I wonder what all this overstock means...

[ShadowTiger]

This is going to be a bit of a weird thread...

I work at an Ace Hardware. It's been great, the first eight months or so, but then the store switched to an automatic ordering system. Now, the overstock just won't stop! It orders things that we already have a full shelf of! And, no less, we just took full tedious inventory nary two months ago!

The nature of an automatic ordering system is that the actual ordering method is generally a "fire and forget" one, and thus has less control over what actually gets ordered than a system where people pay attention to what needs to be ordered and what doesn't. The obvious theory is that if an item sells, the automatic system endeavors to replace it.

So why the hell do we have one entire aisle (That's right.) of boxes of overstock? A few thoughts I had:

1) I can see it happening that if someone steals an item from off the shelf (Which happens quite often, sadly. We find packages blatantly opened with their contents missing or strewn about the floor very often.) then it wouldn't go through the system. However, if anything, that just means that we'd have fewer items than the ordering system thinks we have, and wouldn't order any more to account for it. The opposite is happening here. What could possible make it order things beyond any set maximum capacity?

2) Why does it appear as if nobody cares? This is obviously an incredibly terrible business practice, and it's not like people haven't complained, publically and privately. The managers are just sighing (At the mess they have on their hands.) and telling us to bear with it and to do the best we can with the limited space we have.

3) One theory that a few of the people I've spoken with had, is that the store owners are attempting to get a huge loan from the bank which they don't intend to pay off. They order all this stuff, just to claim that they have it, and need the loan to help support the store which is "obviously" succeeding due to their ability to afford so much stock.

This Ace Hardware isn't like any other retail store; it's chock full of personality, and over half of the people in the store know each other by sight, if not by name. I say over half, because it's really not that hard to say it in reality. People leave smiling. It's great. It'd be a shame if this store got shut down.

[The_Amaster]

The computer system has gained sentinence and is taking revenge on it's creators by bankrupting them for giving it the agony that is life.

Nah, seriously, probably some kind of bug where it orders two items for every one sold or something.

[ShadowTiger]

Yes, but why not any of the items that we actually have none in? I'm the guy responsible for Housewares, yet I'm not given any sort of control over its actual inventory management, so I have to take the blame when nobody can find any garbage bags in aisle one, for example, because none have been ordered in months. There used to be like, twenty varieties at least. Now there's just two.

[The_Amaster]

Hmmm, obvious question, but have you tried calling the higher-ups and saying "This new program you gave us is messed up" ?

[AtmaWeapon]

Honestly I think it's an entirely different problem than those you have listed; here's my two hypotheses (though they are linked in a way):

My first guess is the software is a "golden boy" that cannot do any wrong in the eyes of someone important. It could be that it's an Ace Hardware standard application; in this case it's either something that all Ace Hardware stores have in common or someone in upper management doesn't operate it properly. If your management is acting like they can do something, they are either completely incompetent or someone higher than them is screwing up, and saying a word means they'll be replaced with someone who won't rock the boat.

It could be that it's a custom-developed application and it sucks because the guy that wrote it is either a good swindler or incompetent with a good heart. In the swindler case, I suspect someone at some level of management heard about the guy that wrote it and spent a lot of time and effort convincing other management that it was worth the investment, and now they have to eat the dog food or risk admitting they are wrong. In the incompetent case, I'd be willing to bet the author of the software's some kid with a copy of Teach Yourself $language in 21 Days who is a relative/friend of someone in management. Obviously, insulting the software is insulting the author, which a good brown-noser won't do since the author is important to someone.

It could be they're trying some shady loan business like you described. If you find out this is the case, I say it'd be easiest for you if you leave. Immediately. You don't want to be there as the bank starts hounding them for the money. Want to know what happens? You have a bad week or month; the car broke down, you got sick, so your bank account's really low. Hey, at least payday's tomorrow, once you get that check you'll be fine. You show up to work and notice the lights are out and the parking lot's empty. There's a sign on the door. You go to read the sign:
ATTENTION RENTER

The locks on your facility have been changed due to consistent lack of payment. Please contact Mr. Landlord at (555) 555-5555 to discuss repayment.There goes that paycheck you needed. It's much better to find a new job while still employed than suddenly find yourself forcibly unemployed.

(True story: I was delighted to find a Ben & Jerry's only a few miles away in a shopping center with other restaurants so I could justify the drive out there. I ate a cone the day I found it, then returned the next day. There was a note on the door that said basically what I just said above. It happens fast.)

Of course, I could be overly pessimistic and this is just some minor problem and management isn't worried because ultimately it doesn't hurt anyone. I know the hardware store I worked at had 3 buildings of overstock; the dust was literally an inch deep in some of the warehouses (though they were right next to a Masonite factory so honestly that's probably only a year or two of dust). The merchandise had sat there for so long, the owner could sell them at 95% off and still turn a profit since the margins on other merchandise had covered them long ago. I brought this up often, nothing was ever done, they're still making mountains of cash.