|
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
With computers and barcodes on everything, reordering is supposed to be
"just in time". That is they get a new shipment in just before they run out of something. But it is not working that way at some stores. I frequently see things out of stock in many different stores. This is a "management system" and it is not designed well obviously. It should take into account how frequently an item sells predict when the store will be out of an item. Take into account how long it will take for a new shipment to arrive at a particular store. Alert management when any item is out of stock so they can tweak their reordering of that item - prevent being out of stock in the future. And incorporate all of this into stocking regional distribution centers. Then based on the item selling (the computer would know because of barcodes), automatically reorder that item - Just in time. In some cases the item might need to be reordered when the stock is down to 3 items. Other cases when the stock is down to 1 item. Etc. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
"David Martel" wrote in message ink.net... mm, Computerized inventory needs to be deigned to include theft and damage. A while back I was at Lowes shopping for a 90 deg stove pipe elbow. There was one mangled elbow on the shelf. There were 3 elbows listed in their computer. The store clerk couldn't find the elbows and left the damaged one on the shelf. A month later I looked again, out of curiosity, and they still had one damaged elbow on the shelf. Dave M. . Computerized inventory just needs to be updated in the HD where I live. I was looking at a certain bookcase which was on display but none were on the shelf because they were sold out. When the clerk checked the computerized inventory, it showed that they had 3 of them. Nobody could have shoplifted them because of the size and weight of the boxes. David |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
Bill wrote: With computers and barcodes on everything, reordering is supposed to be "just in time". That is they get a new shipment in just before they run out of something. .... This is a "management system" and it is not designed well obviously. It should take into account how frequently an item sells predict when the store will be out of an item. Take into account how long it will take for a new shipment to arrive at a particular store. Alert management when any item is out of stock so they can tweak their reordering of that item - prevent being out of stock in the future. And incorporate all of this into stocking regional distribution centers. .... I think if you would/could see the actual inventory algorithms you would find they're far more sophisticated and global in their logic than this. The actual target is to maximize overall _profitability_, not just to restock individual widgets in a bin. If targets were set so high so that _no_ product were ever out of stock inventory and delivery costs would cost far more, overall, than the occasional loss of sales. The largest difficulty in making such models work continues to be data collection at the POS and controlling shrinkage and on-shelf damage (as somebody else noted) that reduce inventory out of the observability of the collection system (as well as the actual loss, of course). The effectiveness of local management and particularly department managers in ensuring accurate data input makes the difference other note between better/lesser-stocked stores within a given chain. It is certainly true that if corporate makes a decision to remove power from local managers to effect corrections into the data system the quality of the data will go down and the effectiveness of the system will degrade with that loss of data--"garbage in, garbage out". I don't have local BORG available but when I do visit one on occasion on treks to "the big city" :) I still observe there are some HDs that are clearly far better managed locally than others. In general, for the areas I see, it seems to me that Lowes in general are better than HD in terms of numbers of people and general selection--that of course, could reflect only on what my particular likes/dislikes are more than any real difference--others could visit the same stores and undoubtedly draw the opposite conclusion. Since the Lowes re-vitalization effort some years ago it has seemed to me that what little lumber I've bought at either that Lowes is better in general than HD in that particular area. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
David wrote:
"David Martel" wrote in message ink.net... mm, Computerized inventory needs to be deigned to include theft and damage. A while back I was at Lowes shopping for a 90 deg stove pipe elbow. There was one mangled elbow on the shelf. There were 3 elbows listed in their computer. The store clerk couldn't find the elbows and left the damaged one on the shelf. A month later I looked again, out of curiosity, and they still had one damaged elbow on the shelf. Dave M. . Computerized inventory just needs to be updated in the HD where I live. I was looking at a certain bookcase which was on display but none were on the shelf because they were sold out. When the clerk checked the computerized inventory, it showed that they had 3 of them. Nobody could have shoplifted them because of the size and weight of the boxes. David Employee theft out the loading dock with their own forklift... Pete C. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
