{"id":2152,"date":"2006-06-28T10:34:00","date_gmt":"2006-06-28T10:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/2006\/06\/28\/wal-marts-supply-chain-model-for-risk-sharing\/"},"modified":"2023-07-04T13:35:35","modified_gmt":"2023-07-04T17:35:35","slug":"wal-marts-supply-chain-model-for-risk-sharing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/wal-marts-supply-chain-model-for-risk-sharing\/","title":{"rendered":"Wal-Mart’s Supply Chain: Model For Risk Sharing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Supply chain concepts always find a way to creep into my personal life\u2026<\/p>\n

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The other day, my wife and I went to Wal-Mart. We made a decision to remodel our bedroom, so we were going to paint our walls blue.<\/p>\n

Now, we have two small children, ages 2 and 4, so shopping can be challenging. It\u2019s like \u201cget the stuff in the cart and get through the checkout line as soon as possible because a tantrum or argument is sure to happen any second!\u201d<\/p>\n

So, we weren\u2019t as careful as we should have been when we picked out paint.<\/p>\n

The friendly Wal-Mart associate took the paint that we picked out, added the necessary colors, and was just about to begin the mixing process when I noticed that the can said \u201cEXTERIOR\u201d on the label. I shouted \u201cWait! Is that exterior paint?\u201d<\/p>\n

It was.<\/p>\n

So, I profusely apologized and was ready to offer to pay for the paint when the Wal-Mart associate said \u201cDon\u2019t worry. We just send it back to our supplier and they give us credit.\u201d<\/p>\n

A supply chain issue? You bet.<\/p>\n

The classic supply chain is supplier-organization-customer and this situation illustrated which of the three supply chain members would bear the risk in this case.<\/p>\n

The exterior vs. interior mistake was clearly my mistake. In all fairness, I should have had to eat the cost.<\/p>\n

Now, if Wal-Mart wants to bear the cost and do something fantastic for its customers, that\u2019s great. I love to see great customer service and giving the customer the benefit of the doubt. That\u2019s great for business, great for branding, great for building customer loyalty, great for building positive word-of-mouth, etc. (canadianpharmacy365.net<\/a>) <\/p>\n

But the question is: should the risk of a customer mistake be borne by the supplier instead of the organization who sells directly to the customer?<\/p>\n

I have so many competing thoughts on this, but I\u2019ll reserve any conclusion and invite you to submit your comments. Here are some thoughts from both sides of the coin:<\/p>\n