To the surprise of few observers, Apple once again is first in Gartner's Ninth Annual Supply Chain Top 25, a research initiative designed to raise awareness of the supply chain discipline and how it impacts the business. Apple was followed by McDonald's and Amazon, which switched places from last year's ranking.

A functioning demand-planning process is a key enabler for supply chain organizations, and getting the process right is fundamental to improving demand-planning effectiveness, according to Gartner analysts.