"R & S" wrote:
I saw a documentary where Walmart gets 2-3 manufacture's reps in an room and I live in a small town of 17,000 and walmart has DECIMATED this town of its mom and pop stores |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
In article , "Percival P. Cassidy" wrote:
But whether it's Wal-Mart, HD, Lowe's, or Joe's Building Supplies, I think it's a disgrace that the wages for a 40-hour week (or perhaps even a 50- or 60-hour week) are not enough to put a roof over the worker's head, put food on his/her table, meet the costs of transportation at least to and from work, and cover health-care costs --at least not in any place reasonably fit for human habitation. Well, that's what happens to people that don't have a college education... -- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
On 18 Aug 2006 09:03:25 -0700, "dpb" wrote:
PS. Being in what most would consider a small town, there are the occasional instances that there actually isn't much if any alternative any longer as the influence of the BORG-syndrome is most observable on the independent businesses in smaller communities which don't have the population base to support the smaller merchants as well. Former Georgia Congressman and former civil-rights activist Andrew Young, I just heard on the radio, resigned today from a pro-Walmart organization, after he was criticized for remarks he had made. I have the story very close to accurate: He was asked if it was a problem that Walmart drove small businesses out of business. He said, No, because they are owned by Jews, Koreans, and Arabs and they charge too much anyhow. When I heard the start of the story (on NPR iirc) I didn't expect him to have said anything this flamboyant or flaming. I guess Andy only cares about non-discrimination when he's the one being non-discriminated against. And he's so off the wall anyhow. Maybe where he lives, but I'm sure the majority, probably the vast majority of stores in the US put out of business weren't owned by Jews, Koreans, or Arabs. I wonder if he got this line from meetings with Wal-mart or he thought of it himself. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
"Percival P. Cassidy" wrote in message But whether it's Wal-Mart, HD, Lowe's, or Joe's Building Supplies, I think it's a disgrace that the wages for a 40-hour week (or perhaps even a 50- or 60-hour week) are not enough to put a roof over the worker's head, put food on his/her table, meet the costs of transportation at least to and from work, and cover health-care costs --at least not in any place reasonably fit for human habitation. Perce What retailer pays like that? Going back 50 years, Sears, Gimble's, Macy's, were mostly staffed by women that had a husband working a full time job. They were just a second income. Maybe someone knows for sure, but I don't think theypaid health benefits or enough to fully support a family. If you worked at Sears for 20 or 30 years, you got a good pension. Are you ready and willing to pay 10% or more for all of your purchases? Wal Mart may be greedy, but so are most of the consumers that hunt for the lowest possible price, then complain they did not get the service and quality of years ago. The department stores I mentioned were put out of business, not by Wal Mart, but by the consumer that made the decision to save money by going to Wal Mart instead of the local retailer that paid his help a few dollars more at the end of the week. :We have met the enemy, and it is US" Pogo (how many even know who Pogo is?) |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 17:08:51 GMT, "Pete C."
wrote: David wrote: "David Martel" wrote in message ink.net... mm, Computerized inventory needs to be deigned to include theft and damage. A while back I was at Lowes shopping for a 90 deg stove pipe elbow. There was one mangled elbow on the shelf. There were 3 elbows listed in their computer. The store clerk couldn't find the elbows and left the damaged one on the shelf. A month later I looked again, out of curiosity, and they still had one damaged elbow on the shelf. Dave M. . Computerized inventory just needs to be updated in the HD where I live. I was looking at a certain bookcase which was on display but none were on the shelf because they were sold out. When the clerk checked the computerized inventory, it showed that they had 3 of them. Nobody could have shoplifted them because of the size and weight of the boxes. David Employee theft out the loading dock with their own forklift... Pete C. Or delivered straight to the employees home...I've seen this done too. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
Exactly. As a teacher I see students who make no effort to succeed.
