Wal-Mart's Performance Improvement Project
SYS/540
John Murdock
August 20, 2006

Wal-Mart's Performance Improvement Project
Wal-Mart has difficulty developing and implementing a process that can improve the product material quality since there are so many vendors, manufacturers and international companies involved. They need to implement a set of standards that every company needs to adhere to by setting acceptable standards that must be met across the board whether the company is a local business or a foreign company. Most of the material defective products come from overseas. The process that can afford the opportunity to fix this dilemma is the process known as Six Sigma. This method is designed to manage process variations
There are four perspectives that offer the organization a process that will help the Six Sigma team to keep focused on the objectives of the project and will help the suppliers and vendors to buy in on the process. (Phadnis, 2006)
There are going to be many obstacles that will need to be overcome in order for this process to be implemented full scale. Since there are many vendors and suppliers used by Wal-Mart, this process is going to have global significance. One obstacle is going to be finances. Many of the companies that Wal-Mart works with will have to make substantial financial obligations to implement the Six Sigma process into their business processes. There may even be a financial burden on Wal-Mart to assist those companies that do not have the financial backing to make the necessary changes in the quality of the products they offer. Another obstacle is going to be logistics. Since many of the companies that Wal-Mart deals with are overseas, monitoring and validating the implementation of Six Sigma processes is going to prove difficult at best. Wal-Mart may have to send representative teams overseas to verify the processes are in place and efficiently running.
One of the most difficult obstacles for Wal-Mart is going to be able to get all their suppliers and vendors to buy in on the new process. Without a buy in from all the organization's suppliers and vendors, raising