Walmart has achieved success through low prices, good customer service, and efficient operations. It keeps costs low through supply chain management and vendor partnerships. Walmart uses advanced inventory systems to track stock levels across stores and warehouses. Inventory is categorized and replenished regularly. Suppliers manage their own inventory through access to Walmart's systems. Inventory performance is measured through turnover, stock-outs, and inventory size. Hard Rock Cafe differentiates itself through a full rock and roll dining experience. It focuses on quality and customizing its menu for each location. Operations decisions include location selection, layout, hiring passionate staff, and supply chain management. Inventory includes unique merchandise for each cafe. Scheduling and maintenance help meet forecasted

1. Bahir Dar University
Bahir Dar Institute of Technology
Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
MSc. Manufacturing Engineering Program
Production and Operations Management
Walmart and Hard rock cafe
Prepared by: Habtamu Minwagaw
ID: BDU1500260
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2. Wal-mart’s Sophisticated Distribution
System
Introduction
 Walmart is the largest American
corporation that runs discount
department stores.
 It was found in 1962, Arkansas, USA
by Sam Walton.
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3. What are the Competitive Advantages of Wal-Mart?
i) Focus on Keeping the Price Low
• “Everyday low prices” is their philosophy and
• Their slogan is “We save people’s money so that they can live better”.
ii) Best Customer Services
• Wal-Mart always prioritized superior
customer services for its customers.
• Not only low prices but also offering
different services both online and offline.
• Motivates its employees for a better
customer management.
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4. iii) Cost Effectiveness
• Wal-Mart provide low prices and gain a bigger profit margin.
• It has invested in technology a lot.
• Entry mode, store locations, good management has helped Walmart to
achieve the economies of scale and having the cost leadership.
iv) Market Saturation
• Wal-Mart has reached out to places where population was very low.
v) Speed of Global Expansion
 Walmart started with only one small store in US.
 Now it has its operations in 28 countries with 11,700 stores all over the
world.
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5. vi) Efficient Supply Chain Management
 Wal-Mart has invested the most on its supply chain and warehouse management.
⁕ Wal-mart’s successful supply chain strategy has:-
• Clearly defined inventory types
• Smart distribution system
• Streamlined supply chain operations.
• It working directly with manufacturers and distributors
to cut out the middleman to further streamline the supply chain.
• Walmart establishes strategic partnerships with these vendors.
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6. Inventory management of Walmart
 It is one of the biggest contributors to the success of the multinational retail
business.
 Walmart is known for cutting-edge technological applications for its
inventory management aspect of operations.
• Advanced inventory management
capabilities that enable Walmart’s
leadership in the global retail industry.
• It provides real-time data about stock levels at
individual stores or warehouses across different geographies.
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7. Types of inventories in Walmart
• Finished goods inventory: is the most significant in Walmart’s business. These
goods are stored and the inventory is replenished regularly.
• Transit inventory: refers to the goods that are held while in transit.
 The role is to support the replenishment of the finished goods inventory in the
merchandise distribution centers and Walmart stores.
• Buffer inventory: used to ensure the adequate capacity of the company to satisfy
sudden increases in demand.
• Anticipation inventory: it is based on seasonal changes and corresponding
empirical data on seasonal changes in the market.
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8. Walmart’s Vendor-Managed Inventory Model
 Suppliers access data from the company’s information systems.
 They decide when to send additional goods to Walmart.
 This strategy shifts some of the inventory control activities onto the side of the suppliers.
Benefits:
 Minimizing delays in the movement of inventory across the supply chain.
• Suppliers can directly access current data about the inventory of their goods at Walmart
stores.
 Minimizing the costs in inventory management activity.
• The company does not need to spend for extra personnel to manage each supplier’s
goods. 24 January 2023
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9. Walmart’s Measures of Inventory Performance
a. Inventory turnover: is the rate at which Walmart’s inventory is sold out and
replenished.
