Wal-Mart_Needs_Technology

Abstract This paper will describes the results the assessment of the technology requirements relevant to employee productivity, staffing systems, career development systems, and training systems deployed by Wal-Mart to manage and increase competency and productivity of employees. In addition, the paper will propose suggestions for improving the technology requirements relevant to employee productivity, staffing systems, career development systems, and training systems deployed by the organization to manage and increase competency and productivity of employees. Technology Requirements The idea of a bar code first emerged in 1932. Wallace Flint, a college student, believed that necessity could continue to drive invention therefore, Flint developed the idea for a system that would help grocery stores identify a customer's needs by reading a perforated card on which their shopping list would be labeled. Due to the the lack of technology, Flint's idea was overlooked and dismissed. But the idea resurfaced in 1948, when another graduate student, Bernard Silver, overheard a plea for help from the director of a food provider. The provider decided that it was becoming necessary to identify product information at the checkout stand. Bernard Silver and his fellow student Norman Joseph Woodland decided to pursue the challenge when a dean of Philadelphia's Drexel Institute of Technology turned down the request to reseach the idea. Woodland first attempted to create a system utilizing ink patterns that were sensitive to ultraviolet light, but faced repeated difficulties such as high printing costs. Determined to persevere, he next turned technology already in existence, Morse code and movie soundtracks. Extending the dots and dashes that made up Morse code and adapting the patterns to create lines of varied widths, Woodland then read the information through a tube that was designed for movies made in the 1920s. The tube was able to translate light reflected from the bar pattern into electronic waveforms, which identified the message of the original bar code. The development of laser light pushed the spreading bar code technology into more efficient and widespread use. The direct laser beam allowed information present in the bar code to be read quickly and from different angles. Beginning again with the grocery store industry, bar were mot useful in identifying product information. In the early 1970s, Kroger grocery chain became the market research center for the use of the bar code. A universal bar code system was adopted on April 3, 1973. The Universal Product Code (UPC), developed by George J. Laurer, offered a bar code that all scanners would recognize; eliminating the confusion that multiple systems had previously caused. The UPC is divided into two halves, with six digits in each. The code contains information on the product, its manufacturer, and the country that the product originated. The laser beam recognizes all the information as the scanner reads the bars by the light reflected back from the bars and spaces. Companies today are using it to aid in inventory records and to identify products at the checkout stand. NO company thus far has used the technology as efficiently as Wal-Mart. According to Wal-Mart store manager Jon Lehman, Wal-Mart is able to track sales through the bar code on specific items sold in and on specific weeks, days, and hours of the day. In addition, Lehman states that through this knowledge the company has changed its relationship with manufacturers and suppliers. According to Professor Bonacich, this created a power shift from the manufacturer to the retailer, because Wal-Mart knows what is being sold and what prices are popular, therefore Wal-Mart knows what price to charge and what prices the company should not pay the manufactures. Wal-Mart finally announced that the company was taking technology a step further. The company began requiring its suppliers to provide microchips, which the services radio frequency identification, or RFID, which has greatly enhanced the systems created by bar codes. RFID tags are usually from two to four square inches in size, and contain a silicon chip that holds a unique string of numbers identifying the item. A separate RFID "reader" receives the information contained in the tag through the tag's antenna. Unlike a bar code, the signal does not have to be read directly by a scanner; RFID signals need only to be in the area of an RFID reader. The technology is used in automated highway toll collection systems, such as E-Z Pass, and in November 2004, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and several drug manufacturers announced an initiative to use RFID tags on medication bottles for drugs such as Viagra and OxyContin to combat theft and counterfeiting. According to Wal-Mart officials, the technology allows the company to improve its inventory information. Items could be easily located in the store, and restocking would become more efficient, effective and timely. Wal – Mart believes that eventually, the scanning capabilities of RFID technology may be used at checkout lines, allowing customers to simply push their cart through the line and receive a receipt as they leave the store (Lewallen, 2004) . Wal-Mart Stores and many of their companies of suppliers are using a Dallas distribution center as the starting point for a technology that will soon replace the barcode. The radio frequency information (RFID) tags are used to automatically track pallets and cases of goods. According to Wal-Mart’s chief information officer, Linda Dillman the tags are on the top line of Wal-Mart's technology budget. The RFID tags contain a chip that contains mass information pertaining to the details of what is in a case or on a pallet of goods and reduces the workload. Rather than have a worker with a handheld scanner logging in barcodes, the RFID will let a computer system use a radio signal to log the goods as they arrive at the loading dock. The tags are also be used in the manufacturing process, which help suppliers become more efficient, in addition to helping companies know where their products are at all times, the tags also help reduce theft and counterfeiting prescriptions in the pharmacy. According to Steve David the chief information officer for Proctor & Gamble, counterfeiting costs industry $500 billion worldwide and theft costs companies $50 billion per year. Robertson said HP has put the RFID technology in place in some of