bloom america

Chapter 207 Talking about business with Wal-Mart

There is no better business than investing in Walmart.

Even IBM, compared with the future Wal-Mart, Big Blue is inconspicuous.

"There is no better plan than this."

Catherine couldn't help but laugh smugly.

After all, IBM has just started researching personal computers, and Catherine still has time to prepare.

Because people today don't understand these management systems, former software engineers had to do it themselves and start editing programs.

Catherine uses a 16-bit CPU operating system and all visual operations.

The other party is not a professional, and in terms of management, it is impossible to have so much time to type out orders line by line.

Fully automated warehouse management and convenient supermarket payment methods.

These are all based on graphics operations.

Although Stanford University has begun to train talents for Intel, for Catherine, the talent gap is still huge.

Fortunately, this system is not too difficult.

When the product comes out and is packaged, people only need to paste a barcode on the designated location of the packaging box, and then the machine will read it and transport the goods to the designated location for stacking and sorting based on the address list. Because the entire process operates automatically based on the barcode.

Therefore, the quantity and location of goods can be traced, and everything from storage to sale is completely under control.

But unfortunately, Catherine's idea was a bit too advanced, and the performance of the current machine is still not up to the level she imagined.

However, it is still possible to track the whole process. Once there is a problem or other situation with that batch of goods, you can fully understand it.

The main body of the program can be in the form of a CD. Catherine can customize the CD according to the goods that Wal-Mart needs and according to the standards of their warehouse, and only simple data needs to be recorded on the storage device, and it's done.

Although the price of customized optical discs may require some cost, it is much better than IBM's 5MB hard drive that costs $10,000.

Of course, Catherine did not forget to send someone to contact Sam Walton - the founder of Wal-Mart - which is also very important.

In the future, after Sam Walton dies, according to statistics, the total value of his five shares will be 93.1 billion, far exceeding Bill Gates at the time.

Catherine came to Rogers City in person to discuss with Sam Walton.

At this time, Wal-Mart was still a discount department store, not the future Wal-Mart Company, which would be established in 1969 and then go public.

"Hello, Mr. Walton."

Catherine arrived at Walton's office early, but the other party had already arrived.

——The future richest man in the world will get up to work at 4 o'clock every day.

"Good morning, Miss Edson, I didn't expect you to come here in person."

Walton is a very low-key person, and he is not famous now. In comparison, Catherine is a celebrity.

"Because your company is so important to me, I had to come in person."

——Just kidding, if the negotiation is successful, this will be a tens of billions of business. When facing someone richer and greater than Bill Gates, Catherine knows that cooperation with the other party is more cost-effective than pure investment.

.

From the beginning, Catherine came here with the mentality of cooperation with Sam Walton, not just an investment.

Catherine told Sam Walton what she thought about supermarket operations.

"Our company can mobilize the goods in the mall very efficiently, as well as coordinate the merchandise."

Sam Walton nodded: "This does sound like a very good plan, but how exactly should it be implemented?"

Catherine said: "The high-speed computers at the headquarters are connected to Wal-Mart stores across the United States. In this way, we can expand our business infinitely and dispatch our goods quickly and quickly. Wal-Mart should not be limited to a few places. This should be

A large supermarket chain spanning the United States and the world."

Sam Walton also learned about the Internet through advertisements and news. Although he didn't understand much about it, he probably understood the meaning of what Catherine said.

Catherine continued: "Not only that, we can also automatically record every item sold through the laser scanner at the store's checkout desk. When the inventory of a certain item is reduced to a certain amount, the computer will send out a signal.

Automatically place orders and remind stores to request restocking from the headquarters in a timely manner.”

"But how should we schedule it?"

When Sam Walton heard it, he thought it was very good, but it would be better to clarify some things.

Wal-Mart has always adhered to the "lowest price" strategy. As Catherine said, for Wal-Mart, it is just like hitting the pillow when dozing off.

As a software engineer in her previous life, Catherine knew that Wal-Mart's computer systems "historically" were second only to those in the United States and had more servers than Microsoft's headquarters.

Catherine nodded, and then explained: "The headquarters arranges the supply of goods and sends them to a shipping center closest to the store, and then the computer in the shipping center arranges the delivery time and route. The required goods will be shipped within 24 hours after the store places the order.

