Tony Blevins Director of Corporate Procurement,Apple Inc.

TIM COOK: FROM SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT TO CEO

Perhaps the greatest exemplar of procurement’s ascendancy to date is Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Tim’s performance at Apple was stellar, particularly from a procurement point of view. In his authorised autobiography of Steve Jobs, Walter Issacson described Cook’s methodical approach to supplier rationalisation and inventory management.

The procurement and supply chain decisions made by Cook highlight the critical importance of procurement to Apple’s success. The strength of the company (and arguably its competitive advantage) has been in building and managing a complex network of suppliers that the company has successfully leveraged to produce ground-breaking technology products. Put simply, without the supply network, there is no product.

The promotion of Cook to CEO shows that the board of Apple understands the critical importance of external suppliers as a source of innovation for the company. Apple clearly sees the procurement function as the conduit to successfully managing these relationships and ensuring the future success of the business.

“Tim Cook came out of procurement which is just the right background for what we needed.” Steve Jobs

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