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Case Study: Wal-Mart's Supply Chain Management

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Introduction

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (branded as Walmart) is a U.S.-based, low-cost retailer and the largest corporation in the world in terms of revenue in 2009.24 Walmart is a multinational corporation with an expansive supply chain network which delivers goods from suppliers to its stores. Walmart has a total of 242 distribution centers (DCs) and 8,423 stores worldwide.25 Within the United States; the company has a total of 49 DCs. Imports into the United States move through the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, California; Norfolk, Virginia; Savannah, Georgia; Houston, Texas; and Elwood, Illinois. Goods are moved within the U.S. by 7,950 truck drivers, 7,200 tractors, and 53,000 trailers.
Wal-Mart, like most of top retailers, has both online …show more content…

The supply chain is a collection of physical entities such as manufacturing plants, distribution centers, conveyances, retail outlets, people, and information, which are linked through consumption. Supply chain management has been recognized as an important business element due to the fact that decreased time, as well as cost to the customer, will greatly contribute to their competitiveness within their perspective industry.
Supply chain management reduces product costs through the elimination of unnecessary steps and adds value to the customer service function by more closely managing the coordination among logistics providers and customers. It is primarily concerned with managing the company 's integration with transportation and information providers as it defines and drives the requirements for …show more content…

The number of trucks serving for distribution centers exceeds 3,500. These truck fleets are capable of finishing goods shipment from distribution centers to stores within two days and replenishing inventory every week
The company uses the retail last-in, first-out (LIFO) method for the Wal-Mart stores segment. They use the cost LIFO for the Sam’s Club segment and another cost method for the international segment.
During the 1999 fiscal year, approximately 84% of the Wal-Mart discount stores’ and Supercenters’ purchases were shipped from Wal-Mart’s 43 distribution centres, nine of which are grocery distribution centres and two of which are import distribution centres. The balance of merchandise purchased was shipped directly to the stores from

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