Magical distribution center
Wal-Mart's great success is closely related to its excellent logistics management thought and practice.
How can a traditional retail enterprise surpass the automobile industry, the "king of manufacturing", all financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies in the world, and David, the former president of Wal-Mart? 6? 1 glass concluded: "Distribution facilities are one of the keys to Wal-Mart's success. If we do anything better than others, it is the distribution center. " Flexible and efficient logistics distribution system is the core of Wal-Mart to achieve maximum sales and low-cost inventory turnover.
The distribution center is a logistics base located in Wal-Mart 100 retail center. Usually, a distribution center is established in a business circle of 320 kilometers, which can meet the needs of more than 0/00 sales outlets in nearby surrounding cities. One end of the distribution center is a loading platform, and the other end is a unloading platform. 800 employees work in shifts 24 hours a day for loading, unloading and delivery. The wages of Wal-Mart workers are not high, because these workers are basically junior high school students and high school students, and they have only received special training from Wal-Mart. At the same time, Wal-Mart pioneered the unique operation mode of cross-distribution, without warehousing and sorting operations, and directly loaded and delivered when purchasing. In the case that competitors deliver goods every five days, Wal-Mart delivers goods 1 time every day, at least once a day, which means that the inventory of stores or retail stores can be reduced, greatly reducing the cost of retail space and human management. All these unique details of individual loading and unloading, cross-delivery and daily delivery just help Wal-Mart improve its circulation speed and reduce its operating costs.
Around the efficient distribution center, Wal-Mart has gradually established a "seamless point-to-point" logistics system. The logistics cost of enterprises accounts for about 10% of the total sales, and some food industries even reach 20% or 30%, while the distribution cost of Wal-Mart only accounts for 2% of its sales, which is 50% of the cost of its competitors. Wal-Mart's consistent philosophy is to sell the best things to consumers at the lowest price, which is also the key to its success.
Information technology has become the core competitiveness.
Now, almost everyone knows that Wal-Mart's global success stems from the success of its logistics model. However, what supports Wal-Mart's logistics model and transforms its distribution center practice and its excellent logistics concept into unparalleled competitiveness? The answer is logistics information technology.
In 1970s, Wal-Mart established a logistics management information system, which was responsible for processing system reports and speeding up its operation. 1983 Wal-Mart uses POS machines, and the establishment of the sales starting point data system realizes the synchronous sharing of logistics information among various departments; 1985 established EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) system, which implemented paperless operation and all information was operated on the computer. 1986 established QR rapid response mechanism to stimulate market demand quickly. With the help of information technology including logistics bar code, radio frequency technology and portable data terminal equipment, Wal-Mart has made great progress.
Wal-Mart is the first in the world to realize 24-hour computer logistics network monitoring within the group, and to establish the world's first logistics data processing center integrating procurement, inventory, ordering, distribution and sales. For example, customers go to Wal-Mart to shop, and then print invoices through POS machines. At the same time, the computer of the person in charge of production planning and procurement planning and the supplier will display information at the same time, and each link can complete their work in time through information, which reduces a lot of unnecessary time waste and speeds up the logistics cycle. Under the network condition of real-time response of logistics information, members of all logistics links can support each other and cooperate with each other to adapt to the fiercely competitive market environment. Information technology has become a model of the core competitiveness of modern logistics enterprises.
Wal-Mart sets prices from an economic point of view, which varies from day to day. The huge purchase volume makes it have enough bargaining power, thus making its product pricing more competitive and transforming this advantage into the interests of consumers. Compared with other retailers, Wal-Mart offers higher discounts, and at the same time, they also get considerable operating income from the business philosophy of "small profits but quick turnover".
To be sure, logistics will not directly create profits like production enterprises, but reduce costs from the inside to achieve the goal of improving profits as a whole. The practice of Wal-Mart fully proves that logistics has become the third profit source after raw material resources and human resources.
Details determine success or failure, efficient logistics information management
More and more large enterprises pay attention to the "third profit source" theory put forward by Mr. Nishizawa Xiu, an authoritative logistics cost researcher, and become outstanding practitioners who successfully apply logistics management technology according to local conditions after Wal-Mart. In 1990s, PepsiCo invested and built a factory in Songjiang, Shanghai. In order to reduce the logistics cost and improve the market competitiveness, PepsiCo abandoned the short barge transportation logistics from other parts of Shanghai to Songjiang, and boldly outsourced its logistics to the third-party logistics company Shanghai Fang Quan Logistics Co., Ltd.
Today, with the development of many local third-party logistics enterprises struggling, Shanghai Fang Quan Logistics is the key factor favored by PepsiCo Group's logistics outsourcing, and it is still its professional food logistics management and operation information system. This logistics management system is tailored by Boko Information, a domestic logistics supply chain management software provider. According to the logistics demand of Pepsi Food, Boko Information has customized, modified, debugged and improved the whole logistics distribution information system, realized the digital management of warehousing and distribution, realized the automatic distribution of warehousing and warehousing, and realized the early warning function of food inventory and shelf life. PepsiCo has realized real-time query on the terminal server provided by Fang Quan Logistics. The import, export and storage of Fang Quan Logistics are under PepsiCo's control, and the logistics cost and business loss of PepsiCo are greatly reduced.
With the help of information technology, the logistics management system not only reduces the cost of suppliers and provides rational expectations for their production, but also enables sellers and distributors to achieve "zero inventory", reduce the inventory backlog and maximize the profits of enterprises. "Seamless link" runs through the whole process of logistics circulation, and such an optimization system reduces the vicious impact of "bullwhip effect" on market fluctuations. In the process of pursuing profit maximization, Wal-Mart chose self-sufficient logistics, while Pepsi chose outsourced third-party logistics, which finally perfectly responded to logistics informationization and achieved rich commercial returns.