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So GW could have been developing a cloud base software or app and be in the stage of having all the content of its server moved there?

Conjecture aparts, happy to learn something

this whole thing looks tricky at first but isn't really
like a full week downtime for manual check is way too long as usually companies with that amount of stock or large warehouses split single days over several weeks
like the company I work for has 2-3 days maximum downtime for the yearly check, but it still takes a month until we are done because not everything is down at the same time but only a section that can be checked within days and the rest is still operating

also chancel shipping during that is not common because this also means holding production (if for the manual check nothing can go out to avoid problems you also don't want to get anything in as well)
and experienced workers usually know how to handle an ongoing production during such checks

yet with a new (single) warehouse and a new (single) ERP system, making a full reset and check everything once is also not unusual or unexpected
also keep in mind that the ERP system change started in 2018/19 and was finalised with the new webshop so this might be the final step of the process to clean things up (and with one system to rule it all, everything being down is a necessary evil)


So nothing special or to worry about is this very much in line with the system change finally coming to an end

it will be more interesting if it takes longer than the planned week

 SirDonlad wrote:
So, about a month ago GW had a job listing for a data engineer with some specific requirements on experience that caught my eye.

They specified the selected candidate would be responsible for transferring the digital side of their operation from their on site servers to a cloud-based operation and they would also have to do a report on the physical sites existing network access capabilities and the nessecary upgrade path for the new cloud based system.

So i think this downtime is the shift into GWs entire sales system operating via 'the cloud'.

If they only had the job listing a month ago, I'd be really worried about them executing such a migration at the end of this month - that feels like way too short a window to do something like that safely/properly.

 Dysartes wrote:

 SirDonlad wrote:
So, about a month ago GW had a job listing for a data engineer with some specific requirements on experience that caught my eye.

They specified the selected candidate would be responsible for transferring the digital side of their operation from their on site servers to a cloud-based operation and they would also have to do a report on the physical sites existing network access capabilities and the nessecary upgrade path for the new cloud based system.

So i think this downtime is the shift into GWs entire sales system operating via 'the cloud'.

If they only had the job listing a month ago, I'd be really worried about them executing such a migration at the end of this month - that feels like way too short a window to do something like that safely/properly.

That strongly depends on if the position was “real” or one of those “you have to advertise externally to make it fair” positions that only existed on paper because they already promoted the person who was doing the job internally.

 Flinty wrote:

That as may be, but they appear to have managed this in the past without shutting their whole mail order business down for a week.

Don’t get me wrong, I hope that this is the silver bullet that will stop the terrible service stories that regularly do the rounds, but the announcement remains remarkably low key for such a unique event.

Unless this is a vision of what is to come every quarter.

From industry experience I can say that this is a pretty common following a large scale deployment like the new warehouse / stocking system they apparently launched in the second half of last year. The drawback to having software which tracks the specific locations for millions of pieces of stock is that it requires a lot of transactions to happen in a specific order. For example:
1) Newly cast sprues are delivered from production
2) Packaging delivered from printer
3) Sprues & packaging issued to packing department
4) Fully packed item sent to sales warehouse
5) Packed products issued to both trade & regular customers via hundreds of transactions, in widely varying quantities from single boxes to full cartons

Any disruptions to that sequence results in stock not being found where it's 'supposed' to be, and time-consuming manual stock checks to find what where the items actually went. Even if the system works flawlessly from a technical perspective (which is pretty rare at first launch) you also need to have staff trained and able to understand & follow the new process, and that's often the hardest part. In practice many users just do not want to deal with unexpected issues, and if they don't have clear guidance the intended process will simply stop. They can be trying to ship a box of marines to a customer that doesn't yet exist on the system, because the packing department couldn't complete their operation.

