Fix Kit #2/6: Why the System is Broken
They Were Hiding Pallets From Us. And I Didn’t Even Know.
Turns out, the workaround behind the workaround was five metres off the ground.
It starts like a walk. Not a tour. Not an audit. Just a walk.
Guy calls it “getting his bearings.”
No clipboard. No checklist. No awkward pause where someone asks, “Should we be wearing safety goggles?”
Just quiet. And eyes that see more than they say.
I tag along halfway through the shift. Not because he asks me. Because I’m nosy. Because I want to know what he’s really looking for.
I’ve done my Mindstorming session. Said my piece. Thought I’d dumped enough truth into his AI-driven confessional box.
Turns out, I’m wrong.
The Warehouse Feels… Off
Same forklifts. Same racks. Same AS/400 interfaces humming like neglected vending machines.
But something’s different. Not the warehouse. Me.
Walking the floor with someone who doesn’t know where to look? It makes you see what you’ve stopped noticing.
I start talking. Filling the silence. Explaining things I assume he needs explained.
“That’s the supermarket buffer — it sits between the robot and the production line. Makes up for the fact the robot’s clever but picks like it’s nursing a hangover.”
He raises an eyebrow.
I double down. “It saves us a ton of space. But I wouldn’t be shocked if it forms a union and demands hazard pay.”
He half-smirks. Keeps walking.
Then he looks up.
Top shelf. Left bay. A half-open pallet. Way up.
“Why’s that one up there?” he asks.
I blink. Because I don’t know. I know it’s important stock. But I’ve never thought to ask why it’s parked in the clouds.
Before I can make something up, Joe walks by. Warehouse manager. Built like a brick wall. Says five words a day and each one matters.
He doesn’t break stride. Doesn’t even pause.
“If we leave it down low,” he says, “they’ll just take it before we’ve scanned it.”
And he’s gone.
That Hits Harder Than It Should
Take it. Not request it. Not issue a Kanban. Not raise a requisition.
Just… take.
Not out of malice. Out of necessity.
The line’s running. The part’s there. Someone grabs it. Because stopping the line isn’t an option.
And this? This is the countermeasure.
Put it out of reach. Out of sight. Only bring it down when the system says it’s time.
That’s not process. That’s survival.
And in that moment, I realise: We’re not optimising anything.
We’re hiding from our own habits. And losing.
The Workaround Behind the Workaround
Officially, the process looks like this:
- Components are pulled from the robotic store (AS/400)
- They’re placed in the supermarket buffer
- Production pulls them using Kanban
- Stock gets updated (eventually)
Reality?
- High-risk parts don’t go straight into the supermarket
- They go up top. Unlogged. Untouched.
- When the buffer drops to dangerously low levels, the good stuff gets lowered in
It’s not in the flowchart. But it’s gospel.
And no one talks about it. Not because it’s a secret. Because it’s normal.
The System’s Not Broken. It’s Blind.
AS/400 doesn’t track the top shelf. Our diagrams still say “Kanban replenishment.”
But the floor says: “Keep the good stuff where the operators can’t get cheeky.”
Why? Because if they take it early, the warehouse gets the blame.
Not sabotage. Just human. Just tired trust.
Didn’t Come Up in Mindstorming
Nobody mentions it. Not the planner. Not Joe. Not me.
Because we forget it’s a workaround. It became furniture. Invisible.
And suddenly? We’re designing solutions around fiction.
This Isn’t Config. It’s Culture.
The system isn’t failing. It’s just being lied to.
Not deliberately. Out of habit.
It thinks everything’s staged. Doesn’t know half the parts are in stealth mode on aisle 17.
We built a lie. And we called it process.
Trust? Long Gone.
- Warehouse doesn’t trust production to wait
- Production doesn’t trust stock to be right
- Nobody trusts that raising a hand won’t backfire
So they improvise. Until the improvisation becomes ritual. And the ritual becomes a blind spot.
That Walk Wakes Me Up
It’s not about pallets. It’s about what I missed.
I thought I knew our chaos. Turns out, I only knew the version people admitted to.
And now I’m wondering: What else is five metres up and out of sight?
The Fix? It Changes.
Not because we discover something new. But because we finally see what’s there.
That pallet? It’s not the problem. It’s the mirror.
And Here’s the Bit I Can’t Shake
If we hadn’t walked that day… If Guy hadn’t asked that one quiet question…
We’d have built another perfect rollout. On top of a lie.
Unintended. But still a lie.
Next? We get everyone in the room. We draw the diagram. And the minute we think we’re aligned… We find the loop again.
Because the real blocker? Isn’t a config bug. It’s a human habit no one’s named.
P.S. If your fix doesn’t match what people actually do — It’s not a fix. It’s a fantasy with cleaner font.
