Dude, You Got A Dud: Crowd-Sourcing Your Supply Chain Strategy

Nothing invites scrutiny like secrecy.  Apple does a great job of fanning interest in their new products.  That scrutiny goes far beyond features and functions - it delves all the way into engineering designs and supply chain planning.  Thanks to bloggers, readers, and observant and interested experts, we probably know more about Apple's supply chain than any other technology company in the world.  

All that transparency is probably doing a lot of good at Apple.  Since the iPhone 4 came out, antenna issues and shattering glass have received tremendous attention.  Apple has had to be fairly clear and forthcoming about the causes of these issues.  One liners on how to hold the phone notwithstanding.

Let's contrast that with the lawsuit against Dell published in yesterday's New York times.  (Link).  Without the disclosure required by law, it may be that few people would have ever found out about the defective parts.  It seems it took Dell years to deal with the issue - something that would never have happened had all those component failures been blogged about intensely.

There a lesson here and it’s not about keeping things secret.  If you're not Apple or a scandal-plagued celebrity, there's a good chance that you won't get lots of extra scrutiny if you try hard to keep secrets.  For regular companies, increased transparency is a good thing, not a bad one.

Picture from Flickr, CC