Walmart-Supply Chain Management

"A supply chain is a network of facilities and distribution options that performs the functions of procurement of materials, transformation of these materials into intermediate and finished products, and the distribution of these finished products to customers."

Ganeshan and Harrison

Supply chain provides a vital link between suppliers and customers. It involves meeting customers' requirements in terms of time, quality and quantity. It helps to optimize design, planning, production, delivery of materials and other resources used in manufacturing and production.

The main aim of the study was to investigate and analyze the ways in which the inventory management of Wal-Mart helps in its working. Hence, the author deeply analyzed and interpreted its performance.

In the first step, an introduction is given explaining the focus of the report and the roadmap that will be followed. This is followed by the Research section that explains the various methods deployed to find the required information. A theoretical framework has been given to highlight the variable which will be under consideration in this report and will be analyzed deeply.

Next, a through analysis is carried out about the RetailLink - the sole supply chain information system of Wal-Mart, in connection to its inventory management. Variables identified in the theoretical framework are analyzed linking their working in Wal-Mart and how they benefit the organization.

This report also includes the current issue of implementing Radio Frequency Identification Tags (RFID) in Wal-Mart, its benefits and criticism.

An overall conclusion is drawn in the end, giving authors point of view.

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Content Page

Introduction.........................................................................................3

Figure 1: The Road Map..............................................................3

Research .............................................................................................4

Figure 2: Theoretical framework.....................................................4

Analysis.............................................................................................. 5

Figure 3: Fortune's 2005 annual ranking of America's largest corporation...5

Inventory management...............................................................6

Figure 4: Wal-Mart Inventory Process............................................. 7

Figure 5: The 9-Step CPFR Process................................................8

Figure 6: RFID working..............................................................9

Figure 7: RFID potential benefits..................................................10

Conclusion.........................................................................................12

References..........................................................................................13

Appendices.........................................................................................16

I: Wal-Mart Supply Chain Model.................................................16

II: Wal-Mart Reports Record Sales and Earnings for 4th Quarter 2006......17

III: Fortune's Most Profitable Companies ........................................22

IV: Sample Transaction at Wal-Mart ..............................................23

This project in on the supply chain management of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart supply chain can be divided into following 3 areas namely:

 Procurement and Distribution

 Logistic Management

 Inventory Management

In this project, the author would focus on Inventory management alone.

The Road Map to the project is as follow:

Figure 1: The Road Map

This research was an analytical study. The author tried to analyze patterns associated with the inventory management at Wal-Mart and how they help it maintain the competitive edge in the retailing world. Sometimes these types of studies are also called hypothesis generating studies or survey research.

This research involved collecting data through the following sources:

 Journals

 Case Studies

 Websites

Following theoretical frame work developed the following relationship between the identified variables on which further scientific research took place.

Independent variable Intervening variables Dependent variable

Moderating variable