Walmart Inc. is one of the world’s largest retailers, which weekly serves 260 million people (Leggate, 2019). It is crucial for companies of this size to ensure that their operational planning and scheduling are at the highest level. Operations planning involves creating short-term goals and milestones, which are necessary for fulfilling the global strategic plan (Brown, n.d.). In this type of planning, Walmart relies on analyzing and forecasting its customers’ behavior in order to be able to supply goods effectively to particular locations. The method of cross-docking helps Walmart minimize expenses and distribute products without the need to store them at local warehouses (Lu, 2018). The company uses a system of inbound semi-trailer trucks, which bring goods in large numbers to a distribution center where the load is broken into smaller parts and then sent to stores with outbound trucks.
Scheduling constitutes efficiently assigning jobs to personnel, and Walmart’s approach to it is also an important factor in the company’s success. It is based on flexibility, for example, to ensure that stores’ inventory stays replenished, the companies’ warehouses are always ready to supply necessary products (Smithson, 2020). Store workers’ schedules are usually fixed, yet to avoid generating a labor-limited environment, the personnel is trained to perform different roles, for instance, of a cashier and a stocker (Operations Scheduling, n.d.). This way, people can quickly switch between jobs depending on the current needs of their store.
Walmart is a company that always has to adopt state-of-the-art technologies to be competitive and expand further. Thus, currently, its primary opportunity is implementing operational planning and scheduling software, which can help it to better adjust its internal processes. Using cloud-based services, the company can improve communication channels with retailers, which will increase the speed of delivering goods to stores. While store management teams can use special apps to notify workers about changes in their schedules during the times when there is a demand for additional labor.
References
Brown, G. (n.d.). Differences between a strategic plan & an operations plan. Chron.
Operations Scheduling. (n.d.). Supplement J. Web.
Lu, C. (2018). Walmart’s successful supply chain management. TradeGecko.
Leggate, J. (2019). Walmart: What to know about the ‘largest retailer in the world’? FOX Business.
Smithson, N. (2020). Walmart’s operations management: 10 strategic decisions & productivity. Panmore Institute.