Let's Go Shooping at Walmart

Dr. Hess wrote: The reason you can't find anything on that is because it's a LIE, or urban legend, or a mistaken belief or whatever. It doesn't work that way, and I'm in da biz.

I haven't really dug into this but it is a trend in supply chain to push more ownership of stock to the supply base. It's called a Vendor Managed Inventory. It is commonplace in automotive, but I'm not aware of it in retail. It dosen't mean it can't happen.

I've seen VMI's where suppliers maintain a warehouse in the same town and provide mulitple JIT shipments per day. For example, a shipment of parts needed for 1st shift before it begins, etc... Another example would be a stockroom owned by an outside contractor inside of a plant; When an employee goes to that stockroom to get something, the contractor will get the material, and then generate an invoice when he hands the material over to the employee.

A quick search for VMI and walmarts on the google turns up a few articles, nothing concrete. The article is old though and is completely non specific.

http://www.scdigest.com/assets/NewsViews/06-05-25-1.cfm Just an example.

Kudos to them if they can negotiate it into their contracts.

I know Target was doing it 3 years ago. One of my customers supplied them with Frito Lay products.

You guys worry too much. I like my food spicy.

Ignorant wrote:

Dr. Hess wrote: The reason you can't find anything on that is because it's a LIE, or urban legend, or a mistaken belief or whatever. It doesn't work that way, and I'm in da biz.

I haven't really dug into this but it is a trend in supply chain to push more ownership of stock to the supply base. It's called a Vendor Managed Inventory. It is commonplace in automotive, but I'm not aware of it in retail. It dosen't mean it can't happen.

Aside from the fancy name it doesn't sound that much different from how we delivered soda 20 years ago. At larger customers we delivered 3-4 times a week, packed out the shelves and built any displays. About three weeks after the delivery, long after the product left the store, we would get our check.

carguy123 wrote:

Datsun1500 wrote:

carguy123 wrote:

I realize that my mentality of food service is quite foreign.

And speaking of foreign, tipping is an American thing. You don't tip, nor do they expect it in most other parts of the world. In some places they'll even get mad if you tip

They also pay the staff much better....

I don't see how what you make at your job is my worry, my problem or should concern me in the least. I make more than some and less than others - so what. People that make more than me owe me something? I wish! Someone other than my mommy and daddy are obligated to help me out? Don't think so. They made their bed now let them lay in it. Now if they'd like to go out of their way and work harder to make my stay more enjoyable and give me more than just being a food deliverer, that could be a different story. In a restaurant I've paid for my food and if they don't have a line where I can go pick it up then I've also paid for it to get to my table. Add value to my equation.

Are you a regular customer at any restaurants??? If so, I wonder who'd want to wait on you if you don't tip. It's a foreign concept outside of the States, but you live in the States and this is how sit-down restaurants work.

We're regulars at a few places and get stellar service because I tip a minimum of 20%. I've been in fine dining restaurants where the tip got very close to the $100 mark (that's in the "as good as it gets" category of food and service, though).

It's beyond crass/classless to not tip. I could never act that way.

carguy123 wrote: I don't tip

I know this post won't change your ways, but hey, I love arguing on the internet. Kinda like wrestling with an octopus

You should. The wait staff usually earns significantly less than minimum wage because of tips. They also have to report tipping on their income taxes. If they don't, the IRS can actually tax them based on a percentage of what they DID report because it was on a paycheck: IRS tipping laws. So the server could (in theory) be paying to serve you.

Now, what gets me with tipping is when a place has a gratuity for 8 people or more and they include the berkeleying tax on it. I'm not tipping on tax, damnit.

Leach wrote: Aside from the fancy name it doesn't sound that much different from how we delivered soda 20 years ago. At larger customers we delivered 3-4 times a week, packed out the shelves and built any displays. About three weeks after the delivery, long after the product left the store, we would get our check.

Yeah that sounds similar.