ikea’s JIT warehouse system
While (for the Nth time) failing to find an item that Ikea’s website claimed was in stock, I asked a helpful staff member “Why?” and I finally got an answer. The floor works on a JIT deployment system, whereby just enough stock for the day is brought out overnight, depleted on the day, and re-filled again overnight with just the right amount to keep most customers happy until EOD. This works great for 90% of their customers, that 90% being the 90% that don’t arrive at the store an hour before closing time, which is of course my favourite time to shop in the giant warehouse. So, the moral of this story is: If you want to purchase something specific in Ikea, and the computer says it’s in stock, don’t wait until the end of the day. It’ll be in stock, but not on the floor, and you won’t find it. And the staff won’t get it, as they’re not allowed take things off the pallets until they’re in place.