Parents are not supportive and have low expectations. In that situation, there is little chance for success, Many drop out of HS or even middle school and of course they cannot go to college get a good job. They end up in menial jobs or involved in crime. Is that Walmart's fault? No!! College is not mandatory for success look at the tradesmen. But they did have to make some effort to become a licensed plumber or electrician. If you dont take responsibility for your own life dont blame Walmart for your failure. Doug Miller wrote: Well, that's what happens to people that don't have a college education... -- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
On 08/18/06 01:23 pm Doug Miller wrote:
But whether it's Wal-Mart, HD, Lowe's, or Joe's Building Supplies, I think it's a disgrace that the wages for a 40-hour week (or perhaps even a 50- or 60-hour week) are not enough to put a roof over the worker's head, put food on his/her table, meet the costs of transportation at least to and from work, and cover health-care costs --at least not in any place reasonably fit for human habitation. Well, that's what happens to people that don't have a college education... But there are jobs without which society would not continue that do not require a college education. Think: ditch digger, sanitation worker. If these people are making a useful contribution to society, why should they not receive a living wage? Is it only work for which a college education is required that society really needs? And many jobs for which employers are demanding a college degree do not need one. And when enough people have college degrees, employers will demand that sanitation workers have college degrees too -- end they still won't have enough to live on. (Many years ago, a trucking company in Madras, India, was demanding a Bachelor's degree for truck drivers because there was a glut of graduates and the employer was able to make unreasonable demands.) Perce |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
I have read that Walmart's presence in the economy in essence raises
disposable personal income by .9% due to its low prices Did you also read the part about the burden that Walmart's employees place on Medicare because they can't afford health insurance, their foodstamps, etc? |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
Gonna throw something in.
"Kyle Boatright" wrote in message . .. "frank1492" wrote in message ... I used to take great joy in visiting HD, but over the past year it has *Mart and HD, Walmart usually steps all over HD on price. I'm starting to dread going to HD. Frank HD is based here in Atlanta, so the local media gives them a fair amount of coverage. Some of the things which have come out in the last few years is that the folks at the corporate office have more or less taken the power away from the stores. Once upon a time, the store managers had a lot of latitude on what to stock, how to price it, etc. Today, virtually all of that is controlled at the corporate level. In addition, it has become much easier to get a job in one of the stores because the company has moved away from hiring experts for the respective departments (i.e. someone with plumbing experience in the plumbing dept.). You most likely won't find *real* pros in any department at HD or Lowes. A good tradesman can make $18-$24 per hour (or more) in their respective trade, maybe half of that at the box stores. While HD hasn't devolved into *just another retail store*, it isn't nearly as service and customer oriented as it was a few years back. The bottom line is that HD isn't what it used to be, although I still prefer it to Lowes and (uggh) Wal-mart. HD was great when Bernie and Arthur ran it. Now that Nardelli, the General Electric reject, runs it, the stores have turned to squat. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
HD has the same problem here in the DC area. Unfortunately, most of the
Lowes are in the outer suburbs, so there is really no competition. Lowes apparently likes the lower rents in the outer areas. However, I find it worth it to drive another 15 minutes to Lowes, cuz when HD is out of stock, I end up doing so anyway. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
Aw jeez. I hope this thread ends here....
