Supply Chain Management of Walmart - Essay Example

The Council for Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) defines supply chain process strategy as encompassing “the planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing and procurement, conversion, and all logistics management activities” (CSCMP, 2011, par. 1) of an organization. Likewise, logistics mean “the part of supply chain management that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverses flow and storage of goods, services and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customers' requirements” CSCMP, 2011, par. 4).

            Wal-Mart applies various forms of strategies including process focus (where products are inventoried, ordered, stocked in warehouses, displayed, and sold) and product focus (where each product type is classified and monitored in terms of saleability and capacity to provide customer satisfaction). According to their official website, “logistics — it’s how we get our products from the manufacturer to our store shelves. It’s the heart of the Walmart operation. We move millions of products to customers each day of the year” (Walmart: Logistics, n.d, par. 1).

2) Where is the headquarters (or distribution center) of the organization? Are there any benefits located there? If you could choose, where would you choose?

            Walmart’s official website reveals its corporate office is located in Bentonville, Arkansas but its distribution centers are diverse. As indicated:

We have one of the largest private distribution operations in the world. We have more than 40 Regional Distribution Centers. Each one is over 1 million square feet in size. They operate 24/7 to keep our fleet of tractors and trailers rolling. Inside each DC, more than five miles of conveyor belts move over 9,000 different lines of merchandise. Each DC supports between 75 and 100 stores within a 250-mile radius (Walmart: Logistics, n.d, par. 2).

The NY Job Source revealed that Wal-Mart currently has 4,200 stores in the U.S.

alone (NY Job Source, 2011, par. 3). The 40 regional distribution centers are strategically located to service and support the mentioned 75 to 100 stores within the stipulated radius. In so doing, the locations of the distribution centers were chosen considering factors such as proximity to stores, the population of the region, other businesses or commercial establishments present, and the number and profile of competitors.

            Being located in their chosen distribution centers give Wal-Mart the benefits of easy access to stores and customers, and to the various supplies of the products that they market.

            If one is to choose locations for distribution centers, the same factors would also be considered to ensure that the products carried would be patronized by the potential target market. Their strategic choice in locations contributed to the organization’s being considered the world’s largest discount retailer (NY Job Source, 2001).