Quality Management in Logistics

Quality Management in Logistics

Introduction

Wal-Mart is considered to be the firm that is at the top of their game; being considered as the one of the largest and successful businesses whilst also being recognized as the leader in the industry it is operating in, that too when compared with the chains operating across the world rather than just being compared with those serving in USA. This is mainly because of their unprecedented focus on the supply chain and logistics management. Their strategies; that is their key competitive advantage, altogether changed the way retail industry operated; adding a whole new dimension to the way retail industry is supposed to function.

Discussion

The net sales that were recorded by Wal-Mart for the year 2011 crossed the whopping US $400 billion. They are able to pursue their signature strategy of Everyday Low Pricing (EDLP) because of their Supply Chain and Logistics Management processes. This strategy works as a trigger for the sales and thus profitability for the group, with their forecast usually matching their sales due to the consistency in the demand prompted by consistent low pricing strategy, thereby resulting in no losses (Daudelin, 2001). The Logistics Management process is the key process that underlies EDLP strategy; and thus their success.

The highly automated logistics system of Wal-Mart calls for excessive Quality Management processes so that automation does not result in declining performance, as automation without management may lead into. It is imperative for the measures to be implemented so that the positives of the Logistics Management are not outweighed by the negatives of the distribution and the logistics system.

Quality Management Processes used by Wal-Mart are comprehensive and disparate so as to address all the aspects that might be arising out of their extensive distribution and logistics system. The process called 'Reoptimization' is ...