Most likely GW has spent the last several months correcting their stock processes via both technical changes & training. However while this happens transactions are constantly being performed (or not) every day, and the list of issues continues to grow. The system will have significant numbers of items listed at incorrect locations, and the only solution to that is a stock take. With recurring issues and their fiscal year end approaching in May/June, GW may also have been advised from their accounting auditor that a stock take is required in order to ensure they are reporting accurate balance sheet figures. Given the timing that seems quite likely to be the case.

Performing a stock take in a 'live' warehouse is a fairly tricky operation by itself, requiring more experience and discipline to avoid bottlenecks and not hold up shipping targets. For a brand new system with inexperienced staff, a full shut down may often a better solution to ensure everyone fully understands the new stock take process and can run them efficiently. Once that has happened, rolling checks can be implemented for smaller ranges of items throughout the year without further shutdowns.

 kodos wrote:
this whole thing looks tricky at first but isn't really
like a full week downtime for manual check is way too long as usually companies with that amount of stock or large warehouses split single days over several weeks
like the company I work for has 2-3 days maximum downtime for the yearly check, but it still takes a month until we are done because not everything is down at the same time but only a section that can be checked within days and the rest is still operating

It's worth noting that the week they've picked happens to be both a UK bank holiday (most businesses are closed on the Monday) and also school half-term when it's popular for families to travel on holiday. GW may be expecting to operate with reduced / temporary staffing that week, as well as having slightly fewer UK customers at home to ship to.

Other random one?

Couple of years back, there was some pretty major theft going on from the warehouse. Not box of troops here, sprue there. We’re talking expensive Forgeworld Kits ending up on eBay en-massed, for less than retail.

The Eldar Collectors coin was included in that, turning up on eBay and trading pages despite the fact it hadn’t been sent to stores - and as a result, never was in the UK (recently found out some were in-store in the US).

So it could be part and parcel of that. With everything now presumably in place with the ERP (something I know exists, but I’ve no personal clue what it actually does) a big old stock take is being done, not just to establish what’s where, ensure it’s now where it should’ve been all along, but also understand what’s completely vanished from stock.

Aeldari coins for the US weren't until relatively recently. No fanfare, no announcement just showed up in-store.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Other random one?

Couple of years back, there was some pretty major theft going on from the warehouse. Not box of troops here, sprue there. We’re talking expensive Forgeworld Kits ending up on eBay en-massed, for less than retail.

The Eldar Collectors coin was included in that, turning up on eBay and trading pages despite the fact it hadn’t been sent to stores - and as a result, never was in the UK (recently found out some were in-store in the US).

So it could be part and parcel of that. With everything now presumably in place with the ERP (something I know exists, but I’ve no personal clue what it actually does) a big old stock take is being done, not just to establish what’s where, ensure it’s now where it should’ve been all along, but also understand what’s completely vanished from stock.

If I recall right that was theft due to a sewage leak. A bunch of GW stock got marked as contaminated and set for disposal and that was presumed to be where the thieves got it. Instead of disposing of it in the skip they took it home to sell on. I think that's how they got a whole load of it without it being spotted because it wasn't in the normal chain of distribution. They marked it as going to the skip and then just likely hid it in their cars. As long as the skip looked pretty full chances are no one would have noticed if they'd not put the whole lot on ebay in one big go (and had things like the Eldar coin which were entirely unique at the time and thus no chance of getting them through any channels other than criminal).

That I honestly don’t know.

But if there’s perhaps a prosecution, a thorough stock take could also be used to ascertain exact losses, and ensure that if the sewage damage thing was a How, that it’s not the only stuff they pinched?

All just spitballing of course!

So long as we're doing Wild Mass Guessing...

Maybe it's time for an end to the old GW branding and henceforth everything will be branded Warhammer?

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
So long as we're doing Wild Mass Guessing...

Maybe it's time for an end to the old GW branding and henceforth everything will be branded Warhammer?

i don't think it'll go away entirely as long as the company is still called GW, but considering the web store switched names recently, i think that's very likely

Already happened.

Pic is a box of a very recent release. No mention of Games Workshop anywhere. Warhammer and Citadel Miniarures? Yes. But not Games Workshop.

