Ask any Walmart Canada supplier and they will likely agree that Walmart Canada has the stiffest fines as part of their Fill Rate Performance Program … and it is getting worse (for suppliers) in November 2018.
Citing “inconsistent inventory levels” resulting in costly operational and administrative inefficiencies, missed sales, and diminished customer loyalty, Walmart Canada is increasing the fines associated with short shipments by suppliers.
While the ultimate expectation remains at 100% fill rate, the Fill Rate Program does allow for a performance tolerance threshold of 97% fill rate for any given Walmart calendar month. The graphic below highlights the current vs new program details.
Weekly Fill Rate Performance Notifications
Walmart Canada’s Replenishment Team uses the following Communication Protocol to partner with suppliers in the identification of Fill Rate issues experienced on a weekly basis:
- Tuesdays — Preliminary “Previous 7-Days Fill Rate Performance” report issued to all suppliers via email by noon (12 PM).
- Wednesdays —Suppliers to submit, via email by noon (12 PM), any corrections of requests for adjustments to the Fill Rate measurements outlined in the “Previous 7-Days Fill Rate Performance” report.
- Thursdays —Final “Previous 7-Days Fill Rate Performance” report issued to all suppliers via email by noon (12 PM)
Of special note is that this program is not being abandoned in lieu of the new OTIF International Scorecard reporting. According to Q&A documentation in the OTIF International portal on Retail Link:
“The current weekly reporting will not change for measuring case fill.”
It is unclear whether or not the OTIF International standards will eventually replace the Fill Rate Program, but one thing is for sure … suppliers need to ship in full.