Subject:
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Re: 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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Sat, 22 Jan 2000 02:30:07 GMT
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Viewed:
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1026 times
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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 needed to adjust runs, etc.
For that matter, why doesn't TLC just do the survey we all want to fill out, or
some AFOL theme-representatives, increase all production lines by the
percentages suggested by those mechanisms. If the estimates turn out high,
then "extras" could be remaindered into special hodge podge buckets, ala the
jumbalya activity going on in Lugnet. HodgePdges might go well as gifts, as
prizes. Plus, what an awesome family-focused item -- a 'set" that YOU ARE
MEANT TO SHARE!
And, look at what the collectable card games are able to do -- nobody knows
what is inside the wrapper and people will pay lots of money for the cards!
Jim Gowell
"Timothy D. Freshly" wrote:
> 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 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Idea for Bulk Ordering ANY current Lego piece
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| James Gowell <jgowell@umich.edu> wrote in message news:3889162F.926F64...ich.edu... (...) to (...) schedule (...) to (...) out, or (...) the (...) as (...) ARE (...) knows (...) cards! (...) Interesting "grab bag" idea. What I was getting at, (...) (25 years ago, 24-Jan-00, to lugnet.dear-lego)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Idea for Bulk Ordering ANY current Lego piece
|
| 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 (...) (25 years ago, 21-Jan-00, to lugnet.dear-lego)
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