One of the best visits in Ireland was our cohort’s visit to Apple. We were provided an overview of the European operations by their director of Human Resources. The center in Cork serves as the European Headquarters for Apple. We were provided a tour of the manufacturing assembly area that produces over 1000 iMacs daily for European customers. It was great to see the manufacturing process and the metrics and goals for each assembly for both regular and custom orders. In addition we briefly got to see the customer contact center and call center for all of Apples product lines.
The visit was very exciting and informative. We were provided a presentation that largely consisted of marketing materials and slides showcasing Apple's stylish products. Apple had recently announced record earnings and sell-out status of their iPads and iPhones and the stock had climbed over 5% on their recent earnings reports. The presentation covered a wide range of topics including their Human capital, global strategy, marketing, customer service, and product development areas. Immediately following the presentation, we had the luxury to be able to visit the manufacturing area where Apple builds customized iMac desktops that are sold within the European market. We observed the concepts of job shop, made-to-order from our supply chain management class. It was a great learning experience for us to see how Apple implements their lean manufacturing and has implemented six-sigma, and load balancing concepts that we learned in our courses. Our host was gracious to explain each step of the manufacturing processes including the steps within the building, testing, and quality control processes utilized for assembling the iMac.After the tour and presentation, I wanted to go to an Apple store and buy even more of their products. Next on my shopping list may be an iMac, Time Capsule and and upgrade to my iPad, the iPad 2.