|
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
"mm" wrote in message ... On 18 Aug 2006 09:03:25 -0700, "dpb" wrote: PS. Being in what most would consider a small town, there are the occasional instances that there actually isn't much if any alternative any longer as the influence of the BORG-syndrome is most observable on the independent businesses in smaller communities which don't have the population base to support the smaller merchants as well. Former Georgia Congressman and former civil-rights activist Andrew Young, I just heard on the radio, resigned today from a pro-Walmart organization, after he was criticized for remarks he had made. You have a link to that story? |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
"Al Bundy" wrote in message ... frank1492 wrote in : I used to take great joy in visiting HD, but over the past year it has become a frustrating experience. (I live in MA.) Every time I need something these days, they are out os stock, and I'm not talking slow-moving stuff, I'm talking basics like 3/4" copper elbows! They tell me they can't order when they need something these days, but receive stuff only when the home office tells them they need it! The other day, they only had ONE model of hedge trimmer in stock in the Worcester store, so I went to Lowe's. No problem finding HedgeHogs there. Anybody else seeing this? One other observation: If an item can be found at both Wal*Mart and HD, Walmart usually steps all over HD on price. I'm starting to dread going to HD. Frank I have noticed this over the past couple of years. And discontnuing items for a higher priced line. Example comes to mind. Went to get a plastic toilet supply line. Empty. Knowledgable employee I know nearby. Says they were discontinued and they will only have the metal braded from now on. And please, don't someone say how much better they are. They may be but the betterness will never get used. Never had a plastic one explode on me yet! Talked to a gent at HD yesterday, an employee. He and his wife were out on a camping trip and came home to water flowing out the garage of their ranch with a full basement house. The plastic sink (as opposed to toilet) supply line broke. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
"Steve B" wrote in message news:oqbFg.7333$Mz3.7115@fed1read07... I used to take great joy in visiting HD, but over the past year it has become a frustrating experience. (I live in MA.) Every time I need something these days, they are out os stock, and I'm not talking slow-moving stuff, I'm talking basics like 3/4" copper elbows! Funny you should mention that. I went to HD for copper sweat on fittings. They had contractor packs for let's say, $2.50 for ten fittings. I bought all they had. When I got to the cashier, she could not ring up the loose ones because they did not have individual SKUs on them. Call the manager. Stand around. Line behind me gets longer. Repeat the last three steps about three times. Meanwhile, I say, "Look. $2.50 divided by ten equals a quarter apiece. Charge me that." "Oh, I can't do that. I'll lose my job," was the response from the oblivious nineteen year old clerk. Finally, after about ten minutes, I walked out, leaving about $300 worth of merchandise sitting there. Been there, done that. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
HeatMan wrote:
"mm" wrote in message ... On 18 Aug 2006 09:03:25 -0700, "dpb" wrote: PS. Being in what most would consider a small town, there are the occasional instances that there actually isn't much if any alternative any longer as the influence of the BORG-syndrome is most observable on the independent businesses in smaller communities which don't have the population base to support the smaller merchants as well. Former Georgia Congressman and former civil-rights activist Andrew Young, I just heard on the radio, resigned today from a pro-Walmart organization, after he was criticized for remarks he had made. You have a link to that story? Here is the CNN version: http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/18/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes Pete C. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
HeatMan wrote:
You most likely won't find *real* pros in any department at HD or Lowes. A good tradesman can make $18-$24 per hour (or more) in their respective trade, maybe half of that at the box stores. You used to find real pros at HD, typically evenings and weekends when they had time to kill to make some extra money. Pete C. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
Agree with the point. HD seems to have lost the edge ... I've been using Lowe's more but also try to keep my local small hardware store in in business. HD lost touch with its consumer base ... whether too big or too fat, who knows. Customer Service is iffy .. and certainly, not everything is in stock as needed.