its production facilities. Robertson states that the company has proven it can better track materials and read the RFID tags instead of have a human standing by to scan barcodes. In addition, he stated that the barcodes will likely be around for quite a while even when the new technology moves to store shelves. David said one of the objectives of having the tags in distribution is to help ensure that store shelves stay stocked and he adds that tagging individual items will help the goal of keeping the shelves stocked, decreasing theft and cutting down on the work load. Hogan said Target and Albertsons are taking on the technology, but Wal-Mart is pushing it most aggressively to its suppliers. Wal-Mart says the technology will help it keep costs low, which passes on to the shoppers. David said the hope is that RFID tags will catch on more quickly than the dozen or so years it took barcodes to become common. The executives said driving the cost of tags to below 5 cents each will make them affordable and the cost will be even lower as the concept grows (Bartles, 2005). All personal including the apparel supervisors uses a handheld scanner to read EPC labels on clothing items now. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to roll out sophisticated electronic ID tags to track clothing items, which Wal Mart believes will deliver better inventory but some critics says the system raises privacy concerns. In 2010, Wal-Mart placed place removable smart tags on Wrangler jeans that can be read by a hand-held scanner. Wal-Mart workers will be able to learn quickly which size of clothing items are missing, with the aim of ensuring shelves are properly stocked and inventory tightly watched. Wal- Mart is continuously adding smart tags to other items. Wal-Mart believes that the ability to wave the wand and have a sense of all the products that are on the floor or in the back room in seconds is something that can really transform the business. Before now, retailers including Wal-Mart have primarily used RFID tags, which store numerical identification codes that and the codes can be scanned from a distance, to track pallets and cases of merchandise. Wal-Mart's adoption would be the largest in the world, and proponents predict it would lead other retailers to start using the electronic product codes. Wal-Mart has climbed to the top of the retailing world by continuously lowering the costs of its operations and then passing on the savings to shoppers at the checkout counter. While the tags can be removed from clothing and packages, they can't be turned off, and they are tractable. Several states, including Washington and New York, have begun issuing enhanced driver's licenses that contain radio- frequency tags with unique ID numbers, to make border crossings easier for frequent travelers. Some privacy advocates contend that retailers could theoretically scan people with such licenses as they make purchases, combine the info with their credit card data, and then know the person's identity the next time he or she shop at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is demanding that suppliers add the tags to removable labels or the package instead of embedding them in clothes, since people fears that the smart tag can be used to track people's movements. It also is posting signs informing customers about the tags. The concern of people being tracked is unnecessary because the tags do not have any personal information. They are barcodes with serial numbers attached. In addition, you can easily remove them. In Europe, some retailers put the smart labels on hangtags, which are then removed at checkout. That still provides the inventory-control benefit of RFID; however, retailers and suppliers are unable to track the item all the way back to the point of manufacture in case of a recall, or making sure it isn't counterfeit. Wal-Mart will not say how much it expects to benefit from the endeavor, but, according to Avery Dennison Corp., a maker of RFID equipment a similar pilot program at American Apparel Inc. in 2007 found that stores with the technology saw sales rise 14.3% compared to stores without the technology. While the tags will not replace shoplifting sensors, Wal-Mart expects they will cut down on employee theft because it will be easier to see if something is missing from the stock room. Wal-Mart will not disclose what it is spending on the effort, but it confirms that it is subsidizing some of the costs for suppliers. Proponents, meanwhile, are optimistic for expanded use in the future. Beyond more-efficient recalls and loss prevention, RFID tags could get rid of checkout lines (Bustillo, 2010). Two decades ago, the world's number-one retailer used IT to reinvent global supply chains. The world caught up and now Web 2.0 technologies are forcing retailers to pay more attention to customers. No longer is a leader, Wal-Mart’s IT at a crossroads (Wailgum, 2007). In the writer’s opinion, Wal-Mart needs to focus more on how the company can benefit the employees and the customers rather than how the company can continue to make millions. If the employees are trained well in other areas such as customer service the new technology will allow the employees to focus more on the customer’s needs, wants and complaints and less time on inventory control. Summary This paper has described the results the assessment of the technology requirements relevant to employee productivity, staffing systems, career development systems, and training systems deployed by Wal-Mart to manage and increase competency and productivity of employees. In addition, the paper has propose suggestions for improving the technology requirements relevant to employee productivity, staffing systems, career development systems, and training systems deployed by the organization to manage and increase competency and productivity of employees. References Bartles, C. (2004, April 30). Wal-mart making first use of smart label technology. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2004-04-30-wallyworld-rfid_x.htm Bustillo, M. (2010, July 23). Wal-mart radio tags to track clothing. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704421304575383213061198090.html Lewallen, B. (2004, NBovember 16). Wal-mart and the bar code. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/secrets/barcode.html Wailgum , T. (2007, October 4). How wal-mart lost its technology edge. Retrieved from http://www.cio.com/article/143451/How_Wal_Mart_Lost_Its_Technology_Edge