How apple inc. manages its industrial fluids

Apple company has experienced a number of operation related challenges which can be attributed to lack of appropriate operation management procedures. The way the company manages its industrial fluids is poor. The company faces intolerance from the China Labor Watch and Green America due to the emission of amounts of aluminum-magnesium alloy shredding and other dust particles in the air. This is a major environment pollution apart from violating health and safety and human rights laws. Also, the company faces production delays, poor supply chain issues and lack of adequate personal protective equipment for handling of toxic and harmful materials. The company can effectively overcome these issues by adopting proper operation management which includes proper ventilation, timely production of products, responsible disposal of its industrial wastes and designing out all the hazardous substances and materials from their products.

Apple Inc. is a company in America which mainly focuses on modern technology. Its headquarter is at Cupertino, California. The company was founded on April 1st, 1976 and currently has 498 retail stores and a total of 116, 000 number of employees globally (Wohlgemuth, 2017, pp. 33-34). Apple Inc. is well versed in the designing, developing and selling of consumer’s electronics, computer software and online services. Just like any other established companies, Apple Inc has had its share of operation-related challenges such as production delays, poor supply chain and lack of proper waste management (Crandall, 2014, pp. 56-57). Thus, Apple needs to establish suitable measures to address these issues.

Discussion of Issues

Managing Production Delay at Apple

Irrespective of the size of the company, production delays are common within companies. These delays are often due to an unexpected manufacturing problem at scale and Apple company is no exception. In December 2016, Apple unveiled AirPods which were widely reported to be low in stock (Blanchard, 2010, pp. 73 -74). On the initiation stages of the sale of the product, customers turned up on large numbers hoping they would buy the AirPods. At Apple’s store located at Texas, there were only nine units available for sell which was not enough to meet the customers’ demand (Crandall, 2014, pp. 117 -119). The company needs to solve the problem of production delay by timely production of their products to meet the growing demand of the customers.

Elimination of Waste Pollution at Apple

Emission of waste products to the environment is one of the major issues Apple faces (Dongping, 2013, p. 37). For instance, Apple Company in China has been accused of violation of health and safety, environmental and human rights laws (Ragazzi, 2016, pp. 123 -124). According to a report released by China Labor Watch and Green America, Apple’s affiliate company (Catcher) was alleged to emit harmful dust particles in the air (Rein, 2014, p. 73). Apple needs to design out all the hazardous substances and materials from its products so as to address the issue of emission of toxic substances into the air. It also needs to provide adequate protective equipment for handling of toxic materials and practice responsible disposal of industrial fluids. Ultimately, the company should observe proper ventilation of its premises and those of its affiliates (Ferrell, 2014, p. 22).

Managing Supply Chain Issues at Apple

Just like any other technological company, Apple has had trouble in getting their products to the customers on time as a result of supply chain issues (Poirier, 2016, pp. 53 -54). For instance, when the Apple company unveiled AirPods in 08/2016, it was alleged that these products would be introduced into the market in the early November 2016 (Crandall, 2014, pp. 67-68). When the late October dawned, they didn’t unveil this product requesting for more time before the AirPods were made ready for the customers. In December 2016, the AirPods were scarce in the market especially from third parties such as brick-and-mortar stores due to lack of proper supply chain (Crandall, 2014, p. 77). This issue can be addressed by appropriate timing, automating processes and regularly monitoring the suppliers.

Conclusion

Challenges related to operation management are common within companies and this can be due to lack of proper operation management. As discussed above, it was alleged that Apple Inc. had experienced production delays. Some of its newly unveiled products were hardly made available to the consumers. The company also lacked proper waste management procedures. There were dust particles being emitted into the air. The company lacked adequate personal protective equipment for handling toxic and harmful substances. Proper waste management will ensure that the company has adequate protective equipment for safety of its employees. Other measures Apple should take to manage its wastes include proper ventilation and responsible disposal of Industrial fluids and wastes.

Recommendations

This report recommends the following measures Apple may adopt to solve the above mentioned operation-related issues:

• The company should design out all the hazardous substances and materials from its products to addresses the issue of emission of toxic substances into the air.
• Provision of adequate personal protective equipment for handling toxic materials to ensure the safety of the employees.
• Proper ventilation to allow free flow of fresh air within their premises
• Proper management and responsible disposal of industrial fluids.
• Appropriate timing and automation of processes and regular monitoring of suppliers to prevent supply chain challenges.