Associated Wholesale Grocers: Logistics' LeviathanAssociated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) was born more than eighty years ago when several independent retailers decided that the power of a cooperative far exceeded influence than anyone else's single retail grocery store. AWG provides distribution services to independent grocers in more than 30 states with nine distribution centers in the South and Southeast regions of the country. In addition to the wholesale food department, AWG offers a myriad of services from new store design, construction, marketing, product placement and “world-class” logistics consulting (cite 11). AWG faces many of the same logistical challenges faced by other similar wholesalers, including rising fuel costs, adverse weather conditions, stringent timelines and an ever-changing need for rigorous quality. One method of leveraging a company's positive and negative attributes is through the use of a Strength-Weakness-Opportunity-Threat analysis or SWOT analysis (Cite 11). When used correctly, analytics results can provide insight into potential market areas for expansion and expose vulnerabilities to senior leadership so they can be mitigated. AWG considers Supply Chain Management (SCM) as an integral part of its core business by offering multiple services such as logistics to new members of the cooperative. AWG team members are positioning themselves for sustainable success, now and in the future. AWG faces similar logistical challenges to others in the industry. The biggest daily logistical challenge for AWG is the limited time between restocking and outbound shipments to retailers. Any deviation from the schedule due to extenuating circumstances (worker strike, weather events,… middle of paper… Middle East continues to play an important role in fuel price fluctuation which directly impacts the cost of fuel). do business. “Throughput” should be based on customer demand in the order fulfillment process with an overall focus on quality (SCM, 2014). Increasing revenue is the main business objective in a capitalistic venture their fresh produce line carries a profit margin of about 5%, but requires a three day inventory lead time to ensure the freshness and overall customer satisfaction. Applying a SWOT analysis demonstrates that AWG's features far exceed its limitations, AWG has accumulated sales that have reached approximately $8 billion (AWG, 2014) Walmart is a leader in the retail food market, but as AWG undermines that ranking it will emerge as a logistics leviathan in the future..