GW Stock / IT System Issues

[Joe]

 

Alchemists Workshops have put up a post on Twitter flagging the on-going issues with Geedub's new automated stock-picking system. These issues have been on-going for a while, however speaking to a friend it seems as if there was a massive IT failure in the last week or so that's left it temporarily unavailable; they've apparently pulled staff in over the weekend to try and resolve it ASAP. These issues are compounded by on-going drama with various couriers in the UK at the moment, so even if your order is picked and sent out there's no guarantee it'll actually arrive - issues that've been affected both Geedub and third-party stores left, right and centre.

 

Speaking from experience; automated stock-picking systems can be a pain in the backside. They do, unfortunately, become necessary the larger a business grows, the major downside being that when something inevitably breaks it can disrupt the entire chain.

[WrathOfTheLion]

Unrelated to the UK stock, the Memphis warehouse in the US also had to shut down a week or so ago, due to a large ice storm. So a lot of stuff is also delayed in the US.

[skylerboodie]

AW put more details on a post on their website:

 

"Games Workshops Continued Delivery Issues

 

by Gavin Henning

 

February 10th, 2023 No comments

 

To our valued AW Customers

 

I unfortunately have to put a post here to inform the wider Community of
amazing hobbyists that you are that Games Workshop since moving warehouses at the start of the year is having delivery issues. Now this is a post we did not want to have to put up here or on social media but we have had our hand forced due to Games Workshops refusal to acknowledge this issue and to be transparent with you via outlets such as the Community Team and site. When asked to do this to not only support ourselves but every independent store we were flatly told that is not what it’s for.

 

As most of you are aware we get two deliveries a week from Games Workshop
one being a pre-order delivery for the weekend and the other being a restock
order for general stock. For the pre-order delivery it is supposed to be here with us by Wednesday at the latest as we do pay it in advance to get this to occur as it allows ourselves to check stock is undamaged and pack your pre-orders in a timely fashion to limit mistakes etc and the Restock is supposed to be here by Friday at the latest to allow us to replenish the store over the weekend and fulfil any backordered orders. Since this move this has not been the case with the pre-orders arriving on Fridays if we are lucky before 1pm causing a mad rush to make sure they get out on time for the delivering from date of Saturday. This has been compounded by it arriving along with the restock meaning ourselves as a small family business have had to work 12 hours a day 7 days a week to maintain normal service for you all.

 

As of this week this is not the case with only after asking to speak to a manager to find out a firm commitment if we would get our pre-orders this week, we were told sometime next week and to basically put a disclaimer up stating basically what you are reading now. We as a business find this unacceptable in that we must be put in the firing line for an issue that is not of our own making. In terms of this week’s restock we having luckily been told that it will be here on Tuesday next week.

 

Finally, going forward we feel it only right to be open and honest with you in that we cannot guarantee Games Workshop deliveries will be on time for both normal orders and pre-orders due to their own internal issues with this warehouse move. We will as always try to let you know as much as possible and work as hard as we can to get orders out for when they should but this doesn’t look likely to be the case for some time until they resolve their warehouse issues.

 

I apologies for any inconvenience this may cause you amazing people and I hope it will not make you question your faith and confidence in us as a business to deliver your hobby needs.

 

Kindest Regards

The Manager"

[MithrilForge]

GW…

uh we have sorting and shipping problems!… um…. Just ignore it and say nothing… remember Cursed City!?.. 

yeah ??!.. 

just act like , don’t say anything to anyone … and the problem will go away 

 

yay ! … for GW 

 

M 

[Joe]

To be fair, with Cursed City they couldn't say anything without throwing another company under the bus; that's just bad business. The only acknowledgement we ever got through an official channel was a short remark in the investor report that there had been some issues with producing the necessary materials, compounded by shipping issues at the time.

 

If the issues are purely on your own end then it's easier to address them with a public statement; the moment another company comes into the picture it becomes much more complicated. I wouldn't be surprised if whatever system they use at the warehouse for automated-picking is out on contract rather than internally supplied.

[Halandaar]

I know of at least one other smaller FLGS in the UK that just didn't get their World Eaters stock at all, so this isn't an isolated incident.

 

Edit - Somebody also shared a post in the Sky Hunters thread that The Outpost has a similar issue where their World Eaters items were either only partially delivered or not delivered at all.

Edited February 11, 2023 by Halandaar

[No Foes Remain]

Dark Sphere got alloted naff all of today's pre-orders and they went almost instantly, and they have no idea when they'll get more or how many.

[Joe]

Our local Geedub didn't get anything that was due to release this week; however, that's been a recurring theme recently. I haven't been able to check with our LGS as they've been unable to open today due to what I can only describe as "everything that could possibly go wrong going wrong."

[sarabando]

one guy order some NL transfers and was sent signed angron art, contacted GW adn was sent more art as a replacement by mistake 3 times ! XD 

[Axineton]

Good on Alchemists Workshop for sticking up for themselves. Just hope they don’t get shafted by GW for highlighting the problem that is probably very embarrassing for them. But if they just came out and were honest they’d get more sympathy from customers. 

