The Steve Jobs biography mentioned Apple's supply chain success. Tim Cook was noted as being responsible for great improvements in inventory management.
"When Cook took over the supply chain, he cut the number of component suppliers from 100 to 24, in a move to force the companies to compete for Apple's business. Cook then shut down 10 of the 19 company warehouses to limit overstocking, and by September 1998 inventory was down from a month to only six days."
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/10/21/jobs_trusted_c...
"When Cook took over the supply chain, he cut the number of component suppliers from 100 to 24, in a move to force the companies to compete for Apple's business. Cook then shut down 10 of the 19 company warehouses to limit overstocking, and by September 1998 inventory was down from a month to only six days." http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/10/21/jobs_trusted_c...