• A higher inventory turnover rate is less costly and more desirable for the company.
b. Stock-out rate: the frequency at which Walmart’s inventory becomes inadequate in
satisfying demand.
• A lower stock-out rate is desirable.
c. Inventory size: the company uses inventory size as a gauge of cost.
• The corporation spends less for a smaller inventory.
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10. Managing Inventory across Walmart’s Supply Chain’
1) ABC Analysis:
Category A: include the finished goods sold at its stores and operations equipment.
 Items regularly monitored and recorded.
Category B: operations, such as maintenance equipment and office furniture.
 Moderately monitored and have moderate recording accuracy.
Category C: involves the least monitored and recorded inventory items,
such as janitorial supplies and office supplies like paper.
2) Inventory Information Systems.
 Walmart is known for its advanced information systems specifically
designed to support international retail operations, including e-commerce operations.
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11. Hard Rock Café
Introduction
 Hard rock cafe was founded by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton
on June 14, 1971, in London.
 It is a chain of casual dining restaurant.
 It is the place of people who are funs of music, food and great times.
 The mission is to provide not only a customer
meal from the menu but a dining event that includes
visual and experience not found anywhere in the world.
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12. Differentiation in Hard Rock
 Hard Rock is using differentiation strategy
to achieve competitive advantage on the market.
 They find ways to differentiate that create value for customers
and that are not easily matched or cheaply copied by competitors.
 Hard Rock sells meals and hotel rooms,
but what makes it different from others is
that it sells a full Rock and Roll experience.
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13. Operations decisions of Hard Rock
1. Good and service design: depending on the region, the meal is different, as it has been
particularized for each location.
Eg. Hard Rock Cafes focuses less on hamburgers
and beef, and more on fish and lobsters in Britain
2. Managing Quality: Hard Rock Café defines quality by conducting
numerous surveys to get an honest evaluation from its customers.
 Based on customer surveys and feedback, their menu will be
changed with the times to fulfill customer recommendations accordingly.
 The experience itself is their product.
 The employees at Hard Rock Café are responsible for giving
the best quality of their services and products to its customers.
3. Process: The kitchen process changed when Hard Rock went from
hamburgers to lobster, and additional changes were made as the firm moved
to retail merchandising.
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14. 4. Location selection: Hard Rock Café has expanded to more than 157 locations throughout the world.
• From a London Cafe, Hard Rock decided to expand to
tourist locations since 70% of their customers were tourists.
• They then started taking into consideration the political factors
and ended up choosing non-tourist locations too.
5. Layout: Hard Rock added retail stores and also added live music facilities.
 Each cafe is a “museum in the environment of a bar-restaurant.”
 Lighting, sound, screens, contemporary music and circulation plans
are designed to show memorabilia and expose merchandise to customers.
6. Human resource: Hard Rock’s philosophy is to hire only candidates who are best qualified.
 Hiring decision is not only on experiences and qualifications, but also on:
• on the candidate’s passionate about music
• their ability to tell a story and
• convey the experience to customers.
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15. 7. Supply-chain management:
• Hard Rock work with qualified suppliers to ensure fresh and quality meals.
• Menu item selection depends on supplying right amount of
ingredients from qualified suppliers on time.
• Explored new global resources to achieve maximum profitable via supply chain.
8. Inventory Management
Other than food, Hard Rock started selling unique merchandise (each location).
They continue to change their menu to incorporate food and drink.
Their inventory consists of unique objects related to:
 rock history,
 the memorabilia,
special decorations and
a special menu.
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16. 9. Scheduling:
 Hard Rock Cafe used the scheduling software, and sales forecast.
 Considerations for forecasting:
 Community events in the area,
 Seasonality,
 Holidays,
 Time of day,
 Day of week
 Sales trend in last couple weeks, and
 Meals served is necessary for effective forecasting of sales
10. Maintenance
 Hard Rock Cafe also has standards and policies on
how maintenance should be conducted.
 The menu review and surveys are also need to be maintained
to meet the customers’ requirement.
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