Associated Wholesale Grocers: Logistics’ Leviathan

DG has a current competitive advantage within its industry that is maintains through a unique cost-efficient approach. This low-cost structure is apparent through low inventories, low advertising costs, and location of stores in rural areas. Though profitable in the short-run, DG's current advantage is not

The competition between the wholesale club industry is pretty strong but is mostly dominated by the three main competitors which are: Costco, Sam’s club and BJ’s Wholesale club. These three wholesale clubs for the most part dominate the industry and take away customers from other retail stores because they can offer much lower prices, brand name items and a wide variety of items to purchase from them. When it comes to shares of warehouse sales, Costco had roughly 56 percent of sales, Sam’s club had 36 percent and BJ’s wholesale had a low 8 percent. Unlike most retail stores, these three display all of their items on pallets or their inexpensive shelving which provides them with low cost on décor, labor and advertising.

If an IT system is put in place where trucks can be tracked on route, load capacity, and arrival time, the outbound and inbound logistics can be controlled in a precise fashion optimizing full truck loads per shipment and precise arrival times to minimize inventory holdings. In essence the mobile trucks will become mobile inventories dropping holding costs significantly. Furthermore, Deere will be able to eliminate duplication of tasks because those who dealt with outbound logistics can service inbound logistics as well. Coordination of the two activities in the supply chain will optimize Deere’s supply chain at each plant giving it an advantage over other competitors who outsource inbound, outbound or a combination of the two. This is because by keeping both in house, Deere may be able to continuously improve their management of logistics and reduce costs. Deere is more flexible when they in-source outbound and inbound logistics because they can send trucks to service the current logistics need. Performance measurement is also more efficient especially if the aforementioned IT system is utilized. Furthermore, cost reductions will ultimately be seen due to better utilization of infrastructure, IT and human resources if our proposal is implemented.

In today competitive grocery business every oversight in the store operations can cost a business important market share. Therefore, it is of the very importance that businesses in the grocery industry pay close attention to operations management. One company that is doing a great job of operations management is Wegmans Food Markets. Wegmans is a highly positive grocery chain which is headquartered in Syracuse, NY. Wegmans is also a private family owned business with several locations. Wegmans was started by two brothers in 1916, who are John and Walter Wegman. The started off at first with a fruit and vegetable store in their parent’s home, and now they companies have more than 87 stores in 6 states and are still growing. Just as any other

Associated Wholesale Grocers does not feel the threat of many competitors within their industry. Apparently, to be successful in any industry a company has to exercise adequate competitive skills. Also, advertising with tools and resources provided by recent trends is beneficial to companies. Many companies utilize the internet to advertise the various services they provide in their industry. Websites and social media offer tools and useful attributes that word of mouth advertising does not provide. Companies who choose to do a website are capable of posting pictures, product deals, and company history to gain a competitive advantage. For companies to achieve a complete competitive advantage, the company needs to ensure their website stands out from their competitors. Associated Wholesale Grocers website displays their company history, mission statement,

Businesses everywhere are having to deal with current trends in both products and services. Society today being very fast pace and demanding instant satisfaction with retailers and online service providers, there can be many complications that arise with different features we see in industries today. We see that consumers want large variety, fast check outs, and comforting environments as they shop throughout different types of stores. This is specifically true for grocery stores. According to their official website, Wegmans is a regional supermarket chain with over 90 stores catering the northern part of the east coast. This company possesses many assets, including over 47,000 employees, multi billion dollars in annual sales as of 2015, and is currently holding the 33rd position in the top 75 supermarkets based on sales volume. (Wegmans, 2016, para. 1) With such a large number of assets, there are a lot of moving parts to keep this company running effectively and efficiently. To understand how Wegmans has become so profitable in recent years, one must take a closer look at their operations management. With Wegmans

It is the position of the OIG that on October 5, 2016, the Individual was visited at her address: 234 Alden Street, Philadelphia, PA 19139 for the purpose of providing her with personal service of her hearing Notice. The address was the same address known on file. The Individual refused to sign the OIG Proof of Personal Service Form indicating that her Notice had been received.

The challenge presented to the President of Superior Supermarkets James Ellis and his district manager Randall Johnson is whether or not to implement an everyday low pricing strategy to the Superior Supermarkets stores in Centralia, MO. Superior Supermarkets’ current pricing strategy is a high-end branding strategy, giving them the highest prices in Centralia. With their declining market share the past seven years (they currently have 23% market share in 2002, down from 31%

In the Bloomberg News’ article ‘Inside Amazon 's Big Play for Grocery Business’, their concentrated focus was surrounding Amazon’s pilot program “AmazonFresh”. The experiment is a project where Amazon deliver fresh food. Knowing delivering fresh food service is a difficult form in the grocery business, Amazon found the potential of the growing business in the millennial age. AmazonFresh began in the Seattle area which offered doorstep delivery, saving consumers time from grocery shopping. So far the expansion of the development reached 16 U.S. markets and London.

1. Wal-Mart has been able to achieve respectable leadership in the retail industry because of its focus on supply chain management. Discuss in detail the distribution and logistics system adopted by Wal-Mart.

Distribution: Specialized distributors that can increase awareness of target audience at a lower variable cost than generalist wholesaler; specialized stores are significant influencers of target customer’s behaviors

Inditex ensures that its fashion is fast through its supply chain efforts. They have created new methods to enable store managers to order and display merchandise faster and added cargo routes for shipping goods. The company ships clothing straight from the factory to stores and makes two-thirds of its goods in Spain and nearby countries, compared to most competitors who manufacture most of their clothing in Asia. Inditex has their sales managers monitoring computers, which are reporting sales at every store around the world. When a garment does well or fails, they are able to quickly tell designers if they need to come up with new ideas. They also have generated

As Whole Foods has increased the number of retail centers that it operates, it has suffered accompanying growing pains in efficiently managing distribution of products to its stores. They are growing at such a fast rate that the chain struggle to keep up with the demand for products and to keep shelves stocked. The biggest reason for inefficiency is Whole Foods’ decentralized back-end. It has 12 geographic divisions, a national headquarters in Austin, regional distribution centers, bakery facilities, kitchens, seafood processing facilities, meat and produce procurement centers and a specialty coffee/tea procurement operation. Many scoff at its supply chain, considering it to be amateur and lacking in professionalism. But with ample margins, it does not face immediate pressure to enhance efficiencies.

The company focuses on three major objectives: profitability, sales growth, and building deeper customer relationships by positioning stores to offer quality products at low-cost pricing. Currently, H-E-B is facing increasing competition from companies such as Wal-Mart, which has decided to enter the grocery industry with two different store offerings. One format is called “supercenters,” which offer grocery products in collusion with mass merchandise offerings. Other major discount retailers such as Target and Kmart have followed the same concept. The other format is the Wal-Mart’s “Neighborhood Market,” which

As Amazon begins rolling out Amazon Fresh to more cities across the United States, they most likely will look to implement their logistics and an in-store pick up option across Whole Foods roughly 460 stores locations. In addition, Amazon will look at ways to change the way customers shop. There have been reports in the past of Amazon testing ways to avoid lines in stores by having an automatic charge to to customer’s cards when they leave the store. As a result, some may believe that Amazon may be able to have a similar effect on the grocery industry as they had on the book industry in the past. Considering that the edible foods industry is worth over $674 billion, it will be intriguing to see how Amazon uses the acquisition of Whole Foods to gain a larger share of the market.