Subject:
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Idea for Bulk Ordering ANY current Lego piece
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.dear-lego
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Date:
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Fri, 21 Jan 2000 22:39:01 GMT
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Viewed:
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872 times
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Dear Brad:
As you can see, one of the AFOLs primary concerns is the ability to bulk
order a wide variety of pieces in vastly different quantities. Wouldn't it
be great if an AFOL could order ANY piece currently in production in ANY
quantity (at least above a minimum order amount). Here is an idea to
achieve just that which I believe would be both efficient AND economical.
[Disclaimer: I am NOT a production engineer and I do not have personal
experience in the manufacturing process - the ideas presented below are
THEORY and I encourage those who are more experienced in this area to
dissect these ideas and point out what could actually work and what simply
can not work]
My (limited) understanding of TLC's manufacturing process is: (1) decisions
are made as to what pieces are required; (2) molds are made and a production
schedule is developed based on quantity needs and machine availability and
capacity; (3) raw materials are ordered according to the schedule; (4)
production of the pieces occurs according to the production schedule; (5)
once production of a certain piece is complete, the machine is refitted with
a new mold and the next piece is run. The production schedule includes how
many of each type and color of a piece will be made on a given production
run.
My idea is simply this - allow AFOLs to advance order (and pay for) pieces
BEFORE they are manufactured. In other words, allow the bulk ordering needs
to "piggy-back" onto the regular production run.
For example, let's say that 100,000 classic smileys are scheduled to be run
March 1-5. On January 1, TLC informs the AFOL community (maybe through
Lugnet) that classic smileys are available for preordering until January 15
minimum order is 50 at a cost of $.10 USD. Then, between January 1 and
January 15, AFOLs order 10,000 classic smileys. Orders are charged to
credit cards just like with S@H. At this point TLC knows that it now needs
to run 110,000 classic smileys March 1-5 in order to meet its own internal
needs as well as fulfill the bulk order needs of the AFOL community.
Here are the advantages of this system (for both TLC and AFOLs):
(1) TLC knows well in advance of it manufacturing what its needs are
including AFOL bulk orders - this allows TLC to adjust its production
schedule to accomodate the extra raw materials and manufacturing time needed
(2) TLC is paid in advance so the extra cost of running the bulk order
portion is already covered - also, TLC can set its price-per-piece count to
cover these extra costs
(3) the AFOL community gets the widest possible benefit of bulk ordering
(any piece in current production)
(4) The bottom line - TLC makes boatloads of money (profits from true bulk
ordering would far surpass any loss of profits from AFOLs not buying as many
sets for pieces)
(5) Unprecedented expansion of the Lego hobby, creativity among AFOLs, and
"playing well" - isn't this what it is really all about anyways?
Here are the disadvantages:
(1) for the AFOL - availability of pieces is determined by the TLC
production run - if train windows are not scheduled to be run until June, an
AFOL requesting train windows would have to wait until then
(2) for the AFOL - orders would have to be placed far enough in advance to
allow TLC to adjust its production schedule (an initial planned run of 5
days may have to be extended to 7 days - this in turn delays the start of
the next run for the next schedueld piece) - in my example, I showed six
weeks advanced ordering - in reality this may be several months
(3) for TLC - the extra run time to fulfill exceptionally large bulk orders
may interfere with carefully planned production schedules and cause delays
in production and introduction of planned sets
Arguements again these disadvantages:
(1) AFOLs already wait a long time for some pieces (either from auctions,
eBay, or just saving enough to buy enough sets to break up for parts). As
long as we know those 1,000 1x4 gray arches are on the way, we will be
patient (and probably think up 10 more pieces we need to bulk order while
we're waiting for the first order to arrive). The mere thought of having
every current piece available eventually will tide us over just fine.
(2) same
(3) proper advance planning and scheduling of production runs will
eliminate any delays caused by the extra quantity load
The key is that this process presents the best of both worlds. We all
recognize that the utopia of "any piece, any quantity, any time" is
unattainable. No company can keep such a huge quantity of stock in their
inventory hoping that someone might order it. By allowing AFOLs to preorder
pieces before they are manufactured, TLC would be able to make their
production runs based on solid numbers, not estimates.
Alright everybody, that's my idea (sorry this was so long). Have at it.
Tim
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Idea for Bulk Ordering ANY current Lego piece
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| In lugnet.dear-lego, Timothy D. Freshly writes: Cool idea! (...) This might not be a problem if TLC allow bulk ordering to take up to 3% of piece A, and 5% of piece B etc. So however they distribute the excess is up to them? I don't think we'd make (...) (24 years ago, 21-Jan-00, to lugnet.dear-lego)
| | | Re: Idea for Bulk Ordering ANY current Lego piece
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| Why not even borrow from some of the large piece auctions that allow you to combine multiple winning bids into a shipment. Release the production schedule for 3 months and require all bulk orders come in at once. This allows TLC to have the info (...) (24 years ago, 22-Jan-00, to lugnet.dear-lego)
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