Walmart opens training academy for supply chain employees

Walmart continues to invest in employee training and after the success of store academies opened over the past couple of years the retail giant is expanding the academy approach to its supply chain division.

On Friday (Sept. 27) Walmart graduated its first class from the supply chain academy in Sanger, Texas. The distribution center is the first location for the new educational endeavor that seeks to provide skills training and growth opportunities for supply chain employees. Walmart said it plans to add more supply chain academies to U.S. distribution centers over the next two years. Each academy will serve about 15 distribution centers.

The Walmart Supply Chain Academy in Sanger is patterned after the 200 Walmart Academies that train U.S. store employees. Walmart said all the academies follow the belief that growing and succeeding as employees and as a company in today’s changing world requires new skills and the ability to meet the needs of customers who have more shopping choices than ever before.

“Within the Walmart Supply Chain, we are focused on creating a great place to work where our more than 100,000 associates can be empowered to solve problems for our business,” said Greg Smith, executive vice president of Walmart U.S. Supply Chain. “This first Supply Chain Academy is a pivotal step on that journey. North-central Texas customers will see the impact of the training and hard work of these graduates on the shelves of the more than 140 Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs this distribution center serves.”

The retailer said all of its academies have a dedicated staff to provide training to position employees for success in their roles as well as provide a path for career growth with the company. The Sanger Academy’s area of study will include leadership, safety, supply chain foundations and area-specific training.

“Walmart stands apart from our competitors in both the retail and supply chain industries by providing full-time, permanent positions with great pay in all areas of the country,” said Steve Miller, vice president of Supply Chain People. “This is yet another example of Walmart’s commitment to investing in our people so that they can live better and grow in a field that is rapidly evolving.”

Walmart employs more than 100,000 people in its massive supply chain division across more than 150 distribution center and logistics hubs that support the retail business. Walmart built one of the largest distribution networks in the world that serves stores, clubs and direct delivery to customers at home. The distribution center network ships general merchandise, dry groceries, perishable along with specialty categories to the customers each day.

Walmart also has 6 disaster distribution centers strategically located across the country to provide rapid response following natural disasters.

Each of the distribution centers is more than 1 million square feet in size and employs about 600 people who unload and ship more than 200 trailers daily. Every distribution center supports 90 to 100 stores in a 150-mile radius. Walmart’s private fleet of 6,100 tractors and 61,000 trailers operated by a force of 7,800 truck drivers are an important part of Walmart’s supply chain dominance.

Walmart said its drivers work constantly with the distribution centers to ensure products are moving in a responsible, sustainable way and are crucial to the retail giant’s ability to provide low prices and vast assortments in its nearly 5,000 U.S. stores.