PROJECT-SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AT WAL-MART

A PROJECT REPORT ON SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AT WAL-MART

INDEX
S.NO 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. DESCRIPTION PAGE NUMBER 3 4-5 6 7-8 9 10 11 12 INTRODUCTION TO SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT LEVELS OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT HISTORY-WALMART WAL-MART INTRODUCTION AND ITS BUSINESS PROCESSES SUPPLY CHAIN MANGEMENT AT WAL-MART PROCUREMENT AND DISTRIBUTION LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT INVENTORY MANAGEMENT COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND BUSINESS MODELS USED AT WAL-MART 10. 11. 12. 13. RFID IN WAL-MART EFFICENCY IN SUPPLY CHAIN WITH RFID CONCLUSION LIST OF REFERENCES 20-21 13 14 15-18 19

Introduction to Supply Chain Management Supply Chain Management is the discipline which encompasses the end to end business activities carried out in any business, independent of the manufacturing or service sectors. It is the synchronization of a network of facilities and distribution options that performs procurement of materials, processing the materials into finished products, and distribution of the products to customers. SCM is seen as involving five fundamental processes. These include planning, sourcing, making, delivering, and returning.

Typical supply chain showing interrelations between all involved parties. [Source: Auto-ID: Managing Anything, Anywhere, Anytime in the Supply Chain, Bose and Pal, ACM August 2005] SCM subsists in both service and manufacturing environments. A typical supply chain consists of many interactions between suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, with the vital goal of providing either a service or a product to customers. This also works in reverse with the customer at the head of the process when returning a product. SCM is used as a means to assimilate planning, purchasing, manufacturing, distribution, and marketing organizations that normally do not work together to achieve a common goal. Each works toward goals specific to their own organization that accomplish narrow objectives. SCM is a way of integrating these varying functions so that they work together to make best use of the benefits for all involved.

History-Wal-Mart 1962: Company founded with opening of first Wal-Mart in Rogers, Ark. 1967: Wal-Mart's 24 stores total $12.6 million in sales. 1970: Wal-Mart opens first distribution center and home office in Bentonville, Ark. 1977: Wal-Mart makes first acquisition, 16 Mohr-Value stores in Michigan and Illinois. 1978: Hutcheson Shoe Company acquired 1981: Wal-Mart makes its next acquisition with 92 Kuhn's Big K stores. 1983: U.S. Woolco Stores acquired. 1990: Wal-Mart becomes nation's No. 1 retailer.1990McLane Company of Temple, Texas acquired. 1997: Wal-Mart replaces Woolworth on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. 2003: Wal-Mart named by FORTUNE magazine as the most admired company in America.

Operations Wal-Mart operations are comprised of three business segments: Wal-Mart Stores SAMS CLUB Wal-Mart International Wal-Mart Stores segment is the largest segment, which accounted for approximately 67.3% of their 2005 fiscal sales. This segment consists of three different retail formats, all of which are located in the United States. This includes the following sections: Super-centers, which average approximately 187,000 square feet in size and offer a wide variety of products and a full-line supermarket; Discount Stores, which average approximately 100,000 square feet in size and offer a wide variety of products and a limited stock of food products; and Neighborhood Markets, which average approximately 43,000 square feet in size and offer a full-line supermarket and a limited variety of general merchandise. SAMS CLUB segment consists of membership warehouse clubs in the United States which accounted for approximately 13.0% of 2005 fiscal sales. SAMS CLUBs in the United States average approximately 128,000 square feet in size. Wal-Mart International operations are located in Argentina, Canada, Germany, South Korea, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom, the operations of joint ventures in China and

operations of majority-owned subsidiaries in Brazil and Mexico. This segment generated approximately 19.7% of 2005 fiscal sales. Here, it operates several different formats of retail stores and restaurants, including Super-centers, Discount Stores and SAMS CLUBs. For the fiscal year ending January 31, 2005, Wal-Mart topped $10 billion in net income for the first time in their history and added almost $29 billion in sales.