Walmart is considered a world leader in logistics and supply chain management for a number of reasons. Chief among the reasons is the company’s successful incorporation of technology and the continuous innovations that have enabled it to retain its leadership position in a fast evolving and extremely competitive area.
Over the years, the giant retailer has pioneered some of the industry changing innovations, pertaining to logistics and supply chain management. For example, the company is responsible for the supply chain innovation dubbed the Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), which has facilitated a smoother flow of inventory and subsequent availability of products in retail stores. This system relies on the collaboration between the buyer and the vendor, where the buyer provides the vendor with all the necessary information concerning the product in question (Lee & Whang, 2000). Therefore, in order to provide this information to the vendor, Walmart embraced the use of information technology in the hopes of making the communications between them and the supplier more effective and efficient.