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If a company is going to get these vehicles to be market viable, it is Walmart. They are ruthless in terms of cost cutting and they would be the first to cut ou

If a company is going to get these vehicles to be market viable, it is Walmart. They are ruthless in terms of cost cutting and they would be the first to cut out "tech for tech sake" if it doesn't give them a ROI.

nashashmi 13y ago
I've learned from programming that cost cutting is always the n-th step in creating a new product. What we are talking about here is pioneering into a new territory. Cost cutting isn't even a question right now.
- JoeAltmaier 13y ago
  WalMart has the Glass center who's whole purpose is technology for cutting cost. Its a thing they do.
  - pawn 13y ago
    Worked there for 9 years. Its funny. Outside of this area, it doesn't occur to most people that Walmart would have IT, but they've got more people in that building than some IT companies.
    - greyskull 13y ago
      What kind of stuff do they do in there?
      - pawn 13y ago
        Ever read the comic Dilbert? Okay, kidding aside, they have teams for different aspects of infrastructure, like building servers, network admin, database admin, security, etc. Then they have areas dedicated to systems for item tracking, training, accounts receivable, accounts payable, benefits enrollment, etc. Within these areas, they have teams of project managers, programmers, QA, and 2nd level support. Another large chunk of the building is dedicated to 1st level support and middle management. There's R&D guys and there's technical experts who look at how the different systems fit together and help with strategy for the technical aspects of the big picture. Then there's the walmart.com guys who are actually in California. And there's teams dedicated to the mobile sites for walmart.com and samsclub.com. And there are meetings, lots of meetings. And process. Lots of process. To install any small change will probably take you 3 days if its an emergency. Otherwise, expect a week minimum. Projects in more recent years take upwards of 1 to 2 years to complete, using the waterfall methodology.
        joezydeco 13y ago
        Is Walmart Labs / Kosmix part of that R&D group or is that something different?
        pawn 13y ago
        Kosmix was acquired by Walmart in 2011, but I hadn't heard of them before your question. WalmartLabs is part of the R&D group that I mentioned.
    - gregpilling 13y ago
      Sam Walton talks a fair bit about tech in his autobiography. He says he had to be talked into all of it, but he thought it paid off.
      - pawn 13y ago
        One thing that impressed me all the time was that any small improvement, when done at Walmart's scale, meant big numbers. I don't remember the specifics, but when one guy figured out how to make the printed receipts use less paper, that was millions of dollars saved. If Walmart can save a little bit per truck using these trucks, it'll be big savings.
- twic 13y ago
  This seems very much to be aimed at cost cutting. What new territory is being pioneered here?

nashashmi 13y ago

I've learned from programming that cost cutting is always the n-th step in creating a new product. What we are talking about here is pioneering into a new territory. Cost cutting isn't even a question right now.

JoeAltmaier 13y ago
WalMart has the Glass center who's whole purpose is technology for cutting cost. Its a thing they do.
- pawn 13y ago
  Worked there for 9 years. Its funny. Outside of this area, it doesn't occur to most people that Walmart would have IT, but they've got more people in that building than some IT companies.
  - greyskull 13y ago
    What kind of stuff do they do in there?
    - pawn 13y ago
      Ever read the comic Dilbert? Okay, kidding aside, they have teams for different aspects of infrastructure, like building servers, network admin, database admin, security, etc. Then they have areas dedicated to systems for item tracking, training, accounts receivable, accounts payable, benefits enrollment, etc. Within these areas, they have teams of project managers, programmers, QA, and 2nd level support. Another large chunk of the building is dedicated to 1st level support and middle management. There's R&D guys and there's technical experts who look at how the different systems fit together and help with strategy for the technical aspects of the big picture. Then there's the walmart.com guys who are actually in California. And there's teams dedicated to the mobile sites for walmart.com and samsclub.com. And there are meetings, lots of meetings. And process. Lots of process. To install any small change will probably take you 3 days if its an emergency. Otherwise, expect a week minimum. Projects in more recent years take upwards of 1 to 2 years to complete, using the waterfall methodology.
      - joezydeco 13y ago
        Is Walmart Labs / Kosmix part of that R&D group or is that something different?
        pawn 13y ago
        Kosmix was acquired by Walmart in 2011, but I hadn't heard of them before your question. WalmartLabs is part of the R&D group that I mentioned.
  - gregpilling 13y ago
    Sam Walton talks a fair bit about tech in his autobiography. He says he had to be talked into all of it, but he thought it paid off.
    - pawn 13y ago
      One thing that impressed me all the time was that any small improvement, when done at Walmart's scale, meant big numbers. I don't remember the specifics, but when one guy figured out how to make the printed receipts use less paper, that was millions of dollars saved. If Walmart can save a little bit per truck using these trucks, it'll be big savings.
twic 13y ago
This seems very much to be aimed at cost cutting. What new territory is being pioneered here?