I'm so good I was already right!

 Dysartes wrote:

If they only had the job listing a month ago, I'd be really worried about them executing such a migration at the end of this month - that feels like way too short a window to do something like that safely/properly.

Given the current job listings and the candidate requirements from the first id say it was a real one, not advertised because of a legality. They wanted someone with previous successful experience of server-migration.

Currently they have three of interest, two of which are relevant here.

1. Data Engineering Manager - this is for the person who takes over from the last listing i brought up.

Spoiler:

Reporting into the Group IT Manager we are looking for an experienced individual to partner with the rest of the business and lead a team of Management Information Professionals and Database Administrators, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture within the data engineering team. With a strong ability to navigate through complexity and ambiguity you will develop and execute a comprehensive strategy for migrating the existing on-prem Microsoft technology stack to a cloud–based Azure capability, whilst evaluating and selecting appropriate tools and services within the Azure ecosystem to optimise performance and scalability

Ensuring you know what good data looks like and being an expert in your field you will monitor and optimise the performance of databases and MI systems to ensure efficient and reliable data processing.

As we are a vertically integrated organisation you will be working across multiple areas of the business, so your commercial acumen and ability to understand key business drivers within a complex business setting will be key, always ensuring that information flows seamlessly across the organisation.

You will relish the opportunity of implementing best practices for data governance, security and compliance ensuring that data management aligns with regulatory requirements whilst working against the backdrop of significant change activity

We know it is challenging to always ensure that all stakeholders both internally and externally are kept informed of what is happening on a regular basis but this is pivotal in ensuring the success of this global change initiative.

The ideal candidate will have experience with Data Lakes, Warehouses and Factories, preferably in an Azure technology landscape along with technical expertise regarding data models, database design development, data mining and segmentation techniques

2. Stock Provision and Write-Off Analyst

Spoiler:

We have an exciting new opportunity for a talented, focussed person to work closely with our Merchandising and Finance teams to run the monthly stock review and provision process, working to agreed deadlines and able to highlight risks to target.

You will complete and circulate write off forms for authorisation within the management team, and ensure a clear critical path so that deadlines set by the business for provision and write off updates are met. You will also set clear schedules and phasing for provision and write off activity, working with finance to agree these frameworks.

You will report on key risks to provision and write off, working with business partners to mitigate those risks and ensuring they are cleared in a timely fashion.

We are looking for someone who can work independently, is always looking to improve ways of working and is able to drive those solutions to completion where possible.

So they do monthly stock takes at the GW warehouse... ?

 StudentOfEtherium wrote:

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
So long as we're doing Wild Mass Guessing...
Maybe it's time for an end to the old GW branding and henceforth everything will be branded Warhammer?

i don't think it'll go away entirely as long as the company is still called GW

how many people are calling the company operating Google by its company name and not the brand name? (or Facebook, Instagram etc)

they have already achieved that with most of the people who come into the hobby the last years, this is the Warhammer Hobby were you buy Warhammer models, paint with Warhammer colours and you can buy everything in the Warhammer store and read the Warhammer lore and everything is part of the Warhammer community, which is also the name of the main marketing site

telling the new fans you are going to the GW store or found things at the GW website just make you look like you are not part of the community

Eh there's enough oldguard and references that Games Workshop is still a perfectly valid title. Plus GW only makes Warhammer and Lord of the Rings and the latter is very heavily undermarketed.

So right now Warhammer and GW are fairly interchangeable terms when talking about the company.


Now perhaps all this rebranding adjustment GW is doing is to allow them to start using the GW company to invest into other major brands. So they are cleaning house and making sure Warhammer is one solid identifiable and marketed brand.

The other reason is likely just making branding simpler. Instead of marketing GW and Warhammer as brands they are just doing the one - Warhammer. Especially as GW are pushing their brand hard into other markets - video games, tv, merch - so having one single brand to push out works well for getting more and more awareness.



