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U03A01 Pamela Vest
BUS 3022 – Unit 3 Assignment 1
Wal-Mart Chain Supply Management
Pamela Vest

Wal-Mart Supply Chain Management

Business Model
Wal-Mart, a top retail giant has been ranked number one once again in the Fortune 500 (Fortune 500, 2014). With net sales at $473.1 billion, Wal-Mart was up 1.6% compared to the previous year (Fortune 500, 2014). Even with the U.S. food stamp program being reduced and the payroll tax cut, Wal-Mart claims that the end results were hurt (Fortune 500, 2014). With over 11,000 stores, Wal-Mart has an estimation of over 245 customers and 2.2 million workers worldwide (Wal-Mart, 2014).
Wal-Mart’s goal is to save the customers money so that they may live a better life. Wal-Mart provides more discounted prices to their customers by eliminating the middle man. However, the employees do not get paid a generous wage. With part time workers, they are normally paid minimum wage and without benefits. Due to this reason, Wal-Mart has a very high employee turnover rate.
Supply Chain Strategy
Wal-Mart supply chain strategy began when the company decided to remove links in the supply chain. With removing links, Wal-Mart worked directly with the manufactures as a way to cut costs and to develop a more managed and efficient supply chain. Wal-Mart’s Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) was created in its supply chain plan. With VMI, manufacturers are responsible for the products being managed in the warehouses. With this plan, Wal-Mart expects to close at 100% order fulfillment on the merchandise. With this method, Wal-Mart is able to give the customer what they want, when they want it, and where they want it at the lowest possible price.
To replenish inventory efficiently, Wal-Mart focuses on cross docking in the strategy. The goal with cross docking is to keep the costs from inventory and transportation down, reduce the transportation time, and eliminate inefficiencies. Wal-Mart’s products are directly loaded on outbound


References: Forbes. (n.d.). Challenges Wal-Mart Faces In Mexico And China - Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/04/02/challenges-wal-mart-faces-in-mexico-and-china/ Fortune 500. (2014, January 1). Wal-Mart Stores - - Fortune. Retrieved October 28, 2014, from http://fortune.com/fortune500/wal-mart-stores-inc-1/ Lu, C. (2014). Incredibly Successful Supply Chain Management: How Does Walmart Do It? Retrieved from http://blog.tradegecko.com/incredibly-successful-supply-chain-management-walmart/ Master, N. (2013, April 1). Walmart Considers Radically New Supply Chain Optimization Strategies. Retrieved from http://www.rfgen.com/blog/bid/280810/Walmart-Considers-Radically-New-Supply-Chain-Optimization-Strategies Traub, T. (2012, July 2). Wal-Mart Used Technology to Become Supply Chain Leader | Arkansas Business News | ArkansasBusiness.com. Retrieved from http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/85508/wal-mart-used-technology-to-become-supply-chain-leader?page=all
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