Analyze a company's supply chain - Essay Example

This paper will provide an analysis of Walmart’s supply chain. Walmart is a retailing public, multinational corporation based in the United States and has several branches in different countries all over the world. In its branches, Walmart operates large warehouse stores and departmental stores. It is one of the largest public corporations in the world and employees more than 2 million workers worldwide. The multinational corporation was founded in the year 1962 by Sam Walton. Walmart was created on the basis of discount retailing, and this gave it advantage at a time when there was stiff competition.

In 2008, Walt-Mart, rebranded to Walmart. The following are different stores operated by Walmart Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, Express Stores, Marketside and web-based Walmart.com. Components of supply chain Production When it comes to supply chain, production is the first, essential component in Walmart. Walmart as an organization has based its strategic decisions pertaining to production on quality, capacity, customer needs, volume of goods and demand from the market. Problems that are present during the process of production are using raw materials of low quality, new technology and customer’s change in preferences and tastes. . Walmart as an organization has emphasized on quality products, flexible prices and the development of velocity aimed at determining supply of raw materials, which will maintain low cost of production.

A potential problem to Walmart in relation to supply is the issue of price consideration and supplier. The management of Walmart can solve this problem through developing flexibility, velocity and quality during the process choosing its suppliers. Managing this problem will ensure that production cost remain at a lower cost (Hugos, 2011). Inventory Through this component from the supply chain, the management of Walmart can determine the suitable level of inventory in the organization beneficial in increasing competitiveness.

The inventory is effectively managed by Walmart’s Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. Through this technology, day to day stocks are monitored, and daily remaining stocks are tracked. Problem in the management of inventory through the (RFID) technology comes as a result of a lot of traffic in the network. A lot of traffic leads wrong interpretation of the processed information. Walmart can solve this problem through increasing the number of server bases and continuous advancement of (RFID) technology (Hugos, 2011).

Location The physical site to which an organization has been located is crucial for the prosperity of an organization. The locations Walmart selects to put up its stores are determined by customers’ demands and satisfaction. Walmart ensures that an identified location for its production facilities and stores are close and convenient to the consumers. The problem with this component