SUPPLY CHAIN PT 2

Introduction

Walmart was founded in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972 (Walmart, 2012). Walmart is the largest private employer and the largest grocery retailer in the United States. Sam Walton had a vision to make his customers happy. Listed as the #1 top retailer worldwide according to Store Magazine, Walmart leaves no stone unturned when seeking to provide its customers with top-quality services and products at low prices.

Walmart Supply Chain

Logistics and chain play a key role in the success of business organizations in the increasingly competitive contemporary globalized business environment. With firms adopting globalization strategies, most of them are increasing their product range with an aim of catering for the increasing consumer needs. In response, firms need to pursue supply chain strategies that ensure that they can cater for the different markets in which they offer their products while ensuring that customer needs are catered for at their convenience. The enhancement of an effective supply chain leads to a free flow of supplies as and when required, which ensures that the firm's operations are consistent in the pursuit of the set strategic and business goals.

Company's Supply Chain

Walmart carries out a wide range of logistical, as well as operational activities. It operates large volumes of products that are stocked in the company's sales outlets in more than 70 countries. The company covers all the markets across the globe using more than 11,000 stores across the globe. In this view, the company operates across the wide range of stores across the globe and manages large volumes of inventories and product lines.

Given the complex nature of its operations across the global market, adopting an efficient and effective supply chain strategy is imperative. The firm is further committed to a business model that aims at savings costs using the supply chain in order to achieve its core competency of enabling its customers to save money and lead better lives. The company's supply chain is based on the main goal of providing customers with the products that they want and at the time that they want them. As a result, it has focused on the development of cost structures that enable it to offer the fairest price levels for its products (Traub, 2012). It has been achieving a highly structured supply chain strategy that will enable it to enhance and exploit the subsequent competitive advantage while assuming a market leadership position. The company's supply chain is featured with the use of innovation that has involved the elimination of some of the supply chain's links. Walmart has worked hard at cutting out the middleman while working directly with the manufacturers. Such a strategy has the main objective of cutting costs and ensure better management of the overall supply chain. In addition, the company pursues a Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) system that ensures that all manufacturers are responsible for the management of their products in the company's warehouses (Traub, 2012). Through this strategy, manufacturers ensure that all their products are available as at the time that customers demand them. In this view, the company has been able to ensure that a customer order placement operations are not interrupted, for instance by low inventory levels.

Strategic vendor partnerships also feature the company's supply chain. Walmart pursues a process that is based on strategic sourcing of its products at the fairest prices from suppliers that are required to be in a position to meet rising demand. Subsequently, the company develops strategic partnerships with many vendors while promising them potential high volumes purchases and a long-term dealership in exchange for lowest price levels that they can offer (Traub, 2012); In addition the company has streamlined its supply chain management by formulating and implementing communication, as well as relationship networks with all suppliers in order to improve the flow of products while ensuring that inventories are kept at the lowest possible levels. The enhancement of the supply networks with vendors has enabled the firm to achieve a supply chain that is made up of a network of global warehouses, suppliers, as well as retail stores that operate like a single entity leading to cost and time savings that lead to more effectiveness in supply chain operations.

Innovation Process in Walmart

In its attempts to ensure low consumer prices, Walmart has adopted the use of high-end technology with the main objective of becoming an innovator in relation to the manner in which it tracks its inventory and ensure smooth flow of supplies thus, allowing it to save costs. The use of technology allows the company's supply chain to serve as a foundation for the company's success. The company has developed a complex information technology infrastructure that adopts a network design (Traub, 2012). As a result, information flows freely across all supply chain stakeholders thus, enabling them to carry out timely and more effective problem-solving and decision-making activities. Through the technology infrastructure, the company can accurately forecast consumer demand, manage its inventory levels, as well as create highly effective logistic systems. Furthermore this allows the company to develop and manage customer relationships by ensuring effective service responses. In addition, manufacturers and suppliers in the supply chain have the ability to synchronize their respective demand projections through collaborative planning, demand forecasting, as well as replenishment schemes that are enhanced by the innovation within the supply chain.

AS IS Process Flow Chart

The supply chain process involves the efficient flow of resources, including information, materials, and cash between suppliers and the customers through the involvement of the enterprise. An efficient process flow involves a one-way flow of materials when cash is flowing in the opposite direction (Pekar, 1990). In addition, information needs to flow throughout to provide control on the operations of the supply chain. Such a flow is as depicted by the process flow chart depicted in the diagrammatic representation below.

A wide range of metrics including supplier and customer feedback may measure the efficiency of the process. Customer feedback entails information on the firm's delivery efficiency, as well as response to customer queries (Lee & Katzorke, 2010). Such feedback may be gathered by requesting customers to give feedback upon their purchase experience. On the other hand, suppliers' feedback may involve such information as any reports on incorrect invoices. Supply chain personnel would best perform the collection of such feedback to determine the performance of the process. The effective operation of the supply chain ensures effectiveness in the firm's operations and the overall success in the increasingly competitive marketplace.

References:

Lee, W., & Katzorke, M. (2010). Leading Effective Supply Chain Transformations: A Guide to Sustainable World-class Capability and Results. London: J. Ross Publishing.

Pekar, J. (1990). Total Quality Management: The Competitive Edge. New York: ASTM Inte100 top retailers.

Walmart Clothes Go Smart! Using RFID to Track Apparel (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.apptricity.com/walmart-clothes-go-smart-using-rfid-to-track-apparel/Store Magazine.

Traub, T. (2012). Wal-Mart Used Technology to Become Supply Chain Leader. Retrieved 12-March 2015 from http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/85508/wal-mart-used-technology-to-become-supply-chain-leader?page=all

Walmart, (2012). Our Story. Retrieved 13 March 2015 from http://www.corpaorate.walmart.com/our-story