What makes Walmart so efficient?

Walmart is serving its customers more than 200 million times per week at more than 11,000 retail units in 27 countries. Without fail, how does it manage to serve those various customers?

Well, it uses a unique technology – RFID for its supply chain management. The change came when they replaced the ubiquitous Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code by smart labels, also called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. RFID tags are intelligent bar codes that can talk to a networked system to track every product that one puts in their shopping cart.

Every employee has an access to the required information regarding the inventory levels of all the products in the center. They make 2 scans- one for identifying the pallet, and other to identify the location from where the stock had to be picked up. RFID tags are intelligent bar codes that can talk to a networked system to track every product that one puts in their shopping cart. Bar codes & RFID are used to label different products, shelves & bins in the center. The hand held computers guide employee to the location of the specific product. The quantity of the product required from the center is entered in the hand held computer, which updates the information on the main central server. The computers also enable the packaging department to get accurate information such as storage, packaging & shipping, thus saving time in unnecessary paperwork. It also enable supervisors to monitor their employees closely in order to guide them and give directions. This enables Wal-Mart to satisfy customer needs quickly and improve level of efficiency of distribution center management operations.

Battery powered tags may operate at hundreds of meters. Unlike a bar code, the tag does not necessarily need to be within line of sight of the reader, and may be embedded in the tracked object. RFID tags are used in many industries. The RFID tag attached to an automobile during production can be used to track its progress through the assembly line. Pharmaceuticals can be tracked through warehouses. Livestock and pets may have tags injected, allowing positive identification of the animal. On off-shore oil and gas platforms, RFID tags are worn by personnel as a safety measure, allowing them to be located 24 hours a day and to be quickly found in emergencies.

While our government is still grappling with various issues of Walmart’s entry into the country, we must look into the infrastructural, technological and product benefits that they can bring along with them, things which are essential for the country’s development, things which we are not even aware of.

Have a look at the video I have attached here to get a better insight to the RFID technology.