Apple considered as one of the most revolutionary companies known for bringing most innovative  and radical products for its customers. As much as company has achieved success both in popularity  and financially, apple employs very secretive production processes and very few senior managers  are aware of the developments going on while product launch. Another major aspect of Apple is  that they have very few products being produced on assembly lines in China. So, it is much easier  to manage for managers to review and take decisions fast. It is this secretive process of design,  production and launch which creates a big hype among all the apple fans, thus even encourages the  company executives for keeping the process even more secretive. It is because of this there have  been instances where some of the apple product designs get in the hand of journalists and gets  leaked to public. So, in the wake of these events, the company has a very strict policy with regard  to maintaining the secrecy of ongoing projects development to the extent that they can create  physical barriers between teams so that there is no communication.  Based on the ranking from Gartner, Apple is the top of supply chain excellence, followed by  McDonalds and Amazon. At least 97% of Apple’s procurement expenditures for materials,  manufacturing and assembly of products are finished worldwide in 2013. In 2012, Apple sold  approximately 120 million iPhones, 60 million iPads, 35 million iPods and 15 million Macs. None of  these iPhones were produced in the US, expect vital components, and nearly 85% were assembled  in China. Why Apple obsessed to outsource its production line to other countries, especially in Asia?  Steve Jobs once claimed that it was not because of the cheap labor in Asian countries, but those  factories could produce much faster with quite a large scale and flexibility. One of Apple’s well - known suppliers is Foxconn, which is a Taiwan company. They can produce thousands of iPhones  each day with relatively lower cost of labour. 1. Employees at Apple want to know what a materials requirements planning (MRP)  system is. In your own words, discuss the concept of MRP. 2. Analyse any four benefits of an MRP system in relation to Apple. Note: apply it to the context of Apple.  3. The just-in-time inventory system can provide various efficiencies for an  organisation like Apple. Analyse this concept and argue how it could benefit Apple. Note: apply it to the context of Apple.

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Apple considered as one of the most revolutionary companies known for bringing most innovative 
and radical products for its customers. As much as company has achieved success both in popularity 
and financially, apple employs very secretive production processes and very few senior managers 
are aware of the developments going on while product launch. Another major aspect of Apple is 
that they have very few products being produced on assembly lines in China. So, it is much easier 
to manage for managers to review and take decisions fast. It is this secretive process of design, 
production and launch which creates a big hype among all the apple fans, thus even encourages the 
company executives for keeping the process even more secretive. It is because of this there have 
been instances where some of the apple product designs get in the hand of journalists and gets 
leaked to public. So, in the wake of these events, the company has a very strict policy with regard 
to maintaining the secrecy of ongoing projects development to the extent that they can create 
physical barriers between teams so that there is no communication. 
Based on the ranking from Gartner, Apple is the top of supply chain excellence, followed by 
McDonalds and Amazon. At least 97% of Apple’s procurement expenditures for materials, 
manufacturing and assembly of products are finished worldwide in 2013. In 2012, Apple sold 
approximately 120 million iPhones, 60 million iPads, 35 million iPods and 15 million Macs. None of 
these iPhones were produced in the US, expect vital components, and nearly 85% were assembled 
in China. Why Apple obsessed to outsource its production line to other countries, especially in Asia? 
Steve Jobs once claimed that it was not because of the cheap labor in Asian countries, but those 
factories could produce much faster with quite a large scale and flexibility. One of Apple’s well -
known suppliers is Foxconn, which is a Taiwan company. They can produce thousands of iPhones 
each day with relatively lower cost of labour.

1. Employees at Apple want to know what a materials requirements planning (MRP) 
system is. In your own words, discuss the concept of MRP.

2. Analyse any four benefits of an MRP system in relation to Apple.
Note: apply it to the context of Apple. 

3. The just-in-time inventory system can provide various efficiencies for an 
organisation like Apple. Analyse this concept and argue how it could benefit Apple.
Note: apply it to the context of Apple.

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