Apple iPhone 6 Release Highlights Importance of Supply Chain Management

By implementing efficient and thorough quality-management processes, companies can help prevent or mitigate the effects of the supply-chain issues that reportedly plagued the Apple iPhone 6 before its release this week, according to an executive from a supply chain management software provider.

Apple changed the design of the iPhone 6 screen from the one it designed in the iPhone 5 series. Mohan Ponnudurai, industry solution director at Sparta Systems, told us the predominant difference was is the type of glass being used.

"Until recently, they were using Gorilla glass, a brand from Corning," he said. "The new one is stronger, lighter, thinner, and is their own design, but it had its own challenges when manufacturing it at a large quantity. It was tricky."

Sparta offers its TrackWise web-based quality management software to a number of industries, including life sciences, pharmaceutical, medical devices, discrete manufacturing, and consumer products. TrackWise helps companies stay ahead of changes through the supply chain by tracking them and keeping every entity that is involved in the process advised of any changes or issues, Ponnudurai said.

"It helps enterprises manage their quality processes -- internal processes, audits, internal workflow, business processes, optimizations etc.," he said. "They can use it as part of keeping everyone informed and closing the loop on issues and prevent someone dropping it, forgetting it, not responding, or something of that nature."

Changing any detail of a product like a mobile device involves lots of moving parts. A number of companies in the supply chain must be notified well ahead of time, in case there are any snags in the new design. "There are a lot of pieces in this puzzle. When you look at the phone, it looks like a simple device, but it has hundreds of pieces that are critical to the product. You have to manage what goes in. It is really very, very important for all participants to be on the same design page."

Of course, this is true not just for Apple, but also for any electronics company dealing with suppliers of different components, where one change to a product could trigger a chain reaction of potential problems. "You can't just make a change and expect the change to go in. Sometimes you need as much as 18 months. If someone doesn't adhere to that change and doesn't follow the timeline properly, you have an issue like what Apple has been scrambling with because of technical difficulties."

Apple's supply chain issue was outlined in a Reuters article last month. Two supply chain sources told the news outlet that Apple's new display panel production suffered a setback after the backlight that helps illuminate the screen had to be revised, putting screen assembly on hold for part of June and July.

Japan Display Inc., Sharp Corp., and South Korea's LG Display Co Ltd. are making the iPhone 6 screens, according to Reuters.

Ponnudurai said Apple did not suffer a setback in the product's release, because suppliers hustled to fix the problem. But the release could have very well have been delayed if the issue wasn't handled correctly. This is why quality control, risk, and supply chain management are so important to the manufacturing process. "Every time there is a design change, a process change, all these participants need to be in the know. Otherwise, they are dealing with something that is the wrong specification, and everything will fall apart."

Of course, Apple's high profile also means that any missteps become big news and put the company under intense scrutiny -- another reason it's critical to prevent any issues when changes are made to a product like the iPhone.

"Apple is always in the news," Ponnudurai said. "Everyone knows every time there is a little hiccup in the supply chain. This is something that happens in almost all of the manufacturing industry. Change management is a critical issue and often most of the problems arise from that."

Apple declined to comment for this story.

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