Johann then went to the warehouse manager to see what was happening. ‘There
can’t be anything wrong here’, he was told. ‘Stocks have been climbing for the past
year, and last month they were at an all time high. In part, this is a deliberate deci-
sion, as I want to improve service levels to production. In part, though, stocks seem
to have just drifted upwards. Now we have high stocks of most items, but there are
still occasional shortages. These high stocks are causing me problems with space,
and are stretching my budget. I think that the blame lies in purchasing, who do not
order the amounts that we request.’