Wal-Mart is a change-agent for U.S. manufacturers
Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 12/1/2003 7:00:00 AM
The success of Wal-Mart is having a profound impact on manufacturing strategies, the pace of globalization, and productivity.
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Wal-Mart has 1.4 million employees, and last year had $245 billion in revenues, equaling 2.5 percent of gross domestic product.
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Each week, 138 million shoppers visit Wal-Mart stores. Last year, 83 percent of Americans bought at least one item at Wal-Mart.
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Wal-Mart's 1,397 supercenters account for 19 percent of the nation's grocery sales, making it the largest grocery retailer.
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"There's no limit to Wal-Mart's growth," said CEO Lee Scott recently, as he announced plans to expand its store square-footage base 8 percent, including nearly 55 discount stores and nearly 230 super centers in 2004.
Economists are surprised that productivity gains have continued during the economic downturn that began in 2001. More recently this pace has even accelerated, as the following quote from The Wall Street Journal makes clear: The Labor department reported that the productivity of the nation's labor force—defined as output per hour worked by the average U.S. worker in the non-farm business sector—rose at a breathtaking annual rate of 8.1 percent in the third quarter, following a 7-percent growth rate in the second quarter.
It's been estimated that living standards would double in 28 years with just 2.5 percent productivity growth.
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