What made the iPod such a huge success? Simplicity, beauty, marketing — yes,
of course. But also, crucially, something much more mundane: when the iPod was
first launched, and for some time thereafter, Apple pretty much had a stranglehold
on the market for the little baby hard drives which were at the heart of its
music player. As fast as Taiwan could make them, Cupertino would buy them —
which meant that Apple’s rivals were simply unable to compete.
In today’s outsourced world, companies are more than ever at the mercy of their
suppliers. The smallest part, if it’s irreplaceable enough, can derail an entire
manufacturing process — something which worked to Apple’s favor in the case
of the iPod, but which has also worked to its detriment in the past, as when
IBM proved incapable of providing its G4 and G5 chips on time. And this dynamic
isn’t just at play in the technology industry: it’s also very much alive in
the world of jumbo
jets.
One of the smallest and cheapest parts on The Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner
could become its Achilles’ heel as the company considers production rates
to meet growing demand.
The potential problem is a critical shortage of fasteners, which are used
to hold airplane structures together. Tens of thousands are needed for each
plane.
What’s more, the main supplier of fasteners is Alcoa, which does kinda have
things on its mind right now…
(Via)