Supply Chain Management Report: Walmart's Efficient Operations

This report examines Walmart's supply chain management, highlighting its crucial role in business operations and organizational success. It explores Walmart's strategic sourcing, partnerships with vendors, and streamlining of the supply chain through technology and practices like cross-docking. The report details how Walmart leverages technology for accurate demand forecasting, inventory management, and efficient transportation. It also discusses the significance of demand planning, forecasting, and inventory management within the operational aspects of the supply chain. The report concludes by emphasizing the competitive advantages Walmart has gained through its supply chain strategies, including lower costs, better in-store selection, and competitive pricing. The analysis includes references to relevant literature and case studies.

Running Head: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Supply Chain Management
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Introduction
Supply Chain Management is considered being the supervision of materials, information
as well as finances as they are moving in a process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler
to retailer to customer. It is having the involvement of doing the coordination as well as
integration of these flows both within as well as among the organizations. It can be stated that the
final objective of any efficient system of supply chain management is doing the reduction of
inventory (Lu 2014)
Role of supply chain management on business operation
It is well-known that supply chain management plays a significant role in majority of
businesses and is necessary for organizational success as well as satisfaction of the customer.
The retailers are depending on supply chains for making a quick delivery of costly products for
avoiding the holding of expensive inventories in stores any longer than it is required (Pagell
2017). Manufacturers are depending on supply chains for delivering in a reliable manner the
materials to the assembly plants for avoiding the shortages of materials that will be shutting
down the production. Retailers are depending upon supply chain managers for designing the
networks that will be meeting the goals relating to customer service at the least total cost (Pagell
2017). Effective supply chains will be enabling an organization for being more competitive
within the market place.
Walmart did the embarking on strategic sourcing for finding products at the best price
from suppliers who are in a position for ensuring that they will be meeting the demand. The
organization then does the establishment of strategic partnerships with majority of their vendors,
providing them the potential for purchases that are considered being long-term as well as high

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volume in return for the lowest probable prices (Vachon 2016). Moreover, Walmart did the
streamlining of supply chain management through the construction of communication as well as
relationship networks with the suppliers for improving the flow of material with lesser
inventories.
Cross docking is considered being a logistics practice, which is the focus regarding the
strategy of Walmart for replenishing inventory in an efficient manner (Flint 2014). Cross
docking assists in keeping down the costs relating to inventory as well as transportation,
reducing the time taken for transportation as well as eliminating the ineffectiveness. Through
cross docking’s utilization, routing of the products are done from suppliers to the organization’s
warehouses, from where the shipping is done to the stores devoid of staying for longer periods
within inventory (Flint 2014). This strategic aspect did the reduction of costs relating to Walmart
in a significant manner and they did the passing of those savings on to their customers with the
pricing that was considered being highly competitive.
Technology is playing a major role regarding the supply chain of Walmart, which serves
as the basis regarding their supply chain. Walmart is having the largest infrastructure relating to
information technology in comparison to any private organization globally (Kulkarni 2015). The
organization’s latest technology as well as network design is allowing Walmart in forecasting the
demand in an accurate manner, tracking as well as predicting the levels of inventory, creating
routes of transportation that are considered being highly effective as well as managing the
relationships with the customers as well as service response logistics (Jacoby 2014). For
instance, Walmart did the implementation of the first companywide utilization of Universal
Product Code bar codes, where there occurred the immediate collection as well as analysis of the
store level information, and then there was the devising of the Retail Link by the organization, a

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massive Bentonville database (Coyle 2016). With the help of a global system of satellite, there
exists the connection of Retail Link with the analysts who does the forecasting of the demands of
the suppliers to the network of suppliers that does the displaying of the real-time data regarding
sales from the cash registers and to the distribution centers of Walmart.
Suppliers as well as manufacturers within the supply chain do the synchronizing of their
projections relating to demand under a collaborating planning, forecasting as well as
replenishment plan, and every link in the chain is having a connection via technology that is
including a central database, store-level point-of-sale methods, as well as a satellite network
(Fredendall 2016). Moreover, Walmart networked its suppliers as well via computers, it made
collaboration with P&G to do the maintenance of inventory within its stores and did the building
of an automated process of re-ordering that did the linking of every computer between P&G
factory via a system of satellite communication (Gilling 2016). P&G then did the delivery of the
item either to the centre of distribution at Walmart or in a direct way to the concerned stores.
The operations part of a supply chain does the focusing on demand planning, forecasting
as well as inventory management. Forecasts do the estimation of a customer demand in respect
of a product depending upon historical data, external drivers like sales and promotional aspects
as well as changes relating to trends or competitive aspects (Fawcett 2013). There occurs the use
of demand planning for the creation of accurate forecasts, a decisive step in respect of efficient
inventory management. There occurs the comparison of forecasts to the levels of inventory for
ensuring that the warehouses are having sufficient inventory for meeting the demand (Dubey
2017). The integration of supply chain does the connecting of work flow as well as information
within every link in the supply chain for maximizing the effectiveness (Christopher 2016). In

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respect of Walmart, its processes relating to supply chain management does the yielding of lower
product as well as inventory costs, better control over selection within the stores of Walmart.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded by stating that the supply chain management strategic
aspect of Walmart has provided the organization with various competitive advantages that are
regarded to be sustainable, which includes lower cost of products, lesser carrying costs regarding
inventory, better in-store variety as well as selection, and pricing that is considered being highly
competitive in respect of the customers.

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Reference
Christopher, M., 2016. Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.
Coyle, J.J., Langley, C.J., Novack, R.A. and Gibson, B., 2016. Supply chain management: a
logistics perspective. Nelson Education.
Dubey, R., Gunasekaran, A., Papadopoulos, T., Childe, S.J., Shibin, K.T. and Wamba, S.F.,
2017. Sustainable supply chain management: framework and further research directions. Journal
of Cleaner Production, 142, pp.1119-1130.
Fawcett, S.E., Ellram, L.M. and Ogden, J.A., 2013. Supply Chain Management: Pearson New
International Edition: From Vision to Implementation. Pearson Higher Ed.
Flint, D.J., Lusch, R.F. and Vargo, S.L., 2014. The supply chain management of shopper
marketing as viewed through a service ecosystem lens. International Journal of Physical
Distribution & Logistics Management, 44(1/2), pp.23-38.
Fredendall, L.D. and Hill, E., 2016. Basics of supply chain management. CRC Press.
Gilling, R.I. and Ulmer, J.M., 2016. Major Challenges in Supply Chain Management. Insights to
a Changing World Journal, 2016(3).
Jacoby, D., 2014. Guide to supply chain management. Hachette UK.
Kulkarni, S.H., 2015. World class supply chain practices of walmart.
Lu, C., 2014. Incredibly Successful Supply Chain Management: How Does Walmart Do It. Case
studies, Insights & Analysis. Online verfügbar unter https://www. tradegecko.
com/blog/incrediblysuccessful-supply-chain-management-walmart, zuletzt geprüft am, 4, p.2016.

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Pagell, M. and Wu, Z., 2017. Business implications of sustainability practices in supply chains.
In Sustainable Supply Chains (pp. 339-353). Springer International Publishing.
Vachon, S. and Hajmohammad, S., 2016. Supply chain uncertainty and environmental
management. Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, p.1.