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Walmart- Information Technology

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Walmart - Information Technology
Rachel Thorne
Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management
BUS 3022

Gordon Flanders
Walmart Information Management System (IMS)
Walmart is a retail giant. Just about everyone in America has purchased something from them. It is a one stop shop for anything that a person could ever need. Walmart stores can be found just about anywhere, in fact most people are less than an hour drive away from a Walmart store. Walmart’s success has put many companies out of business. The chains success is primarily from low prices and using an information technology system to meet customer demands giving them a competitive advantage. Walmart’s first major use of information technology came in 1975 when the company leased an IBM computer system to track inventory in warehouses and distribution centers. (Wailgum, 2007) Computers have come a very long way since this time and are used almost everywhere. But in 1975 this was cutting edge technology and gave Walmart the competitive advantage over other retailers. Another thing that Walmart used to be revolutionary in their supply chain was the use of scanning barcodes in 1983. (Wailgum, 2007) Before barcodes objects had to be read by a skilled cashier. With barcodes all that was needed was a quick scan and the computer would do all the work. This greatly sped up checkout time and made tracking inventory and data collection much faster and easier for both customers and the employees. Since this time it has become an industry standard for products.
In 1987, this information became even more essential for the company. Walmart created its own private satellite network. (Wailgum, 2007) This network allowed for direct two way communication between the headquarters and individual stores so that instant information on inventory, sales and other data could be viewed by upper management. (Wailgum,

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