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Post by Stephan on Aug 2, 2006 14:33:26 GMT -5
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Post by Laura Wyatt on Aug 2, 2006 16:14:07 GMT -5
Walmart doing something just b/c it is the right thing to do...hmmm? ?? I have to say that my opinion on WalMart has changed over the past few years... In a previous job - I dealt quite a bit with a business owners whose primary customer was Walmart. They (Walmart) were forever driving the product prices down and the suppliers / vendors were barely making a living/profit on their products.... but it was a catch 22 b/c it was such a big account they were afraid to lose it... I just can't see Walmart doing anything just b/c it is the right thing to do!!!! but if that is really the case here I think that they have a long way to go before they will change my opinion of them. OK - glad that I got that off my chest!!! hahahha
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Post by Stephan on Aug 16, 2006 8:37:08 GMT -5
My experience with Wal-mart is from my previous job. Wal-mart initiated a policy that all of their top 100 suppliers had to be completely RFID (those bar code thingies) by Jan 1st, 2005. Now, it was nice to initiate such a policy, but Wal-mart wasn't willing to pay more for the product so the suppliers had to eat all the costs involved. Going completely RFID can cost a good deal of money. If you weren't RFID ready by 2006, penalties would apply. Without going into it deaper, many fines were given, the date was pushed back, and the business owners had to absorb the costs of the project thus decreasing their profits and leading to a trickle down effect.
Wal-mart has always been a bully, but they seem to be changing their tone latley due to Wal-marts poor performance in recent years. Money makes people/companies think about things it seems... Seems like they are more willing to cooperate with their suppliers, or at least with the big suppliers (Pepsi, etc.). The real test will be how will they implement their green policy with the smaller suppliers that don't have the resources to make the change and absorb that costs?
I guess time will tell...
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