Appearing on warehouse shelves.”

This kind of efficient inventory management enables the company to quickly grasp the sales situation and market demand trends, and replenish inventory shortages in a timely manner. This can reduce inventory risks, reduce the amount of capital backlog, and accelerate the speed of capital operation.

Sam Walton immediately discovered the benefits of this powerful information management.

"But when will such a network be built?"

Drawing cakes will not work for such capitalists. Although Sam Walton lives a simple life, it does not mean that the other party is a fool and taken advantage of. What Catherine needs are actual products and benefits.

"As long as we can reach an agreement, I can immediately start setting up a network in Rogers City and configure two of our Pentium series supercomputers as hosts."

Catherine made her offer.

But it's not over yet.

"And...I can also inject $10 million into Wal-Mart."

Although Catherine does not have much funds now, she can still get 10 million US dollars... although it is a little less.

After all, Wal-Mart's annual sales now reach millions of dollars.

Of course, Catherine herself knew that the money was relatively small, so she added, "Next, I will inject up to 100 million into the company in the next two years."

This sentence is a bombshell. After all, Wal-Mart's current market value is only close to 100 million. No one knows that Wal-Mart's market value will soar 5,000 times in the future.

"I think... we should discuss the specific matters."

Only then did Sam Walton realize that the other party wanted to cooperate with him, not just to invest in him.

In the next few days, Wal-Mart was discussing this internally.

In fact, Catherine doesn't have to worry at all. With the 100 million capital injection, she also believes that the other party will be tempted.

But Catherine's system must be promoted. She not only wants to use this system to simply serve Wal-Mart, but other companies can also use it.

The annual output of Catherine's supercomputer is only a few hundred units. Instead of selling it individually, it is better to make such a control system and then quickly enter this market with the advantages of low cost and high cost performance.

The relationship between Wal-Mart and IBM is not even close. She can completely rely on Wal-Mart's power to make a comeback. As long as the leader is Sam Walton, Catherine believes that Wal-Mart will definitely become prosperous.

A few days later, the internal discussions at Walmart finally came to an end.

Finally, the two sides reached an agreement.

The two parties jointly established "Wal-Mart Department Store Co., Ltd." and invested US$10 million in shares, and will invest US$100 million in the next two years, accounting for 45% of the equity.

Catherine Company provided cash computer systems to Sam Walton, and gave priority to ensuring that after the construction of the intercity network was completed, it would help Wal-Mart open a national dispatch system, and Ark would be responsible for maintaining it.

At this point, Catherine's heart finally relaxed.

Catherine left the next thing to her men, and Catherine went to the Umbrella headquarters non-stop. She was going to ask her father for money...

To be honest, Catherine sometimes feels that she has failed as a human being.

Obviously he has foresight, but his company still has little influence now, but Bruce's company has already had a certain influence, and its business has also expanded to Southeast Asia, most of East Asia - except the mainland.

Catherine, who didn't come in person, had just arrived at the office when she saw Bruce who was hurriedly cleaning up.

"Dad, I have something to discuss with you."

Catherine spoke.

"I want to hear it too, but Kate, I'm sorry, I'm going to Hong Kong right now... Oh, God knows how chaotic Hong Kong's security is..."

go to Hong Kong?

Catherine is a little strange.

"Why?"

"Shooting, someone wanted to shoot our protector."

"Shot?"

Catherine was shocked. To be honest, she really didn't expect to encounter such a thing.

Are there really people in Hong Kong who are brave enough to shoot foreigners?

Then, Catherine suddenly remembered that this year was 1967.

Yes, Hong Kong, where red ideological trends are spreading, is also the most chaotic year in Hong Kong’s history.

"Not only that, but there was also a spectator who was hit...but that person actually had a machete on him. God knows what happened."

"What?"

Such a big thing happened in Hong Kong. No wonder Bruce had to go there and deal with it personally.

"Dad, remember to bring more bodyguards."

Catherine reminded.

"I won't forget it. I love you, Kate. I'll leave this matter to you for the time being."

Bruce and Catherine hugged each other and then left.

etc……

He seemed to say... I'll leave it to him to handle?