Walmart is an American multinational retail corporation
that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores and grocery
stores. It operates under the name Walmart all throughout US and Canada, as Walmart
de México y Centroamérica in Mexico and Central America, Asda in the UK, Seiyu
in Japan and Best Price in India. Also provides wholly owned operations in
Argentina, Brazil, and Canada. To manage the global operations of Walmart it is
mandatory to have a broad base of suppliers in contact. Those businesses are called
Walmart suppliers. These suppliers
are burdened with the major task of distributing the retail products to
worldwide customers. Being a retailer and that too for a company like Walmart
requires precision and detailed analysis.
5 things that Walmart wants its suppliers to know about:
Make
the suppliers use the Walmart Retail Link – Nowadays the
valuable data in the Walmart retail link is used by the sales team and supply
chain management system but not by the suppliers who take care of the wholesale
after its distribution. So, Walmart urges its suppliers to use the retail link
software. The use of data by the suppliers helps in reduction of the costs.
Redesigning
scorecards to enhance the performance – Most of the suppliers
keep one scorecard that is based on supply chain but Walmart urges its
suppliers to have more than 1 scorecard to keep a check on the supply as well
as on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The lack of a single scorecard
confuses suppliers. A single scorecard that balances cost, customer service and
CSR which ties to buying behavior is needed.
Collaborative
Logistics – Customers want their product to be delivered to them
within a few weeks but sometimes the products are not delivered on time.
Suppliers who take the charge of delivering them also are not present in the
requisite time to have the item delivered. While oil prices have fallen, the
cost of transportation has not, and will not, due to the shortage of drivers.
Walmart
says that we need to stop the old buyers and sellers relationship –
In order to make it big in the world of suppliers the
first thing that you need to do stop depending on the supply chain management
and directly deal with the main man. Break down the barriers within the
supplier and broaden the discussion.
Responsible
Sourcing requirements and expectations –
All suppliers and
their facilities – including subcontracting and packaging facilities – are
expected to uphold Walmart’s Standards for Suppliers. Learn more about
Walmart’s Responsible Sourcing program, our expectations for suppliers and
requirements for facilities that include Factor visibility and Disclosure,
Company representatives, Line and Fire safety requirements.