Strategies for Improving Supply Chain Relationship
The first step in improving the supply chain of Walmart is to identify suppliers with a common goal. For instance, since Walmart Company strives to be environmentally responsible it should, therefore, select suppliers who share the same mindset. Secondly, to make the relationship with suppliers more collaborative, it is important for the company to have a clear visibility through real-time data. Thus, it should provide access to their supply chain and inventory data. In this sense, the company should develop a collaborative cloud system of inventory or inventory. The system will allow the suppliers to have access to the software through user roles. Walmart has different branches in the various countries in the worlds, moreover, the company stores different products, therefore, there are plans the company has put in places to ensure that their supply chain relationship remains stable. The company uses a holistic approach to ensure that distributive chain works efficiently. In this method, the company figures out all part of the distribution network and how it syncs with the entire system. Alternatively, the company has a goal that syncs with the whole distributive chain from the warehouse, customers, and branches, all united by one goal. Moreover, the company has an extensive network of communication strategies within the supply chain relationship. The information pathways in the chain are much transparent and efficient. This has contributed the larger part of the success of the chain. Lastly, the company employs a mechanism for tracking cash and inventory within the supply chain relationship.
Supply chain relationship
In this case, they may be tactical transactional or else internal relationship with suppliers. The major type of supply chain relationship that Walmart Company creates is the vertical supply chain relationship. In this relationship, each party is given much-needed weight as all parties play very critical role in the supply chain for the company. The company has created a link between the supply chain firms, retailers, distributor manufacturers and the raw material supply companies. In this system, the company receives the products from the manufacturers through a coordinated system; the company then stocks the products and organizes how through its distributive chains on how other retailers can access goods. One of the successes of this company in the supply chain relationship is trust (Tate et al ., 2010). The company enhances confidence from the suppliers of the products to distributors to other areas in the world.
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Performance measurement
Walmart Company has realized the shift in the business environment towards the supply chain efficiency to improve the flow and speed of the business. For this reason, the company applies the balanced scorecard model to measure the supply chain relationship performance. This model helps the company measures its financial perspective in the supply chain, customer views such as on-time delivery, internal business perspectives such as forecast error and innovative and learning perspectives such as new product development cycle (Lu & Swaminathan, 2015).
Risk management
To ensure that the supply chain relationship works effectively and efficiently, the Walmart company majors in pre-identification of the leakages and recommend on how to make them be in line with the entire system. The company uses data, supply chain mapping and analytics to evaluate the exposure to risk, identifies the risks which may occur within the chain, organizes measures to combat the risk, prioritize the measures and then develop mitigation approaches which are aimed at eliminating the entire risk sources.
Recommendation
The company should enhance trust much more in the entire relationship. This will create confidence among the parties which will increase its effectiveness. Also, the company should keep an eagle eye to ensure that the supply chain strategies sync with the entire system by developing an inclusive goal for the whole system. The company alternatively should apply performance measurement matrix to help in determining the speed of delivery, and lastly, the company should major on the per-exposure risk factors mitigations.
References
Lu, L. X., & Swaminathan, J. M. (2015). Supply chain management.
Tate, W. L., Ellram, L. M., & Kirchoff, J. F. (2010). Corporate social responsibility reports a thematic analysis related to supply chain management. Journal of supply chain management , 46 (1), 19-44.
