What Preps are you doing this week? Part 9

[ForgeCorvus]

Read the meters, took a picture of them and submitted the numbers
The price cap is going up tomorrow and I'm not going to pay extra for any days I don't have to.

[British Red]

As to the distribution centres ... if you're going clockwise to the south around the M25 at the Dartford Bridge - Amazon and Sainsbo both have distribution centres there. They're enormous.

I've worked on a few retail supply chains including a big supermarket. It's surprising how much delivery is direct to store and how much more is just "cross docked" (Big delivery comes in from manufacturer, is broken into store sized chunks and goes out on the next wagon to that store). Generally the more perishable an item is the less likely that there is stock. Big bulk, low cost items ( e.g. compost in garden centres) are almost all Direct Delivery - there's no money in putting it away twice!

[Arzosah]

Generally the more perishable an item is the less likely that there is stock. Big bulk, low cost items ( e.g. compost in garden centres) are almost all Direct Delivery - there's no money in putting it away twice!

Both those points make complete sense, Red. The distribution bit still exists for some things though. One odd thing I've noticed Amazon do is that they hold stock for a third party seller - it costs the seller, of course.

And here we are on the first day of all these price increases. I'm with Scottish Power, couldn't log the numbers yesterday - I think they'd stopped trying. I'll try just now again, plus send it to myself between email addresses, as Martin Lewis recommends.

[British Red]

Amazon are fantastic at doing third part logistics work for small firms - interestingly eBay also do a Global Shipping Programme that's very slick. Generally they work best with smaller, durable items

[jennyjj01]

Generally the more perishable an item is the less likely that there is stock. Big bulk, low cost items ( e.g. compost in garden centres) are almost all Direct Delivery - there's no money in putting it away twice!

I'd love to see how distribution centres work. It sounds like shipments get broken down from Lorry to lorry without hardly ever getting set down. I.e. the storage is pretty much in transit and these mystical superwarehouses barely exist?. If you saw any of the Greg Wallace 'Inside the Factory' series, the scale of 'Just in time' is incredible. Things like Malt loaf is actually planned to mature in the few days between first load onto the lorry to last trip home with the shopper.

And here we are on the first day of all these price increases. I'm with Scottish Power, couldn't log the numbers yesterday - I think they'd stopped trying. I'll try just now again, plus send it to myself between email addresses, as Martin Lewis recommends.

My smartmeter went crazy. Last night at about 10pm, it reset 'today's usage to £0 !!!, but when I got up at 8, it said I'd already used >£9 which is no blooming way. Barely anything on at night. It usually reads about £1 first thing in the morning and peaks about £5 at night.

[Trojanhorse]

[/quote]

£75 from here:

https://thewizardoflogs.co.uk/

They drop the bags as close to where you want to stack them.
[/quote]

Out of interest I buy from our local Scout Campsite but you have to collect but they do help you load.

[British Red]

I'd love to see how distribution centres work. It sounds like shipments get broken down from Lorry to lorry without hardly ever getting set down. I.e. the storage is pretty much in transit and these mystical superwarehouses barely exist?. If you saw any of the Greg Wallace 'Inside the Factory' series, the scale of 'Just in time' is incredible. Things like Malt loaf is actually planned to mature in the few days between first load onto the lorry to last trip home with the shopper.

Supply chain systems was my specialty for a chunk of my career. There are three main types of "warehouse"

"Stocked In"
Products received from supplier and sent out to stores either singly or as "store packs" (e.g. a cardboard box with 24 cards of batteries)

"Cross docked"
Products received as a big shipment, broken down to store deliveries and sent out again - never put away in the warehouse

"Direct to store"
Products delivered direct to store from manufacturer - often bulky, fast moving items.

There are variations based on product type. Frozen, chilled and ambient all need different handling and different distribution.

Some products are heavily restricted ( e.g. drugs) and have special handling.

B2C (Business to Consumer) is different again.

It's an interesting business

[jennyjj01]

I'd love to see how distribution centres work

Supply chain systems was my specialty for a chunk of my career. There are three main types of "warehouse"
"Stocked In"
...
"Cross docked"
...
"Direct to store"
...It's an interesting business

It all makes sense and nice to see it described succinctly. Thanks.
Cross docking for items where onward distribution to smaller retailers will literally mean that between factory or Port (outgoing) gate to corner shop shelf, there is literally ZERO warehouse stock. Bread and most perishables?! This is the one where we might have mistakenly envisaged warehouses full of national reserves. This is the sort of Just in Time that we should fear in case of disruption.

Same with food, oil, gas, most of the things we need. Nobody wants to hold stock.

Just in time logistics is great in peace time. Ah!
Be your own strategic reserve.

[British Red]

One of the interesting things about one of our income streams is having access to so called "insider" statistics. Right now information with a food preservation dimension is being accessed far more than normally. It may not be full on prepping but a huge amount of people want to know about preserving flour and eggs!

[ukprepperlife]

For me this week's prepping mainly involves the self-sufficiency and food growing side of prepping. I've been planting seeds for some of this year's vegetable crops, most of which are heirloom varieties saved from last year. Some in the greenhouse until it's a little warmer outside, and others that can tolerate frosts are in the ground.
Also some gentle maintenance on some of the fruit trees in my small orchard.