Walmart’s Keys to Successful Supply Chain Management

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HomeResourcesSupply Chain ManagementWalmart: Keys to Successful Supply Chain Management

Walmart: Keys to Successful Supply Chain

Management

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By University Alliance

Learn the Key Trends in World-Class Supply Chains

Walmart’s Supply Chain Forged Over Decades

Riding a rising six-year trend, retail juggernaut Walmart® reported grosses of $486 billion in the fiscal year that ended in January 2015, an increase of almost $10 billion from fiscal 2014. That's up from $408 billion

over the past five years, according to The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch.

That income was generated by more than 4,500 stores in the U.S. alone, and fed by a sprawling supply chain,which moved from No. 14 to No. 13 on research and analyst company Gartner's annual ranking. Walmart hasheld a place among Gartner’s top 20 supply chains for half a decade.

Walmart uses its mammoth purchasing power to shape suppliers’ behavior which also drives down costs,Gartner said.

According to an article on the website logistics company Cerasis, "Not only has Walmart excelled over thedecades in traditional supply chain management but ... is also focused on continuous improvement byinvesting more into emerging technologies to capture more of the e-commerce market ... ."

The evolution of Walmart’s supply chain includes three elements, according to an Arkansas Business article:distribution practices, operating its own fleet of trucks and technology. Benefits from its supply chainefficiency result in time savings, more cost-effective inventory management and improved productforecasting, the article said.

Request More Info On Supply Chain Courses

Decades in the Making

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The retailer started dealing directly with manufacturers in the 1980s, giving suppliers the job of managinginventory in its warehouses, the Arkansas Business article said. The result was something called vendor managed inventory, or VMI, that smoothed irregularities of inventory flow which helped ensure productswere always available on store shelves.

The process involved cooperation and collaboration with suppliers that produced a more efficient supplychain with technology connecting everything.

Walmart was tapping technology even before it developed VMI when in 1975 the company started using a

computer system for inventory control in its distribution centers and warehouses, according to a timeline of Walmart’s history from Supply Chain Digest.

Walmart’s inventory management now funnels information from stores such as point-of-sale data, warehouseinventory and real-time sales into a centralized database. The data is shared with suppliers who know when toship more products.

By 1987, Walmart had its own satellite system that allowed voice and data communication between allsegments of the company, according to CIO Online, a website for chief information officers.

By 1989, Walmart saw the benefits of its supply chain management when its distribution costs were 1.7% of

its sales, or less than half Kmart’s cost and just under a third of what Sears was spending at the time,according to Arkansas Business.

Beyond Technology

Walmart’s SCM process is not based entirely on technology. The company has a sprawling network of nearly160 distribution centers covering almost 120 million square feet and all within 130 miles of the stores itsupplies, according to MWPVL International, a supply chain and logistics consulting company.

The retailer also instituted cross-docking at its warehouses, a method that moves inventory directly fromarriving or departing trucks. Products are taken from an arriving truck and packed in a truck bound for a store

without lengthy storage in the warehouse, said inventory management software company TradeGecko.

The result is lower costs for inventory storage, reduced transportation costs and products spend less time intransit, TradeGecko said.

Walmart also uses its own trucking fleet and drivers, maintaining high minimum standards for its thousands ofdrivers, including three years and 250,000 miles of driving experience and no preventable accidents in threeyears, according to TruckersLogic.

Components of Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Walmart’s overall methods of supply chain management differ little from the main components of mostsupply chains: purchasing, operations, distribution, and integration. But the retailer has refined the methods.

A supply chain begins with purchasing managers who determine which products will sell, find vendors andarrange deals for the products.

The operations portion of a supply chain focuses on demand planning, forecasting and inventorymanagement. Forecasts estimate consumer demand for a product based on historical data, external driverssuch as sales and promotions and changes in trends or competition.

Demand planning is used to create accurate forecasts, a critical step toward effective inventory management.


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Forecasts are compared to inventory levels to ensure warehouses have enough, but not too much, inventory tomeet demand.

Moving the product from warehouses or manufacturing plants to stores and ultimately to customers is thedistribution function of the supply chain.

Supply chain integration connects the flow of work and information among all links in the supply chain tomaximize efficiencies.

For Walmart, its SCM methods yield lower costs for products and inventory, better control over selection inits stores and the ultimate result of lower prices that can be passed to customers, TradeGecko said.

Disclaimer:

This research has been done on behalf of the University of San Francisco Online. Any names, logos, andother trademarks that have been referenced belong to their respective trademark owners, who are not affiliatedwith, nor endorse or sponsor, the institution, its programs, or its materials.

Sources:

1. “Annual Financials for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.” marketwatch.com. MarketWatch, Inc. Last Ref. Oct. 9,2014.2. “Facts at a Glance.” restaurant.org. National Restaurant Association. Last Ref. Oct. 9, 2014.3. Aronow, Stan. “The Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2014.” gartner.com. Gartner, Inc. Last Ref. Oct.

9, 2014.4. “Top 100 Retailers Chart 2014.” nrf.com National Retail Federation. Last Ref. Oct. 9, 2014.5. Traub, Todd. “Wal-Mart Used Technology to Become Supply Chain Leader.”

arkansasbusiness.comArkansas Business Limited Partnership, July 2, 2012. Last Ref. Oct. 9, 2014.6. Gilmore, Dan. “50 Years of Walmart’s Supply Chain.” scdigest.com Supply Chain Digest, July 26,

2012. Last Ref. Oct. 9, 2014.7. Wailgum, Thomas. “45 Years of Wal-Mart History: A Technology Time Line.” cio.comCXO Media,

Oct. 17, 2007. Last Ref. Oct. 9, 2014.8. “The Walmart Distribution Center Network in the United States.” mwpvl.comMWPVL International,Inc. Last Ref. Oct. 9, 2014.

9. Lu, Clara. “Incredibly Successful Supply Chain Management: How Does Walmart Do It?”blog.tradegecko.comTradeGecko Inventory Management, May 7, 2014. Last Ref. Oct. 9, 2014.

10. Spencer. “Walmart Trucking Jobs.” truckerslogic.comTruckers Logic, March 23, 2014. Last Ref. Oct. 92014.

11. "Gartner Announces Rankings of Its 2015 Supply Chain Top 25," gartner.com. Gartner, Inc., May 14,2015. Last Ref. July 10, 2015.

12. "Number of Walmart Stores Worldwide From 2006 to 2015, By Division," statista.com, Statista, Inc.Last Ref. July 10, 2015.

13. "Walmart: 3 Keys to Successful Supply-Chain Management Any Business Can Follow," AdamRobinson, cerasis.com. Cerasis, Inc. May 13, 2015. Last Ref. July 10, 2015.

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What is the Importance of Supply Chain Management?

Supply chain management is an essential component to operational efficiency. This article offers exampleswhy SCM is important in society and in business.

RFID Technology Boosts Walmart’s Supply Chain Management

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Walmart’s Keys to Successful Supply Chain Management

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