Free Second Intention by Anthony Venner Page A

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    I spent most of the day catching up on things, and trying to get ahead of my normal weekly schedule, just in case I was going to get the time off, and just in case the Madrid stock run was going to go ahead. Keith seemed to think everything was going to be fine, but then he always does. One of life’s eternal optimists, he takes the view that things will work out okay if everybody wants it to.
    We go back quite a long way, and he ’s been in the business for years. We get on very well, and I am also flattered that he seems to trust my judgement implicitly, which is largely due to an innovation I pulled off shortly after my promotion to purchasing manager three years back.
    Whenever the levels of an item in our warehouse fell below a set quantity, we would automatically re-order from our suppliers to get the levels back up to the maximum.  I had noticed that our buyers were always re-ordering stock items at the full amount, which worked out fine if usage was constant, but took no account of seasonal fluctuations in production, since there are some products we make more of in the winter than in the summer. On several occasions we had actually run out by the time the deliveries were made, which is an absolute disaster for the production line, whilst there were other times when the warehouse would try to take delivery of a full level of stock items, while the shelves were only two-thirds empty and we had nowhere to put it all.
    The system I came up with was nothing particularly magical, but it did work. We merely looked back at past usage and the lead time from our suppliers, and anticipated what we would need by the time the delivery was made. When the trucks finally rolled in they would be carrying almost exactly what we needed to get our shelves filled at the right level - nothing over, nothing under. It was simple, it was efficient, it was a darned sight more interesting for our buyers to get involved in, and it made me something of a hero with our warehouse staff overnight.
    I tried to catch up with Douglas again before leaving that evening, just to see if I could get some sort of answer from him, but Marion told me he’d been out all afternoon and wouldn’t be in until the morning. No, she added, he hadn’t said anything about my request. I’d have to ask him again tomorrow.
    Bugger.
    I really wanted to get my entry in and book the flights.
     
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    I got home to an empty house that evening. I had completely forgotten that Sue was going to be working late and making plans for the forthcoming exhibition with Amy, the long term friend with whom she shared ownership of the gallery. They would be getting a take away and I probably wouldn’t get to see her until gone nine.
    I toyed with the idea of going for a run, but my legs were still feeling the effects of my efforts at Oxford, and I wanted to be on form for my lesson with Phil at the club the next day. Instead, I took the other healthy option and opened a bottle of  Rioja, carrying it, with a wine glass, through to the study.
    Yeah, I know, I ’m a serious athlete in training, but the ability to unwind after a busy day is essential in maintaining my wellbeing.
    The organisers of the tournament in Copenhagen had a very helpful website which told me all I needed to know, and I was relieved to find the closing date for entries wasn ’t for another few days. So, I could make do without an answer from Douglas on that score at least, but what was it going to cost to book the flights and hotel so close to the event?
    If all went to plan, and I was allowed the time off, we could fly out to Denmark on the Thursday, spend Friday unwinding and getting to find our way around, compete on Saturday, go sightseeing on the Sunday and fly back on Monday afternoon.
    Phil reckons