The employees will be taught on the use of radio frequency identification tags in the management of inventory at Walmart. The employees will also be taught in the differences between the radio frequency identification technology and the barcode technology that is used at the till (Christiansen, 2016). More importantly, they will be taught about the placement of the radio frequency tags on the various inventory items, how the tags can be used to track the movement of the items in an out of the warehouses and sales floors, and how to write the tags (Christiansen, 2016).
Format
The learning will take the form of a training seminar to be held in the company premises. The employees will be taught through both theoretical and practical approaches. The pedagogical technique to be used in teaching is the experiential learning technique. This is an appropriate technique because the aim of the project is for the employees to gain the knowledge as well as the subject experience. The experiential learning technique allows the employees to gain direct experiences which aid in knowledge retention as well as the honing of skills (Merlot Pedagogy, n.d.). The experiential teaching will also help capture and sustain the attention of the learners because it involves them. To further capture and sustain the attention of the learners, the active learning technique and the application of humor will be used (Merlot Pedagogy, n.d.). The use of the active learning technique will ensure the active involvement of the students, a fact that enhance retention and development of cognitive skills of a higher order (Merlot Pedagogy, n.d.). After learning the theory on radio frequency identification technology, it will be demonstrated by tagging various items in inventory and tracking their movement. The employees will then be required to replicate what they have learnt.
Tools
Some of the tools to be used include the radio frequency tags, projectors to project the slides on a large screen for all to see, radio frequency identification readers, and inventory items.
Techniques
As highlighted earlier, both theoretical and practical approaches will be used. Using the projectors, the employees will be taught the various aspects of the content of the learning project. Then demonstrations will ensue on how to use passive tags, active tags, read-write tags, read-only tags, and other radio frequency identification tags (Christiansen, 2016). A demonstration on the evaluation of the use of the technology in inventory management will also be done (Christiansen, 2016).
Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How
Who
The employees to be trained in the implementation of the new technology are those working in the inventory management and supply chain management departments at Walmart. The employees at the inventory management are not limited to those working in the warehouses, but also those tasked with the handling of the inventory items outside the warehouses. The training will be done by an external organization, particularly the organization tasked with the installation of the inventory management system. The preference for the external organization to an internal department is based on the fact that the external organizational has technical expertise and it offers it at a lower cost compared to creating an internal department to perform the initial training. The technical expertise of an external organization will prevent the debacle that occurred during the implementation of the Radio Frequency Identification technology in 2003 (Rosenblum, 2014).
What
They will be trained on the various radio frequency identification tags, their use, how to read them, and monitor the effectiveness of the technology.
When
The training of the employees will begin a month before the scheduled implementation of the new inventory management technology. The training will be performed for three weeks. During the fourth week, the trained employees will be allocated to the various stations in readiness for the roll out of the program. The following is the schedule to be followed:
Where
The training will be done in the company premises so as to allow for demonstrations using the company infrastructure as well as to reduce the costs of training.
Why?
The training will be done to enable the use of a more efficient inventory management system that will reduce the loss of revenue and inefficiencies in the management of stock witnessed in the previous financial years as reported by (Rosenblum, 2014). The use of the system will expectedly result in an increase in revenue (Pisello, 2013). The lessons are divided as illustrated above to enable similar concepts to be learnt around the same time. The theoretical aspects are taught first using demonstrations to give the employees an idea that they will build upon in the subsequent weeks during the experiential learning and troubleshooting.
How
The training will also help develop a manual for standard operating procedures that will be updated regularly.
Rationale for Changing Demographics
The high turnover and attrition at Walmart presents challenges in the use of the new inventory management system. However, the manual with the standard operating procedures will help training the new employees on they use of the system. Additionally, new employees will require a proficiency in the use of the radio frequency identification system as one of the prerequisites for engagement.
References
Christiansen, B. (2016). Handbook of research on global supply chain management. Hershey, PA: Business Science Reference.
Merlot Pedagogy. (n.d.). Teaching strategies. Retrieved from http://pedagogy.merlot.org/TeachingStrategies.html
Pisello, T. (2013). The ROI of RFIS in the supply chain. RFID Journal. Retrieved from http://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?2602/2.
Rosenblum, P. (2014). How Walmart could solve its inventory problems and improve earnings. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/paularosenblum/2014/05/22/walmart-could-solve-its- inventory-problem-and-improve-earnings/#717aee57240c.
