Efficiency Analysis of Walmart's Product Life Cycle and Supply Chain

Running Head: OPERATION MANAGEMENT 1
Operation Management
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Table of Content

OPERATION MANAGEMENT 2
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Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Weaknesses................................................................................................................................3
Strategies for strengthening operation.......................................................................................3
Primary issues impacting the supply chain................................................................................4
Tools of Quality management for the identification and analysis of future concerns...............4
Benefits of Just-in-time (JIT) system.........................................................................................5
Effect of JIT on quality..............................................................................................................5
Qualitative and Quantitative methods of forecasting.................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8

OPERATION MANAGEMENT 3
Introduction
The following paper aims at analysing the efficiency of the global American
supermarket, Walmart Inc. on the basis of its product life cycle and supply chain prospects.
Effective strategies have bene formulated in this report based upon the issues and
opportunities for the firm.
Weaknesses
There are several weaknesses in the product life cycle of Walmart. There have been
cases of continuous product recalls for Walmart. The company has been suffering since a
long period of time in terms of its company image. During the periods of excessive demand,
the inventory support system has been suffering as well. The inventory management of the
company suffers vast amount of delays during events of sales, in terms of accomplishing the
customers’ demand. Walmart also suffers from issues related to providing description of
individual products during cross docking. The inventory forecasting of the firm has also
lagged behind as a lot of weakness has been seen to be pertaining at areas where information
was inadequate for the customers demand.
Strategies for strengthening operation
Walmart can adopt various strategies which can assist them in making their operations
and operational management strong in the long run. Firstly, it would need to adopt the
measure of cost minimization that responds to the financial restrictions as per the strategy of
growth. Specific strategies for improvements in product and quality scouting should be
followed by the manufacturers of Walmart. The lead time for the overall product ordering
system should be brought down to 5 days. Flexibility should be brought into the new system
which should be made adjustable enough for having a total capacity of at least 80,000 items