Michael Whaley

Experience

• 

  Walmart

  Mar 2011 - now

  • Designed and led the “Fast Start, Strong Finish” initiative, launching a four-week program with new SOPs, accountability standards, and satellite breakrooms to reduce associate idle time—achieving a 5.54% improvement in effective working time, saving over 1,000 hours annually, and increasing building UPH by 0.24.• Led the “Special Receive Inbound Optimization” project, partnering with area managers and leveraging DMAIC and Wrike to redesign workflows for chemical order processing; transitioned to a direct-to-belt tote system, saving 42 seconds per tote, boosting UPH by 5.7, improving productivity by 2.6%, and saving 607 annual labor hours.• Serve as the Northeast Network Wrike Champion, streamlining project management processes by driving platform adoption, reviewing and standardizing AWIs, managing escalations, and delivering training—enabling consistent WBR reporting, improving project execution, and raising network-wide adoption and engagement.• Launched a building-wide OKR program, uniting senior leaders for vision and mission alignment, conducting SWOT analysis, and developing performance, safety, and people objectives; helped surpass UPH goals (35.5 vs. 28.4 target), driving measurable improvement through structured goal-setting and leadership engagement.• Supported of a network-wide change management program, creating training materials and delivering eight sessions for leaders on Wrike, 4ITB, and PMP—enabling 200+ associates to drive operational excellence, leadership development, and continuous process improvement. Show less • Launched Lawn & Garden OPD program: Partnered with product, engineering, supply chain, and store operations to deploy pickup capability in 3,879 stores, enable 1,628 SKUs, and deliver $XXM in first-year revenue—a 60% YoY lift—establishing scalable post-transaction fulfillment for a new department.• Delivered sustainable AI checkout solution using Waterfall methodology: Orchestrated product and engineering teams to build an interactive tool prompting customers to skip plastic bags, achieving $XXM in annual cost savings and reducing plastic bag usage by 294M units in its launch year.• Piloted integrated drone delivery service: Collaborated with product, engineering, legal, finance, operations, third-party drone vendors (Wing), and executives to embed 30-minute drone fulfillment into Walmart.com across 42,000 SKUs and within XX-mile delivery zones—contributing to Walmart’s milestone of 150,000 drone deliveries and supporting the largest drone delivery network in U.S. retail. Show less • Discovered and halted a $XXM annual vendor billing fraud scheme by leading a cross-functional initiative with finance, supply chain, billing, payments, FedEx, and DC teams to develop an automated detection and recovery program—recouping $XXM in the first year and restoring carrier account integrity.• Established a supplier compliance, appeal, and suspension program to address peak-season violations, collaborating with merchants, contracts, legal, executives, and support teams; modernized seller contracts and implemented an automated monitoring platform, improving on-time delivery rates from 84% to 92% in six months and strengthening vendor accountability across DSV operations. Show less • Spearheaded the integration of Salesforce as a unified vendor portal, partnering with product, engineering, and support teams to design an automated form-routing system; enabled vendors to submit issues directly to the appropriate team, eliminating 15+ siloed email inboxes and reducing response times from 14 days to just 2 days.• Led cross-functional process improvement initiatives, collaborating with IT, analytics, and operations leaders to standardize workflows, implement real-time KPIs, and drive continuous improvement—resulting in a 30% reduction in process errors and elevated service standards across DSV operations. Show less • Spearheaded the design and launch of Walmart’s DSV chargeback program, collaborating with finance, legal, merchandising, analytics, and executive leadership to implement a systematic $5 penalty for late or rejected POs; integrated automated scorecard reporting and a vendor dispute process—driving on-time shipment rates from 92% to 98% in the first year and elevating vendor accountability across the organization.• Automated the vendor scorecard process, saving 100+ manual hours per week and expanding coverage from 19 to over 1,300 sellers, which improved data accuracy, accelerated decision making, and supported marketplace operational growth.• Improved on-time delivery performance with third-party vendors: Analyzed delivery data to identify underperforming suppliers, partnered with vendors to develop corrective action plans, and implemented real-time tracking dashboards—resulting in a 20% increase in on-time shipments and reduced supply chain delays.• Drove operational efficiency that fueled DSV and e-commerce growth: Led cross-functional teams to resolve process bottlenecks and apply Six Sigma root cause analysis, launching targeted initiatives that reduced order errors and directly contributed to Walmart’s double-digit e-commerce and DSV sales growth during this period. Show less • Managed all merchandising, inventory, and process improvement initiatives across the Toys, Stationery, and Celebrations departments, optimizing product availability, promotional execution, and sales performance.• Supervised, scheduled, and developed a team of 11 associates, elevating customer service, operational efficiency, and attainment of departmental KPIs.• Drove the 2012 Furby holiday campaign: Identified the Furby re-launch as a key sales driver; created and executed a targeted merchandising strategy—including end-caps and central stack-base displays—over-ordered inventory to meet projected demand, and coordinated associate support, resulting in category-leading sales, minimized stockouts, and improved departmental revenue during peak season. Show less • Managed all front-end operations, directly supervising 35 associates (cashiers, service desk, money center, cart pushers), ensuring exceptional customer service and efficient daily workflow.• Directed end-to-end talent management, including recruitment, onboarding, training, scheduling, performance reviews, and corrective actions, fostering a high-performance, customer-centric team culture.• Led cross-functional planning and execution of the 2012 Black Friday device launch, partnering with inventory and marketing to design event floor plans, optimize product placement, and coordinate staff, resulting in improved customer flow, enhanced product visibility, and strong sales performance during peak season. Show less

  • Senior Manager, Process Improvement

    Nov 2024 - now

  • Sr. Manager I - Omni Fulfillment Experience (Program Manager)

    May 2023 - Nov 2024

  • Operation Manager II - Supply Chain Management

    Nov 2021 - May 2023

  • Operations Manager I - Supply Chain Management

    Aug 2019 - Nov 2021

  • Business Operations Manager I / II, DSV & Marketplace Operations

    Jun 2017 - Aug 2019

  • Quality Assurance Auditor - Logistic DC

    Sept 2015 - Jun 2017

  • Problem Desk Clerk / DA Receiving, Distribution Center

    Sept 2014 - Sept 2015

  • Department Manager, Store - Toys, Stationery & Celebrations

    Feb 2012 - Sept 2014

  • Customer Service Manager, Store

    Mar 2011 - Feb 2012