Located near a Walmart in Burtonsville, MD, I chose to write about their Inventory System. Walmart, the dominant wholesale retailer, aimed to create an RFID-based EPC (electronic product code) to enhance their inventory management. This electronic code enables businesses to automatically track shipments and inventory using tags and sensors. It has the potential to replace the manual scanning of barcodes, which revolutionized the retail industry twenty years ago.
According to industry experts, the EPC was considered unnecessary since bar codes are significantly cheaper than RFID technology. However, Wal-Mart saw RFID technology as a way to improve its already impressive logistical capabilities in their SMART system. Experts predicted that adoption would primarily focus on supply chain management. The SMART system, which stands for a tracking system rather than an acronym, monitors all of Wal-Mart’s inventory, including on-hand counts and can automatically identify and record low or out-of-stock products. The Telxon, a wireless handheld terminal with a barcode scanner, serves as the main interface for accessing the SMART system. Scanning a barcode on the Telxon immediately displays the item number, product description, and order amount.
The Telxon is a handheld unit that serves as Wal-Mart’s Swiss army knife. It has a keypad, bar-code scanner, a 16-line character display, and radio frequency communications with the in-store servers. This network computer, which was first deployed five years ago, is responsible for linking to the SMART database to retrieve information about the products in the stock database. All of this is made possible through a simple thing like a barcode, which is a unique set of numbers similar to a primary key.
The units have not been modified since they were purchased, but Wal-Mart may replace them with pen-based computers if the return on investment can be shown. Currently, the Telxon system allows for price changes for each item only three times a day. However, Wal-Mart is testing LCD shelf tags from NCR that are powered and controlled by infrared light units on the ceiling. These tags can be changed in real time, simultaneously with changes at the point-of-sale registers. One of the strengths of The SMART Inventory System is its enormous database.
Wal-Mart manages a wide range of products, all stored in a single database. Even if Wal-Mart doesn’t stock certain items, they can still be scanned, revealing detailed information about them. This feature is particularly advantageous for customers returning products at “Mega Wal-Mart” stores that carry a larger inventory compared to regular ones. The SMART system also integrates with the cash registers, ensuring that inventory is automatically updated when products are sold. On-hand counts are constantly refreshed, and for select items, reordering may occur automatically based on the remaining quantity.
Wal-Mart utilizes both RFID technology and smart tag sensors on garments to improve inventory control. By using these technologies, Wal-Mart employees can easily identify which sizes of a specific brand product are missing, ensuring that shelves are stocked efficiently and inventory is closely monitored. If the implementation is successful, Wal-Mart plans to extend the use of radio-frequency ID tags to other products in their 3,750 U.S. stores. It’s worth noting that while the smart tags can be removed from clothing and packages, they cannot be deactivated and are traceable.
The concern of privacy arises as criminals can drive past consumers’ houses and examine their trash to learn about their recent purchases. Advocates for privacy are concerned that retailers can scan customers who possess new forms of personal identification cards while they browse a store, without their awareness. Certain states, such as Washington and New York, have already started distributing advanced driver’s licenses with radio-frequency tags that have distinct identification numbers. These enhanced licenses aim to facilitate border crossings for frequent travelers.
Privacy advocates argue that retailers have the potential to scan individuals with specialized licenses during their purchases. By merging this information with credit card data, retailers could determine a person’s identity when they next enter the store. The Wal-Mart System, exclusively owned by Wal-Mart and protected by a patent, prohibits any other company from replicating its design. Wal-Mart adopted this technology as a means of revolutionizing inventory tracking and restocking processes in stores, resulting in cost reduction and passing the benefits to customers.
The company, Wal-Mart, has become widely known for its successful supply chain management. The main drawback of Wal-Mart’s SMART inventory system is the necessity for barcoding everything, which can result in added expenses. However, it is crucial for an effective barcode system to be directly connected to the barcode data source. This system can provide up to four years of inventory data for certain products in stock. Wal-Mart considers its retail suppliers as partners and provides them with access to its data warehouse.
Wal-Mart utilizes it to monitor supplier performance, including meeting orders, lead time, and product pricing. The company emphasizes cooperation between stores, distribution centers, and suppliers, favoring less centralized control. Additionally, Wal-Mart’s supply chain tracks customer purchases and demand, enabling consumers to effectively drive merchandise to stores rather than relying solely on the company to push goods onto shelves.
Wal-Mart benefits from its supply chain management in several ways. These include time savings, faster inventory turnover, increased warehouse space, and accurate inventory level forecasting.
The objective of this course is to analyze an information system within a currently operating company. You will conduct an interview with the information management representative (who may hold different titles) from a company of your preference. The selected company should have an adequate size to sustain a structured information management system that includes development, maintenance, and life cycle planning. During the interview, you should inquire about aspects such as information flow, equipment, software, and the methods used for obtaining, capturing, processing, and disseminating information.
Keep in mind systems theory (input, process, output, feedback). A critical question you can ask is what future developments in information management may evolve in that particular environment. Based on your learning and research during the semester, critically analyze and evaluate the system you investigate for durability, flexibility, and overall effectiveness. Write a minimum five (5) page paper on that system. The paper will contain a cover page (project title, student name, course title) to be followed by three (3) type-written double-spaced pages in the body of the report, to be followed by a bibliography. Include the name of the company and individual you interviewed.
