Transportation

Walton Mobile has two types of production systems for their mobile phone. Most of the
smartphones and all feature phones come from China. Few models (Currently 4 models; E8i,
E8s, F7s, NF3) are assembled in Bangladesh in Walton Digi-tech, Chondra, Gazipur. Their
supply chain can be split into two parts,
 Supplier to Warehouse Chain
 Warehouse to Customer Point Chain
Mobile sets made in Bangladesh are assembled here. All parts required are imported from China.
Handsets and parts follow the same type of supply chain
SUPPLIER TO WAREHOUSE CHAIN
This is a complicated chain. Several steps are involved here. For better understanding, this chain
is discussed in two parts. In the first part following process is included,
MOBILE SOURCING
In this stage, forecasting for mobile demand and the criteria needed is done. For forecasting,
competitor analysis is the priority here. Walton has good terms of relationship with the suppliers
in China. They placed orders according to the requirement, and then suppliers sent the first
sample. Quality control checks the sample and finalizes it after several trial and error processes.
Finally, a golden sample is selected. Moreover, the final is placed according to those criteria.
Several departments are involved here like Project Management, Human Resource, R&D,
Software R&D, etc. price for the sets is also determined here.

WAREHOUSE TO CUSTOMER POINT CHAIN

After entering the warehouse, VAT and other costing processes are done, and goods are ready to
sell. Walton mobile has three selling points; Walton Plaza, Distributors channel, and direct
customers. According to orders placed through the online system, plazas and distributors get the
products and sell them to customers. In case of pre-order of any particular set, the customer can
collect it directly from the logistics department. However, in this case, the product is sent to
customers through a distributor or plaza.

Supply chain of Walton mobile Part 2

For transportation Walton mobile carries out their transportation in the following routes:
1. Sea: Almost all products transfer from one place to another place this way. 70% of
products are shipped through the sea. Goods that weigh over 100kgs, they transfer those
goods in the sea route. This process needs much time and but it’s reasonable and more
cost-saving for them. As an example, they need 40 days to reach the products to Germany
 which is the standard time. Bad weather and other problems may hamper this schedule.
The cost and lead time have opposite relations in this case.

2. Air: For small materials, samples, low weight materials which weigh less than 100kgs,
Walton mobile uses airways to bring those shipments. This method is the costliest
transportation system for them the lead time is the least but the cost is too high.

According to Walton, Usually, they need 50 days to bring any shipments. However, after the
covid-19 pandemic hit the world, they needed 75 days to receive the inventories. However, they
always keep their inventories worthy of 90 days which means they have a backup of 15 days
inventories.

Walton has recently partnered with ‘Walcart,’ a full-fledged online marketing platform, another
subsidiary of Walton. So, Walton mobile is now sold through e-commerce platforms too. To
bring their goods ordered in the e-commerce site, Walton has partnered with Paperfly, the most
substantial tech-bound logistic network for doorstep delivery across the country. Paperfly is a
company which is well-known for high-speed doorstep delivery of products within 24 to 48
hours all over Bangladesh, with the strength of 216 delivery points across the country.
Walton mobile uses two types of documentation of shipment of their product.
The first one is AWB. An AWB or Airway bill is a document that accompanies goods shipped
by an international courier, which allows for tracking. It serves as a receipt of goods by an
airline, as well as a contract of carriage between the shipper and the carrier. For tracking the
parcel, all it needs to enter the three-digit airline code along with the eight-digit air waybill
number (example: 001 00000001) for each shipment that would like to track, which makes the
tracking faster and reliable.
And, the other one is HAWB. HAWB stands for House Airway bill, which is issued by a freight
forwarder to a shipper after the receipt of a shipment. HAWB signifies a confirmation that the
forwarder is to deliver the shipper's goods to an agreed named place.

Walton mobile now also sells its smartphone in the market of the United States and other 35
countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East as the original manufacturer of the product. Those
products are sent through both sea and air depending on the weight. The accessories parts, such
as batteries, chargers, displays are sent through the sea and other lightweight body parts are sent
through the air.

To conclude, Walton mobile maintains a highly efficient transportation system for transferring
its goods and that’s how it is fighting with the giant companies in the international market.