At the heart of operations is an information system which contains full
details of all Roger’s 500 customers, including their regular orders,
special orders, where to deliver, how they pay, and so on. Every day
the system calculates the likely sales of all products in two days time.
Roger adds some margin of safety, allows for likely variations and
passes his order to Unigate Dairy in Totnes in Devon (about 150 km
away). This Unigate depot acts as a wholesaler for milkmen in Wales
and the southwest of England. The following evening it delivers to a
holding depot in Camborne, and then takes Roger’s goods 10 km to a
cold store in Hayle. At 5.30 the following morning Roger collects the
order from his cold store and starts delivering to customers. This
normally takes until 1.30 in the afternoon, but on Fridays he spends
more time collecting money and often finishes after 5.00 pm.