Edited February 11, 2023 by Axineton

[Special Officer Doofy]

I'm sure the issues will be resolved by March 6th 

[sarabando]

24 minutes ago, Special Officer Doofy said:

I'm sure the issues will be resolved by March 6th 

honestly i wouldnt be surprised if it all magically fixed itself on the 7th. 

[MithrilForge]

Sorry for my ignorance but is that the date when all the new price hikes take effect or something  ?!?… 

 

M. 

[sarabando]

5 minutes ago, Mumeishi said:

Sorry for my ignorance but is that the date when all the new price hikes take effect or something  ?!?… 

 

M. 

yes it is. 

 

 

Also good to see GW made sure all the influencers managed to get their minis ahead of everyone again

[Ramell]

That's what happens when you use abominable intelligences rather than proper servitors.

[Lord_Ikka]

From what I've heard through various Discord and store sources, GW originally was planning on having the whole warehouse automated, but ran into some issues. So they split the warehouse in half  between automated and human service sections- automated section handles preorders while the human section is handling restocking. The human section has been working overtime to get the restocking portion of the warehouse running smoothly from whatever issue happened when they originally tried to convert everything to automation.

[OttoVonAwesome]

Never trust the Abominable Intelligences. They should know better.

[Redcomet]

The store I usually buy from has stopped giving release dates for GW stuff. They only give a release month. 

[Kurgan the Lurker]

On 2/11/2023 at 5:10 AM, WrathOfTheLion said:

Unrelated to the UK stock, the Memphis warehouse in the US also had to shut down a week or so ago, due to a large ice storm. So a lot of stuff is also delayed in the US.

Local Warhammer store manager told me yesterday, they are building a second shipping warehouse in Dallas (their primary training hub) to facility faster deliveries in the States.

For the WE release (at my local Warhammer store) if you ordered some of the new stuff, your order showed up and was handed over yesterday in store. If you ordered everything it is still in transit. 

[WrathOfTheLion]

2 hours ago, Kurgan the Lurker said:

Local Warhammer store manager told me yesterday, they are building a second shipping warehouse in Dallas (their primary training hub) to facility faster deliveries in the States.

For the WE release (at my local Warhammer store) if you ordered some of the new stuff, your order showed up and was handed over yesterday in store. If you ordered everything it is still in transit. 

I didn't know about the Dallas warehouse location, I might ask my store owner about it.

 

Mine was less consistent than that, although I think a second shipment of WE stuff should be in like tomorrow, which is unfortunate as the store doesn't open until Wednesday.

 

The Southeast in particular has been hit by quite a bit of shipment issues over the past year or so, which is weird considering Tennessee isn't that far away.

[templargdt]

Been noticing ongoing supply chain/logistics issues everywhere I look.  I ordered a product this month with a 3 day deliver timeline (US origin) and it ended up taking 11 days.  I've talked to several business leaders I know who have given up on JIT production and are maintaining deeper inventory stocks.  Doesn't seem to be really helping if that's nationwide, as I assume it is.  

I keep hearing "it will sort itself out" in plenty of industries I follow but we're well into 2023 now and... it's still a huge problem.  We just had a massive freight train disaster in Ohio for some reason, and oh by the way it was an enormous chemical load and the EPA decided to go with a controlled burn of the chem load.  Animals all in the area are now dropping dead. 

 

It certainly feels like the logistics system in the US simply broke under the weight of COVID and the lockdowns, and now we can't get the trains to run on time (pardon the pun.)  

[Dont-Be-Haten]

Well I wanted a couple more contemptors from FW cause FOMO. Was only Able to grab the Ksons ones.

 

I hope the Raven Guard one isn't completely unavailable/no longer available but probably my luck.

[Harleqvin]

On 2/12/2023 at 5:32 PM, templargdt said:

Been noticing ongoing supply chain/logistics issues everywhere I look.  I ordered a product this month with a 3 day deliver timeline (US origin) and it ended up taking 11 days.  I've talked to several business leaders I know who have given up on JIT production and are maintaining deeper inventory stocks.  Doesn't seem to be really helping if that's nationwide, as I assume it is.  

I keep hearing "it will sort itself out" in plenty of industries I follow but we're well into 2023 now and... it's still a huge problem.  We just had a massive freight train disaster in Ohio for some reason, and oh by the way it was an enormous chemical load and the EPA decided to go with a controlled burn of the chem load.  Animals all in the area are now dropping dead. 

 

It certainly feels like the logistics system in the US simply broke under the weight of COVID and the lockdowns, and now we can't get the trains to run on time (pardon the pun.)  

Yeah. The train wreck sucks. It's like 40 minutes NE of where my mom lives and a bunch of my pals who are in that section of NEOhio are complaining about a number of things beyond pets, and live stock dying...
And least we not forget about how the guy Trump let get in charge of the USPS that removedbunch of sorting equipment and such ( only barely going to touch on the fact that that guy also has assets in/with UPS...,) which didn't help at all...

 

[Jolemai]

"Mail Order Necrons" doesn't have the same ring to it 

[Dark Shepherd]

Havent they been quietly saying in all the investor repports that theyre having a massive IT issue upgrading their system esp stock control and dont know how to fix it and the problem has been growing legs?