Walmart, the world’s largest company by sales, is a leader in the U.S. economy and retail industry. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company partners with a network of more than 100,000 businesses to sell its products online and stock the shelves of more than 10,000 of his stores and Sam’s Club member stores around the world. Masu.
Andrea Albright has the enormous task of overseeing product sourcing in the “first mile” of this vast supply chain. Since she became Walmart’s executive vice president of sourcing in February 2022, she has been responsible for all private brands in the 19 countries in which the retailer operates.
said Albright, who has held various positions at Walmart since 2005. fDi The biggest challenge in recent years is how supply chains and the transportation within them have changed.
“We continue to focus on what we can control: how do we ensure redundancy and resiliency without the supply chain,” she says. Post-pandemic delivery delays and soaring shipping container prices are showing companies “how thin their supply chains are, especially in transportation,” she added.
A three-pronged approach
Inventory building has become a more important strategy for many companies as a way to manage supply chain bottlenecks. But Albright warns that inventory buildup can reduce a company’s flexibility. “We are working to be as real-time as possible and ensure we can adapt to the situation by category and consumer demand,” she says.
Albright said Walmart is taking a customer-driven, “three-pronged approach” to global sourcing to create the right value for customers, build trust in sourcing and build resiliency in the supply chain. He said it is important to build.
“We are taking advantage of opportunities to not only minimize risk, but also lower prices and change the paradigm of how products are sourced,” she says.
So what is her best advice for multinational companies looking to source globally in a changing world? Everything has to start from the customer’s perspective.
“Whether it’s transportation, merchandising, sourcing, whatever you do, if you understand your customer and act accordingly, you’ll know exactly what to do,” she says.
locally sourced
Part of this focus on customers requires Walmart to source locally, including in its home market of the United States, where it has pledged to invest an additional $350 billion in products by 2030. She estimates that this initiative will support more than 750,000 jobs in the United States.
More than two-thirds of Walmart’s products in the United States are manufactured, grown and assembled domestically. “We are focused on providing products that are as close to our customers and customer demand as possible,” Ms. Albright says.
The company’s path to local sourcing is mirrored in other major markets such as India, where it has committed to sourcing $10 billion worth of goods locally each year by 2027.
Ms. Albright points out that India, like any country in the world, faces challenges in obtaining raw materials and components in the quantities needed to meet consumer demand. As the world changes, Ms. Albright says the biggest hurdle is ensuring sufficient geographic supply as the world changes and manufacturing moves elsewhere.
In addition to sourcing talent, Albright says the talent keeps him up at night, and he needs to make sure they have the right opportunities and education. It is important, she says, to ensure “the identification, development and succession planning of future leaders”.