And one thing for certain, phone order and follow-up is lousy. "frank1492" wrote in message ... I used to take great joy in visiting HD, but over the past year it has become a frustrating experience. (I live in MA.) Every time I need something these days, they are out os stock, and I'm not talking slow-moving stuff, I'm talking basics like 3/4" copper elbows! They tell me they can't order when they need something these days, but receive stuff only when the home office tells them they need it! The other day, they only had ONE model of hedge trimmer in stock in the Worcester store, so I went to Lowe's. No problem finding HedgeHogs there. Anybody else seeing this? One other observation: If an item can be found at both Wal*Mart and HD, Walmart usually steps all over HD on price. I'm starting to dread going to HD. Frank |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
They need to cut out all those "enititlements" . There is no better
motivator than an empty stomach. Instead of dropping out or getting knocked up at 15 people might realize the value of an education and stay in school and go to college. Buck Turgidson wrote: I have read that Walmart's presence in the economy in essence raises disposable personal income by .9% due to its low prices Did you also read the part about the burden that Walmart's employees place on Medicare because they can't afford health insurance, their foodstamps, etc? |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 16:20:01 -0400, "Buck Turgidson"
wrote: I have read that Walmart's presence in the economy in essence raises disposable personal income by .9% due to its low prices Did you also read the part about the burden that Walmart's employees place on Medicare because they can't afford health insurance, their foodstamps, etc? Afford food stamps? Tell me more..... Oren |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
|
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 05:35:29 GMT, "R & S" wrote:
I saw a documentary where Walmart gets 2-3 manufacture's reps in an room and forces them to bid against one another down to the penny. They almost destroyed Rubbermaid because the cost of raw materials went up and they wouldn't renegotiate; Wall mart almost destroyed them. They don't treat their employees much better either. There were allegations where they made the employees punch out and forced them to continue working. Nice bunch of folks. Ron Apparently, you've never worked in the business market. EVERY government contract ( except Halliburton ) is let on the bid-system. Thats local, county, state, or federal. You want to supply goods or services, you'll be the low bidder. rj |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
On 17 Aug 2006 19:18:04 -0700, "bryanska"
wrote: (2) Why does *everybody* hate Wal*Mart? I hate Wal-Mart for two reasons: 1) Ever since Sam Walton died, all items are no longer made in USA. Not only is the store depressing prices and local economies, Wal-Mart is contributing to the trade deficit. Whereas before it was a local problem, it's now nationwide. Sound "liberal"? Listen to #2. 2) I work for a major Fortune 500 company that has a huge packaging department. Our box suppliers (my vendors) are forced to do business with Wal-Mart because they dominate many portions of commercial logistics. If they don't deal with Wal-Mart, they can't compete. However, Wal-mart demands such low prices from these box companies, the margins leave nothing for re-investment. International Paper, for example, owes a portion of its crushing debt to Wal-Mart, and the company may not survive. My company is facing higher prices and worse service because these companies are finding it difficult to grow. So the bleeding-heart aspects of hating Wal-Mart are beginning to be eclipsed by a growing, similar undercurrent in the business world. These guys are assholes to deal with, too. Try navigating the Byzantine rules of selling anything in their store. You aught to read the Vlasic Pickle story. About how Walmart put Vlasic Pickle out of business. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html It'd be hilarious if it werent so serious. dickm |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
|
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
Percival P. Cassidy wrote:
Well, that's what happens to people that don't have a college education... But there are jobs without which society would not continue that do not require a college education. Think: ditch digger, sanitation worker. If these people are making a useful contribution to society, why should they not receive a living wage? Two reasons: 1) The company is not willing to pay more, and 2) The employee is willing to work for what's offered. Often the difference is not between $5.70 an hour and ten dollars per hour. The difference is between $5.70 an hour and nothing. In your examples (ditch digger and garbage collector), think back-hoe and automated trash trucks. Is it only work for which a college education is required that society really needs? And many jobs for which employers are demanding a college degree do not need one. And when enough people have college degrees, employers will demand that sanitation workers have college degrees too -- end they still won't have enough to live on. (Many years ago, a trucking company in Madras, India, was demanding a Bachelor's degree for truck drivers because there was a glut of graduates and the employer was able to make unreasonable demands.) In India, for the non-degreed unemployed, all is not hopeless. There's still black-market organ donation. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
Oren wrote:
