERT, Calif., May 22, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — –Winners Announced at Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference, May 21-23, at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa, Palm Desert, California
Gartner, Inc. has released the findings from its eighth annual Supply Chain Top 25. The goal of the Supply Chain Top 25 research initiative is to raise awareness of the supply chain discipline and how it impacts the business.
Analysts announced the findings from this year’s research at the Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference ( www.gartner.com/us/supplychain ), which is being held here at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa through May 23.
“Last year, we noted that companies were starting to invest in resources and assets again, reflecting a newly recovering economy,” said Debra Hofman, managing vice president at Gartner. “This year, that trend continues even more strongly, with many companies investing for growth. The global economic recovery has been uneven and halting in some cases, but, on balance, the result has been expansionary for companies’ bottom lines and outlooks.”
Average annual revenue growth of the companies in the study increased 29 percent over the previous year. The average return on assets (ROA) and net profits improved by more than 50 percent in 2010, and then stabilized this year, signaling profitable growth.
The supply chain top five included three mainstays — Apple, Dell and P&G — and two that are newer to the ranking, but have been rising steadily — Amazon and McDonald’s.
Maintaining its record in the No. 1 slot was Apple (see Table 1), delivering total solutions to its customers through tightly integrated design of hardware components, firmware, a proprietary operating system and an ecosystem of applications that run on top of that platform. Stellar financials, which further improved this year, supported by the highest voting scores point to its combination of operational and innovation excellence, a zealous focus on starting with the consumer experience and working back through the design of its supply network, and mastery in orchestrating its end-to-end value network.
Gartner analysts said Amazon is a great example of an “orchestrator” that goes beyond simply borrowing and adapting others’ best practices and consistently defies conventional wisdom. McDonald’s moved up five spots to No. 3 this year on strong financials and peer opinion votes. The ubiquitous restaurant chain has managed the balance between new product growth, and the resulting complexity in supply chain planning and execution.
(Read more, along with the complete list of the Top 25, here….)
Gartner, Inc. is of the the world’s leading information technology research and advisory companies. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make informed decisions.
Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 5,000 associates, including 1,280 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries.
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How objective and accurate is the Gartner AMR Supply Chain Top 25?
Gartner AMR’s list of Top 25 Supply Chains is out again with very little changes compared to last year…
The companies which are consistently making the list are no doubt the top companies in the world in terms of marketing, branding, and popularity, however that doesn’t always translate into having the best supply chain in the world.
For professionals based who deal with supply chain and manufacturing on an operational level, Gartner ranking is surprising to say the least, with companies like Apple and Wal-Mart making the top 10 despite their questionable practices with Asian suppliers and poor CSR efforts.
Why is Apple #1 when its supply chain and product launch have been constantly affected by parts and labor shortages, not mentioning the lack of transparency on its CSR efforts. Gartner praised in his report Apple’s “embedded innovation, networked supply and demand shaping”. Interesting comment when most of its innovation is now driven by its contract manufacturers (e.g. Foxconn) and when its demand forecast on new products has been quite off the chart…
How much do the researchers at Gartner know on how these companies really operate in Asia? Do they have people on the ground to check the extent of the companies’ value chain network which the “integration” is praised so much in the report? Do they really understand the performance of contract manufacturers and suppliers of these big brands?
Last but not least, how biased is the ranking given many of the Supply Chain Top 25 companies are Gartner’s clients? Recently, other Gartner rankings like the IT Magic Quadrant has been under heavy fire for being everything from merely subjective to rewarding companies that have paid Gartner the most money for its services. Gartner is well known in the industry for rewarding those who pay for it.
Has anybody analysed the links between the revenue generated by Gartner on these companies and their ranking in the top 25? Maybe Gartner should disclose publicly the revenue they made from each of the ranked companies in order to avoid be called “Gartner Supply Chain Top Clients 25″ instead “Gartner Supply Chain Top 25″
See the article we wrote last year about the ranking at http://www.chainamag.com/i/44940/6# , it’s still very relevant…
What’s your take on Gartner’s Top 25 Supply Chain? Accurate or way off? Do you agree or disagree with that ranking?