Walmart’s offers an array of products and services throughout Walmart Stores, Walmart Super Centers and Sam Clubs. The products obtainable from Walmart or Sam can range from movies, books, electronics, jewelry, music, toys, baby necessities, sports, home, garden, patio, clothing, “vision” center, “photo” center, wireless service, auto service and pharmacy to name a few. You can find grocery items in the Walmart Supercenter.
When we enter Walmart, we see a variety of items on the shelves, but do you know how they get there. Logistics of the supply chain helps with this part of the business. Walmart moves millions of products from the manufacturers, suppliers and distribution centers to its store’s shelves.
For a company like Walmart, “development and research is not only a function which needs to maintain a competitive level with the rest of the industry, but it must outdo the rest of its competitors. When it comes to research and development Walmart devotes a large amount of capital.” Walmart spreads cash across the company’s different functions, whereas a greater of the funds is invested in technology.
Walmart established a “satellite system” in 1983 that connected its entire stores, headquarters, distribution centers and suppliers which acted as a just-in-time processing system to keep up with the control of inventory. In other words, as an item is purchased from the store, the supplier receives a message alerting them to include that item in the next day’s shipment to the closest distribution center. This system allowed the various stores to have control over their inventory and not have excessive inventory on hand.
Another major investment made by Walmart was in the area of distribution technology. Walmart created a network that involved a state of the art hub which utilized “cross-docking” to reduce the inventory at the distribution centers and to