And you might end up with an "educated idiot"; a BS degree in Criminal Justice", having never seen a criminal (education does not equal common sense). Ten percent at the bottom of the class...attorneys. doctors, you ...know.. Graffiti in college toilet: "If you're a History Major, this is the only job you'll ever have." |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
Buck Turgidson wrote:
I have read that Walmart's presence in the economy in essence raises disposable personal income by .9% due to its low prices Did you also read the part about the burden that Walmart's employees place on Medicare because they can't afford health insurance, their foodstamps, etc? Yeah. Mostly urban legend. A significant part of Walmart's staff are part-timers who, on their own, opt for government-sponsored insurance because commercial insurance - via Walmart - is too "expensive" (the average Walmart employee pays $23/month for health coverage). Many other employees are covered by their spouses' policies. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
HeatMan wrote:
"mm" wrote in message ... On 18 Aug 2006 09:03:25 -0700, "dpb" wrote: PS. Being in what most would consider a small town, there are the occasional instances that there actually isn't much if any alternative any longer as the influence of the BORG-syndrome is most observable on the independent businesses in smaller communities which don't have the population base to support the smaller merchants as well. Former Georgia Congressman and former civil-rights activist Andrew Young, I just heard on the radio, resigned today from a pro-Walmart organization, after he was criticized for remarks he had made. You have a link to that story? http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110008817 Scroll down to "First it was the Jews..." |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
Doug Miller wrote:
In article , "Craven Morehead" wrote: Officially...dwarfs. No. "Dwarf" and "midget" mean two different things. But both were included in the "little people" class-action suit a few years ago complaining of housing discrimination. As a result of the litigation, a new apartment house was built in Chicago and various "little people" were given free rent. The residents, never happy, are now complaining about the name of the housing project. Seems they don't like: "Stay Free Mini-Pads." There's just no pleasing some folks. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
HeyBub wrote: wrote: "R & S" wrote: .... I live in a small town of 17,000 and walmart has DECIMATED this town of its mom and pop stores Inasmuch as "decimate" means "to reduce by 10%," that's not too bad. If you meant "destroyed," well, good-o. 17,000 people get lower prices, better hours, and greater variety. ... Main Entry: dec·i·mate Pronunciation: 'de-s&-"mAt Function: transitive verb ..... 3 a : to reduce drastically especially in number cholera decimated the population b : to cause great destruction or harm to firebombs decimated the city an industry decimated by recession While you're correct with the first definition, it isn't really the one in common use as the Roman legions have been gone for quite some time. The above alternative is undoubtedly the most widely used these days, particularly in the given context. It's only slightly larger here and the same is also true wrt family businesses. And, it certainly isn't all good...those vacant storefronts aren't valued anything close to what they would be if occupied and many are, in fact, arrears in taxes as there's no incentive for the owners to keep them current. Retail sales tax receipts haven't increased that much and the rebates on property taxes and required services are enough to pretty much wipe that out. I'll grant longer hours, but who needs shopping at 2AM??? As for selection and prices, the prime thing that happened is that everything became lowest common denominator as Wal-Mart is not exactly known for catering to anything except the masses. As for the tire shop, I'm not impressed -- I'll continue to deal w/ the local fellow I know and have known for 40 years. I don't need to worry about somebody checking up on whether he did the work properly or not. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 21:33:25 -0700, "Steve B"
wrote: Finally, after about ten minutes, I walked out, leaving about $300 worth of merchandise sitting there. I walked out leaving a purchase ticket for a $3600 outdoor shed laying on the counter because 3.... Three.... THREE!.... McIdiots at the register could not figure out how to do the transaction and the manager would not answer his/her page. Two months later they burned me on the last of three fraudulent rebates and I have never darkened their sorry door again. I do Lowe's because our local store employees knowledgeable people in each department and they have cashiers that have brain power above that of plant life. Actually our local Lowe's cashiers know how to find items in a book at each register when that item does not have a scan bar on it or if it comes out of a broken box. Top marks to Lowe's and I wouldn't **** on Home Depot if it were on fire. Regards, |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 11:08:34 -0400, "Percival P. Cassidy"
wrote: Silly me! Here was I thinking that retail stores were supposed to be staffed by qualified, well-motivated people who know what the store sells, where to find it, and whether that is what truly meets the customer's needs. It a thing of the past because Joe Beer Chucker has grown complacent and expects unqualified, non-motivated brain dead turnips to be working at these box outlets. Instead of demanding anything better, Joe Sixpact just sluffs it off and keeps on coming back for more. It use to be "America gets what America Wants", now it's "America Gets what America lays down and Complacently Tolerates". Regards, |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 16:27:20 -0400, "HeatMan"
