Maplin meltdown

[Adrian Caspersz]

My favourite computerised stock control story was General Electric and their mad adherence to a mad six-sigma quality standard.

"Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects (driving toward six standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit) in any process ? from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service."

Story I heard somewhere was that they were shipping thousands of light bulbs between far locations in Europe.

Their computer program ran. Lorries were loaded, drivers were hired, and the delivery got under way for, say, 40000 florescent lamp tubes.

For some reason, only 39999 tubes actually got sent. One was missing.

No problem, computer program ran again. One lorry was loaded, a driver was hired, and the delivery sent, this time as urgent to fulfil six-sigma.

Yup, one 40ft truck and a single fluorescent tube thrown in the back.

..

It arrived broken :-|

[John Rumm]

ISTR mine was 7 digits... I was disappointed to find I got allocated a new longer one when ordering on the web years later.

There was a spell (late 90s) where I would collect an order in a spreadsheet, then fax it to them with a cc number etc. Used to turn up pretty much next day.

[dennis]

The machine weighs stuff so you can't put it on without scanning, very few of them actually check the product weight against what is expected.

[Andy Burns]

IME they all weigh the products and know the expected weight, the problems come when you add e.g. one bag of quavers after a 4x2litre pack of bottled water ...

[Huge]

dennis, spouting bollocks since, well, forever really.

[whisky-dave]

yes quite often, even though today is Friday. :)

Not really 1% is next to nothing when talking about stock control. I've worked in a supermarket and you don't base your ordering stragergy on what's been nicked.

SO very difficult to detect, so you have to rely on what;s sold at the till point rather than what 'evaporates' yes evapouration was the term used by M&S when my dad worked for them 20 years ago, NOTHING got stolen but stock evaporated was the term used.

[whisky-dave]

you don;t let a single self checkout order anything, it goes to central stock control of all till reciepts, and can compare that with what is in the back of the shop or what should be.

You shouldnlt be re-ordering based on empty shelves because if people are knicking a certain item then it's best not to stock it.

You need to re-stock what you sell not what's been stolen.

[spuorgelgoog]

Newbie :-)

Mine was 100xxx.

Anyone got an earlier one?

Owain

[spuorgelgoog]

'shrinkage' is the usual term. Not just theft, but damaged stock disposed of without being recorded as waste, etc.

Owain

[whisky-dave]

I seem to remmebr the number 11013 from maplin but not sure where or why I remmeber that number.

[whisky-dave]

hey tended to use shinkage as a term for items they believed were taken from the shop floor, evapouration was the term mainly used for items being stolen by staff, or none customers.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

That goes against what I'd expect.

[NY]

It must check against a database of product weights, rather than just noting every time the weight increases, otherwise you could scan one item and put several items on the bagging scale as a single movement.

As a test, I tried just that when the system was first introduced - not to defraud, but simply to see how it coped. I scanned one can of soup and placed one can on top of the other and put that 2-can unit on the scale. It told me "wrong product weight" or "unexpected item in bagging area". It even warned me when one of the loose apples fell out of the bag and remained on the scanning area when I put the bag on the scale - so it warns for too little as well as too much weight.

[alan_m]

And then are the scales at a B&Q where the self service tills request you to lift the heaviest object in the store to the scales which are too small for the object.

It's one area where the organisation has neglected Elfin Safety and a risk assessment. The self service till areas, including the design of the scales, do not allow for proper lifting practices by either the customers or staff.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Some years ago, the company I worked for had a social club. And profits from the bar weren't as high as expected. This was well before so many paid by credit card, etc.

Against the wishes of some (mainly due to cost) we installed a total stock control suystem. Where each drink sold was entered individually. Common these days. Giving a record of what was sold and how much paid.

In a very short time it became clear it was buying a lot more Vodka than it sold. Roughly a litre a day. Which had been going down one of the barman's throats...

[NY]

The scales in B&Q are woefully inadequate because they don't cater for long narrow objects which will only fit on the scale if you stand them vertically and then try to let go so the true weight is registered.

In my experience, most supermarket self-checkouts fail because they don't allow enough space for all your bags of shopping to be on the scale at the same time - and woe betide you if you remove a full bag to make space for an empty one that you are about to start filling.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

For some reason they seem to be only for those with a small amount of shopping. At one time my local Sainsbury had a couple of full sized self checkouts.

[alan_m]

Can the items NOT going through the till tell the store management the difference between a lack of sales because the item is unpopular or a lack of sales because the total evaporation of the stock.

I do wonder if large supermarkets tick off each item as it is delivered. Orders seem to be delivered on large trolleys of mixed items bound up with cling film. Theft is just as likely by the box load before it reaches the stores but if the computer believes that the item has reached the store then then how is the theft detected if not by an audit of what is on the shelves.

[Tim Streater]

Morrisons seems to have different sizes of self-checkouts so you can do it just with a shopping basket's worth or a trolley load.

[whisky-dave]

I would assume so with a good system, and someone that knows what they are doing when looking at the results.

I thought they had those guns now that do that, even our postroom uses such a system.

I don't know but I'm pretty sure they have it sorted.