Global Operations

Introduction

The supply chain enables the delivery of services and goods to final consumers promptly with minimal costs to meet their demands and enhance cost-effectiveness for the external and internal parties involved (Collison, 2021). Nonetheless, due to the competitiveness of the global economy, businesses must reevaluate their supply chain to align to the current trends and take advantage of the global market.

One of the global largest retailers is Wal-Mart which Sam Walton first opened in 1962; after that developed over 10000 different stores and retail outlets across the globe. Wal-Mart is a retail corporation with several hypermarkets, grocery stores, and discount department stores. An adequate supply chain is one of the significant contributors to the success and growth of Wal-Mart in the retail industry. More particularly, the success of Wal-Mart retailer has been accorded to the retailers highly integrated supply chain, speed, and cost-effectiveness. Moreover, Wal-Mart has competitive advantages like the supply chain and retail management strategies over its competitors, thus, allowing it to accelerate its growth.

On the other hand, Zara is also one of the successful global brands in fashion retail. Rosalia Mera and Amancio Ortega founded the brand in 1975 to introduce a dramatic concept known as fast fashion retail. Zara continues to target the establishment of passion for fashion among a wide range of consumers across multiple age groups and cultures. Though several factors have contributed to Zaras success, putting customers first is the crucial strength that enabled it to become a powerhouse of global fashion (Collison, 2021). Zara has extreme care for its customers, thus, establishing the brands culture and the company from the start. Their clientele includes women, men, children, teenagers, and younger women.

Walmarts Supply Chain

According to Freeman et al. (2020), Wal-Mart is a business and technology leader with a coordinative technique for collaborative replenishment, forecasting, vendor-managed inventory, and planning. This has enabled the company to lower demand data distortion and coordinate the business plan with various supply chain partners. Lowering inventory is treated as a way of improving a competitive advantage that is sustained in the field of cost minimization. Due to proper inventory management, Wal-Mart lowers costs like insurance costs and inventory taxes, which are motivating parameters for the organization in search of profitability and efficiency (Toptanc?, 2021). Nevertheless, cooperation by suppliers dramatically influences the ability of Wal-Mart to capture the competitor advantage.

One of Walmarts strategies is using a logistical process known as Cross-docking to replenish inventory efficiently. This refers to direct movement of goods and services from outbound or inbound truck trailers minus the need for surplus storage, through offloading products from incoming railroad cars or semi-trailer trucks and directly loading those items into outbound rail cars, trucks, or trailers without any storage in between. Cross-docking ensures transportation and inventory costs are minimized, eliminating inefficiencies, and reducing time taken during transportation (Bal & Pawlicka, 2021). For instance, Walmart suppliers deliver items to distribution centers where cross-docking takes place and is delivered to Walmart storage facilities.

The fleet of truck drivers at Walmart delivers products to distribution centers continuously. After that, the products are received, repackaged, and distributed minus staying at the storage centers. Products cross from one dock to the other within less than 24 hours. The unsold MerchandiseMerchandise is returned by the company trucks (Toptanc?, 2021). The strategy has significantly reduced the costs incurred by Walmart, enabling the company...

…distribution center enabling shipment of all clothes to the central location in Spain (Berbiche et al. 2020). They are distributed across the globe to various countries and storage facilities depending on a given localitys individual needs.

Also, both Walmart and Zara ensure prompt and swift transfer of their products to various clients across the globe. For example, Walmart uses Cross-docking, which refers to the direct movement of goods and services from outbound or inbound truck trailers minus the need for surplus storage, through offloading products from incoming railroad cars or semi-trailer trucks and directly loading those items into outbound rail cars, trucks, or trailers without any storage in between. Cross-docking ensures transportation and inventory costs are minimized, eliminating inefficiencies, and reducing time taken during transportation (Bal & Pawlicka, 2021). For instance, Walmart suppliers deliver items to distribution centers where cross-docking takes place and is delivered to Walmart storage facilities. At the same time, Zara strictly controls scheduling; for example, a manager can place an order two times within a week, while shipment and delivery are executed within 24 hours for the clients in Europe. Equally, the items are displayed on the exact arrival date in the stores. As a result, waiting time is significantly minimized.

However, whereas Walmart uses different distribution centers across the globe, Zara only uses one central distribution point located in Spain.

Conclusion.

To conclude, supply chain management is critical for every business, large or small. Proper supply chain management ensures the organization upholds customer value and achieves a competitive advantage. Supply chain management involves the transportation and storage of products and inventory management (Berbiche et al. 2020). Keeping track of varios items is also part of supply chain management. Zara and Walmart leverage supply…