One company which comes to mind is Wal � Mart. This company has an efficient
VCM in the retail sector. What struck me about this company is that the company leverages its information technology
infrastructure based on its point of sales systems and its data warehouse to help its suppliers manage their product
on wal � marts retail shelves. By providing the suppliers with direct and up to date information about the products
they are selling, the company is able to demand massive discounts and rapid replenishment, which is the main competitive
advantage in this market. I often wondered how Wal � Mart has become the efficient leader in this area.
Then I noticed what they had done. They had eliminated nonelectronic processes such as paper reports etc and
implemented online web based access to value chain data for all users in the process. This has effectively reduced
the time to decision barriers and empowers the company to make decisions based on timely information and to write
out costs efficiently. After realising what this company did it then got me thinking as to why other companies didn�t
do the same, I found out that it wasn�t as easy of a process as it was made out to be. There is a lot of time and effort
involved in the process of eliminating the nonelectronic processes and implementing online. I found that it
involved pre � sale activities such as awareness, interest and desire. There are also sale activities which involve
ordering, verifying and delivery the product to the buyer. These are known as the 9 links.
