Can A Retailer Operate In A JIT Environment?
At some point, Wal-Mart will have complete visibility that ranges from its top suppliers through to its top customers. It will have complete control over its inventory and will be making decisions based on up-to-the-minute, store-level data. At that point, how far is Wal-Mart from becoming a JIT (just-in-time) retail outfit? If your organization is running that lean, do you really need distribution centers? “That’s where all of this is headed,” intimated an RFID vendor in a recent conversation. “Case and pallet tracking will save Wal-Mart tons of money. But that’s just pocket change compared to what Wal-Mart could save by running a JIT supply chain. The technology is getting mature enough to be effective, and Wal-Mart is so large that it can force compliance. From where I’m sitting, those are the two dynamics at play.” Just over a year from now, many suppliers will be face-to-face with Wal-Mart’s January 2005 deadline. Unfortunately, most of the retailer’s suppliers will move forward u