wrote: "mm" wrote in message .. . On 18 Aug 2006 09:03:25 -0700, "dpb" wrote: PS. Being in what most would consider a small town, there are the occasional instances that there actually isn't much if any alternative any longer as the influence of the BORG-syndrome is most observable on the independent businesses in smaller communities which don't have the population base to support the smaller merchants as well. Former Georgia Congressman and former civil-rights activist Andrew Young, I just heard on the radio, resigned today from a pro-Walmart organization, after he was criticized for remarks he had made. You have a link to that story? No. I heard it on the radio, and the radio paraphrased it or I got it wrong. Because I wasn't certain, that's why I didn't put what I had in quotes, But I don't think the sense was different from what he actually said. I was also wrong about his being a Congressman, it seems. Ambassador to the UN and mayor of Atlanta. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 07:59:49 GMT, "Tom G"
wrote: "R & S" wrote in message om... I saw a documentary where Walmart gets 2-3 manufacture's reps in an room and forces them to bid against one another down to the penny. They almost destroyed Rubbermaid because the cost of raw materials went up and they wouldn't renegotiate; Wall mart almost destroyed them. They don't treat their employees much better either. There were allegations where they made the employees punch out and forced them to continue working. Nice bunch of folks. Ron Sister in law works at a WalMart. The "associates" were just told that all wages are frozen as the company is opening two new stores in the area. What's this, they can't tap their investors or profits for the money to do that; they have to get the money off the backs of their present employees. When she was off work because of cancer surgery, the store told her she had to come back before the doctor recommended or they were going to give her job to someone else. She begged the doctor for an early release. Then when she couldn't handle carrying tires and batteries from the back room for the mechanics to install, she asked her supervisor for a transfer to a position that didn't require the heavy lifting. He told her he had an opening unloading trucks....when she broke down in tears, he said "I was just kidding". Insensitive clod or maybe typical of management at WalMart. A fellow employee asked her once where her husband was at the moment and she said that he was at a union meeting (works somewhere else). Her supervisor overheard and called her into his office and told her that she couldn't use that word (union) in the store and that he was supposed to write her up for doing so but wasn't going to "this" time. What a place to work....I can't believe the job market is so bad that people feel they have to put up with that kind of crap. I believe all of this, and I don't think it's unusual, and that's why I don't like Walmart. Tom G. |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
|
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:50:29 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote: In India, for the non-degreed unemployed, all is not hopeless. There's still black-market organ donation. No, its a lot better there now. They are all now phone tech's for Gateway, Dell, HP and all the other Sales and Marketing firms that make you think they are computer manufacturers. Regards, |
Home Depot's Inventory Control Problem
"dicko" wrote in message You aught to read the Vlasic Pickle story. About how Walmart put Vlasic Pickle out of business. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html It'd be hilarious if it werent so serious. dickm Interesting story. Only thing is, Wal Mart did not do them in, they really did themselves in. At some point, you just have to say, "sorry, no deal" Now, you are probably thinking, "easy for you to say" and I must reply, yes, not only is it easy we did just that to two of our largest customers. The first was a major appliance manufacturer that accounted for over 25% of our sales and much of our profit. After doing a job for a year, they asked us for a 10% price reduction. The reasoning was that by now we have paid off our R & D and start-up costs, and we probably found better methods to make our parts. They were correct and we agreed and the following year we did well. Year three, they said in order to maintain their market share, they have to reduce costs. They pressured us for another 5% and we agreed, but they also went from 30 days to 120 days payment. That year was OK, but not as profitable as it was in the past. Now comes price negotiations for year four. They said they wanted a 25% reduction (remember, it was already reduced 10% and 5%). And, if we agreed, they also wanted a 6% rebate for the business from the previous year. That is when we said "sorry, no deal, where do you want your tooling shipped?" We watched as they took truckloads of material from our competitor. We watched as our competitor struggled and finally closed a manufacturing plant when they did not make enough to pay their bills. As for the appliance manufacturer, they closed their plant and now import everything from China and Korea. Two years later, we were faced with another situation. We walked from that also. We made more profit from less sales. Not every sale is a good one. |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:54 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2014 DIYbanter