The Brier Patch - Hurricanes And Pop-Tarts

04.23.05

Hurricanes And Pop-Tarts

Walmart, for example, utilizes the Just-In-Time model for automatic inventory replenishment. JIT is the catdaddy, but leaves little room for the fudge. The models for stock must be accurate, not only by season, but by nature. They must adapt in real time. You’ve got to sync the tables in real time…no batch stuff…no down time…always up…all the time. 24-7-365.

With current database technology sitting on top of a *NIX database engine, it is not a problem.

Walmart has several Meteorologists on staff full time, and, basically, all they do is communicate with the staff in charge of auto-replenishment.

For example:

Since they know that people drink more beer just prior to a hurricane coming ashore, and that more people eat Pop-Tarts after it makes landfall, they adjust the models to reflect this, on the fly. Bottom line, they sell more beer and more Pop-tarts than they would using a conventional method of replenishment like First-In-First-Out or Last-In-First-Out.

Technology…you’ve got to love it, or hate it, but it will not go away. The only choice you have is to ignore it and lose, or embrace it and win.

Today, I can do with two people, what it took ten people to do ten years ago.

Pretty soon we won’t need people to run and manage all of these sophisticated systems; we’ll just need more hardware and software.

The machines are doing the thinking.

This is scary.

I’m just saying.

Posted: 00:41
Category: Technology
Pings: 0

Comments

JIT sux when I'm delivering your merchandise. Chances are excellent you are screwed.

Posted by: Velociman at April 23, 2005 09:52 AM

The last time I ate a pop tart, I thought it tasted like lava-hot shitty jelly smooshed between two faroki' hotter-than-hell pieces of cardboard. As far as I'm concerned the world can run out of pop tarts.

Now, beer? That's quite something else.

Posted by: Jim - PRS at April 23, 2005 06:50 PM

Sam, I think the machines are going to take over soon. The only way we might win out in the end is if SkyNet runs on a Windows OS.

Posted by: zonker at April 24, 2005 12:12 PM

Wal-Mart has been known for this kind of thing for years, when they first adapted Procter & Gamble's PI system for company-wide use. It has kept them on Wired's top 50 (20?) for years, until they were dropped for not doing anything interesting, and picked up again for the RFID initiative.

The new Wal-Marts will have 24-hour deliveries from their distribution centers, further closing the windows of stocking. They also have the ability to locate an item in another store anywhere in the US and can arrange to have it shipped in . . .

My only problem with the system is the massive amount of disruption the Bluetooth network receives, and from the most ridiculous sources. I spent over an hour with field support Friday trying to figure out if the most recent interference was related to the RFID system (an antenna was out -- last thing we thought to check, and only then because I was standing directly under it and they couldn't pick me up).

Posted by: Anne at April 24, 2005 07:56 PM

I work for the railroad, and despite the glitzy ad campaigns, they are, for all intents and purposes, still lost and drifting somewhere more than a century in the past.

I would LOVE to work for someone who does it the way it SHOULD be done!

Wal Mart never ceases to amaze me.

As for computers...I wouldn't fret too much.

Posted by: jmflynny at April 26, 2005 10:14 PM

Ooh! Speaking of... the documentary "Is Wal Mart good for America?" is on PBS right now.

Posted by: jmflynny at April 26, 2005 10:18 PM