So yeah give it a few more decades and we might all just call it Warhammer

It’s not so much us. It’s the regular Joe’s. The parents and grandparents who mostly recognise the brand name, not the company that owns the brand.

 SirDonlad wrote:


So they do monthly stock takes at the GW warehouse... ?

Smaller stock takes are a day-to-day part of pretty much every warehouse. It's common practice to monitor some items more than others, or to have rolling monthly checks for a select section. Many businesses will also have a shortlist of critical items & components that are constantly monitored to prevent bottlenecks before they happen. In GW's case I would expect that list to include items such as paint pots (which are made in-house), shipping boxes, or the generic 'warhammer' brand packaging they use when they run out of model-specific boxes.

Stock reviews are a process to keep stock from getting out of control. They'll want to ensure old products with little chance of selling (like those old Dominion sets) get written off, as this takes up valuable shelf space and also has an accounting & tax impact.

It's not going to be an IT/Cloud change, because:
It'll take easily 4+months to hire someone (a 3 month notice period is pretty common).
Once hired, you'd expect them to take a few months to analyze the old system and work on a new system.
If it's a local to cloud changeover with the same hardware, it's possible to do the transition in an overnight. Over simplified you just need to copy the data to the cloud and update the code to use the cloud. Both systems would have been running in parallel for a while.


Ditto a simple stock take - you don't need to shut a warehouse for a week. Just do a rack a night.

It's more likely to be for mechanical or building upgrades/maintenance. Like you couldn't replace a roof whilst the warehouse is running, it'd be a health and safety nightmare and any rain would ruin the stock. Ditto stuff like replacing the fire suppression systems, electrical wiring etc.

Anyone remember what the last 'official' mention of the warehouse robots / automated picking was? IIRC they'd deployed it in one part of one warehouse but it wasn't working well...

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Already happened.

Pic is a box of a very recent release. No mention of Games Workshop anywhere. Warhammer and Citadel Miniarures? Yes. But not Games Workshop.

Isn't there legal text on any of the box sides or ends? That would be where Games Workshop or GW would most likely appear. Not that this is likely to have anything at all to do with a warehouse closure…

Greenfield wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Already happened.

Pic is a box of a very recent release. No mention of Games Workshop anywhere. Warhammer and Citadel Miniarures? Yes. But not Games Workshop.

Isn't there legal text on any of the box sides or ends? That would be where Games Workshop or GW would most likely appear. Not that this is likely to have anything at all to do with a warehouse closure…

I checked my only Legions Imperials box. There's a small "Manufactured by Games Workshop Limited" on the side, under a Warhammer logo, plus some copyright/trademark text with Games Workshop in it. No GW logo that I could see.

 Flinty wrote:

 Grot 6 wrote:

beast_gts wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Wow! Their system is so broken its going to need a whole week shutdown to try and fix!

Or they're doing a manual stock check.

^THIS.
I used to work in a logistics field. It's Standards and Practice to not always rely on the numbers, and go inventory the stock for yourself, every Quarter. It was pretty much a nonissue, because of the joys of technology.

That as may be, but they appear to have managed this in the past without shutting their whole mail order business down for a week.

Don’t get me wrong, I hope that this is the silver bullet that will stop the terrible service stories that regularly do the rounds, but the announcement remains remarkably low key for such a unique event.

Unless this is a vision of what is to come every quarter.

I would expect that it also has to do with the numbers changes and a upgrade on the system they are using for their logistics management. The losses and additions from the Combat Patrol to the larger army boxed product is a substantial upgrade.

Add in the added bonus of the price hikes, and it will be a QA/QC nightmare for the forseeable future.

Yes, with the other announcement this week, clearly the answer is that they are taking that week to put the new price tags on all the boxes.

 Mr_Rose wrote:
Yes, with the other announcement this week, clearly the answer is that they are taking that week to put the new price tags on all the boxes.

...lol, the price tags are done in store?