Posted on 12/20/2009 4:30:01 AM PST by Daisyjane69
ack in the day when I clothed my kids in Gymboree from head to toe, the sales clerks could almost always manage to find the size I needed by, “checking in the back.” Every store has a stockroom in the back where, presumably, massive quantities of extra products are shelved. Well, a couple of years ago I was surprised to find out that this isn’t true, Gymboree notwithstanding.
In fact, most stores operate on a system known as, “just in time shipping.” In other words, products arrive just in time to be put on the shelves to replace whatever has been purchased. That’s why, when a store has a particularly good sale on an item, once it’s sold out, it might be out of stock for days or weeks. There are no extras hidden in the back room. Retailers keep their inventories to a bare minimum in order to save money and to not end up with a stockpile of a product that isn’t selling.
(Excerpt) Read more at thesurvivalmom.com ...
Bonus...The Survival Mom is a FReeper
One should not expect others to stockpile for them anyway.
In an emergency, any central stockpile would be instantly depleted by hoarders anyway.
Stockpiling for one’s self and family in time of plenty is preparation, not hoarding.
As we sit in our snow-clogged street, I’m glad I have enough food in the freezer and in my well-stocked pantry to keep us comfortably eating for weeks without a trip to the supermarket. And I don’t even consider myself a stockpiler, I just buy in bulk at Costco.
“JIT” as we called it back in the late 80s and early 90s when I was involved in cost containment for a phone company, was used to reduce millions of dollars of inventory from being held over fiscal year thresholds and other accounting bogeys. Inventories cost money. Monitoring them and turning them over accurately in response to customer needs is a lot of work, but, I suspect, basic business-101 today.
JIT is a great thing in an economy that works. In one that suddenly stops working it will be a disaster. Those Zombie movies will become reality quickly.
If you click on the truckers report link she provides, it makes one very nervous!
Could you mail me some bread and toilet paper, please.
...good article, thanks.
just-in-time should allow prices and production to adjust more quickly and with less loss to changes in the economy.
wow, return to the 80s.
It takes training and a certain talent to make everything come together at just the right time and place for production to happen. You also need to know what you should stockpile in the backroom in case of emergency.
“One impressive feature of this system is that it is run by computers and can actually forecast which products will be needed where and when.”
Gonna’ have to call BS on this one. My pants size is 34x34 and my shoe size is 11 1/2. These sizes are almost impossable to find at any given time on Long Island. PERIOD.
Please don't rely on that stocked freezer. My area was under forced evacuation when Hurricane Rita came in. By the time we could come home, all frozen and refrigerated foods were ruined. I can't tell you how many good freezers were thrown away because people just couldn't get the horrible smells out. Most of us were gone over a week because there was no electricity, fuel or food in the area.
“One should not expect others to stockpile for them anyway.
In an emergency, any central stockpile would be instantly depleted by hoarders anyway.
Stockpiling for one’s self and family in time of plenty is preparation, not hoarding.”
Agree on the need to stockpile (and believe me, I do that). However, JIT means that there is no buffer to get things moving again. For example, if there were toilet paper warehouses that could supply the country for a week of normal use (and similar for other items), then we might have a week to distribute that inventory to people that have run out, before the zombies start to walk. Of course some people will try to hoard during that time, but there are ways of deterring that (i.e., long lines, limited quantities, etc.). A week can buy a lot of time - but instead, now, it will be almost instant.
I live in Hurricane country here in Houston. My wife couldn’t figure out why I spent hours with maps trying to figure out how to get out of the city - she said that it’s easy, just take the freeway. I told her 6 lanes of freeways TOTAL (2 West, 2 East, 2 North) wasn’t going to handle it for 5 million people. Likewise, probably 95% of people simply figure that Walmart will be there for them - there will be a HUGE SURPRISE for them.
My size exactly! And you’re right, stores almost never have either.
Thanks for the link. Great site. Lots to ponder there. Grabbing my purse and my rifle...and off I go, LOL!
I remember the implimentation of JIT. Good for a peace based economy but dangerous and foolish for a war time economy. Our economy should be focusing on stockpiling and defense here in the states. More like Swiss, less like Americans
Thanks for posting this, Daisy. :O)
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