Running Around Reno

[kevin_standlee]

We had a lot of different errands to do in Reno/Sparks today, some of which were time-constrained due to closing times. We got away from the house about 2 PM and headed to town.



I saw this sign on the side of an AT&T service vehicle while running around Reno. I'd like to have one of these to put up at Westercon. Lisa and were masked during all of our errands. There were, for a wonder, a few other customers and even a few checkers who still wear masks, but almost nobody else. At least around here, though, nobody gives us static for wearing our masks. We'll be wearing them during Westercon, too: high-quality N95 US-made masks. We also bought a bunch more than we personally need so Westercon 74 will have a supply of surgical and N95 masks for people who somehow managed to miss everything we sent to all of our members telling them all that we're requiring masks and vaccination.

Anyway, here's how we spent the following six hours.

• Shelley's True Value Hardware in Sparks: Nuts and bolts for a Westercon project of Lisa's.


• NAPA Auto Parts Glendale Avenue: Attempt to buy a new battery for Lisa's Big Orange Van and a new starter motor for the Small Orange Pickup. NAPA's website said that location had the motor; the store did not. They also did not have any of the right batteries.


• US Foods Chef'Store: More wholesale non-perishable grocery items for Westercon.


• ReVolt Battery Exchange: Second attempt at a battery for the Big Orange Van; this time we found one from this store that sells reconditioned batteries.


• Staples: Poster tube, foam core, and various bits for use at Westercon.


• Smart & Final Extra: More groceries for Westercon.


• NAPA Auto Parts South Virginia Street: This time we were able to find a starter motor for the Small Orange Pickup.


• SAS Shoes: one new pair of shoes for me, plus turning in my worn shoes for resoling and refurbishing. The guy at the store tried to talk me out of it, but even though the cost for factory resoling has gone up, it's still half the price of a new pair of shoes.


• WinCo Foods South Virginia Street: More bulk items for Westercon Hospitality.


• Raley's Wedge Parkway: Groceries for Lisa and me.

And then finally we headed for home, getting back just before 8 PM.

That's not the last shopping trip we'll be making before heading for Tonopah, but it might be the one with the most individual stops in it. It would have been easier if we hadn't had to make three stops for the parts for Lisa's vehicles instead of one, but at least it's done now.

Comments

[garyomaha]

Do you think the problem with the parts is due to supply chain or to poorly designed or maintained databases or to plain ol' human negligence? M and I run into this all the time: Lowes' website will say their store (which, we like to say, is dangerously near our home) lists having something in stock. We go there and discover there is no such thing in that store, but look! The computer says it's in another store miles on the other side of town. And then we launch into our mantra: "In this day and age they should have this problem solved." But I guess not.

[kevin_standlee]

This is the sort of stuff I deal with all the time in my Day Jobbe, because my team deals with discrepancies between inventory in our system, our client's system, and what's actually present in the warehouse. Nearly all the time, all three of those things are the same, but when they're not, we spend a lot of time finding out what went wrong and correcting it.

Inventory Management systems are only as good as the data being fed into them: GIGO. So if something isn't scanned or entered correctly, the system doesn't work. There are lots of human factors involved, and they are the most likely failure point. For example, if an urgent demand for an item causes it to be transferred without the transfer being entered into the system (and that's easy to have happen when you have someone screaming at you that they need the part Right This Moment, not five minutes from now), then of course you get a discrepancy when someone tries to find that part.

It's not just small parts to which this happens. I recall a story about Union Pacific "losing" an entire locomotive, and putting out the word to the railfan community to be on the lookout for it. (It was eventually found parked in an out-of-the-way siding where it definitely should not have been.) Railroad cars get "lost" all the time, and they're not small.

In my specific case, I think I must have misunderstood what the system was telling me. The Glendale Avenue NAPA appears to be a distribution center, so when I saw "Available within 1 hour" in the online system, I assumed that meant it was in that store. What it probably meant was that if I ordered it, they could get it from one of the other stores within a one-hour transfer distance of that store.