Wal-Mart and Technology

Walmart is nothing short of amazing when it comes to their success in the retail world. Even with pressure to keep up with giants like Amazon, they maintain their everyday low prices with more than 11,500 retail units globally and their e-commerce sales. Wal-Mart has become the worlds largest and most powerful retailer with the highest sales per square foot, inventory turnover, and operating profit of any discount retailer.

Wal-Marts success is primarily due to efficient integration of supplier, manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution to stores. There are four key components of its supply chain strategy: supplier partnerships, cross docking and distribution management, technology, and integration.

Technology plays a key role in Wal-Marts supply chain serving as the foundation of its efficient and effective supply chain. Wal-Mart has the largest information technology infrastructure of any private company in the world. Its state-of-the-art technology and network design enable Wal-Mart to accurately forecast demand, track and predict inventory levels, create highly efficient transportation routes, and manage customer relationships and service response logistics.

Wal-Mart designed a point-of-sale system that improved customer services, decreased inventory throughout its supply chain, and improved the overall competitive capability of the company. EDI is the underlying technology that enables the system to work.

There are a number of benefits to Wal-Marts supply chain partners. For suppliers, demand is visible, obsolete stocks are minimized, volume increases, capacity planning is improved, and so on. This networked supply chain process has helped to change the way consumer-products companies and wholesaler distributors do business with retailers.

Questions:

1. How Wal-Mart make use of the Technology to improve their Supply chain operations?

2. By using good technology, What are the benefits for Wal-Mart and its supply chain partners?