m 1975 - IBM computer systems to track inventory

m 1979 - Started using barcodes

m 1987 ± Set up its own private satellite network
m 1992 ± 125,000 square foot data center
m 2000s - Usage of RFID
m Walmart¶s e-business venture µwalmart.com¶
similar to Amazon.com
A `
 is an optical machine readable representation
of data, which shows certain data on certain products.
Walmart started using barcodes to track the items in the
company right from 1979.
It was able to save costs by:
` limination of unnecessary roles

` Resulted in 25 ± 30% faster checkout of customers

` Using the data obtained to develop sophisticated

merchandising programs(promotions)
` Walmart integrated all its stores located across
globe via a satellite chain network in the year
1987.
` It enabled much faster communications and it
helped the company to bring down the costs
` ë
 
 
 whereby each vehicle's
exact location will be relayed to headquarters
every 15 minutes.
` nabled smooth information flow between vendors
and the company
` RFID ± A technology that uses radio waves to
automatically identify people or objects
` Accuracy in tracking inventory
` ase of predicting product demand
` RFID tags can store more information than a
conventional barcode enabling a company to track
items at unit level
Alignment with Walmart¶s strategy:
Usage of RFID aligns with the company¶s strategy
to reduce costs
` Scheduling software to schedule employee shifts
` The company built credit authorization system
- Faster credit checkout
- Reduction in credit card frauds
- Reduction in paperwork
` Teradata data warehouse: WalMart is pioneering
massive data mining to transform its supplier
relationships.
- Data is captured from point of sale transactions
- Suppliers access the data to identify customer
buying patterns
`  
ë Walmart has always
been an early adapter of the technology.
`   


 

: The
company was able to assess/forecast demand
based on customer¶s buying patterns better than
most of its competitors
`  
: Better inventory tracking resulted
in reduction of costs.
` http://www.prenhall.com/divisions/bp/app/alter/stu
dent/useful/ch1walmart.html
` students.kennesaw.edu/~barcher1/Complete_RFI
D.htm
` http://www.cio.com/article/31174/Wal_Mart_IT_Insi
de_the_World_s_Biggest_Company?page=3
Thank You