# lack of inventory anywhere



## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Why should they? I don't keep them in my shop waiting for a customer to order one either. Or wrap around fluorescents , or troffers, or 3 phase tubs, or 1,000 ft spools of 500 kcmil.


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## telsa (May 22, 2015)

farmantenna said:


> since this is the Milbank forum let me complain about them and all suppliers
> 
> last winter I had to install a large 1200amp transfer switch in a small existing electrical room and the only way I found I could fit and interconnect everything was to use wireways and needed two 8x8 45 degree wireway sections to make an offset. There wasn't even one in the entire United States of America and they had to be manufactured. I think it was 3-4 weeks and each one was under $50. Now I realise these are probably seldomly ordered but even Milbank couldn't have a couple sitting around.


For a lay-in run like that I'd have ordered the common 8x8 [ perhaps larger ] gutter and used a full 90&90 turn to accelerate my build.

We order custom j-boxes [ as in cans large enough for a family of three ] with a delay of only four-days out here. We order such basics directly from a custom fab shop that caters to electrical needs.

Modern NEMA manufacturing has wholly abandoned warehousing finished goods. 

Dell established the new business model of only ever touching pre-sold if not pre-paid items.

Anyone using the old method of carrying finished goods will go under, wholly uncompetitive.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

We just have our metal custom made if we can't get it in a reasonable time.


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## Cow (Jan 16, 2008)

telsa said:


> We order custom j-boxes [ as in cans large enough for a family of three ] with a delay of only four-days out here. We order such basics directly from a custom fab shop that caters to electrical needs


Who do you use that gets it done in 3-4 days?


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## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

It's not just Milbank, it's everyone. No one stocks anything that doesn't move quickly these days. 

The problem is college educated MBAs who hire other educated idiot MBAs to do cost analysis and they arrive at the conclusion that shelf space costs a certain amount per square inch. Then they look at how quickly the product occupying said space moves and arrive at a profit per square inch. 

High profit stuff stays, low profit stuff is not stocked because other more profitable stuff will result in higher $$$ per square inch of shelf space. Then they can use smaller warehouses and fewer employees and executive management will receive larger bonuses. Nothing else matters.......

Milbank actually has one of the faster special order times. A couple of months ago, I worked on a machine tool that used 12AC as its control voltage. I needed 2 ice-cube relays, which I had on my van. Allen Bradleys lead time was 7 weeks.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Unless it's an "A" item, I am highly skeptical that I will find local inventory.

Remember "Just in Time" delivery? It meant that your product arrived just in time to miss a progress payment and you had to wait until the next billing cycle.


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

One needs to go back, maybe 25-30 yrs, to when our tax laws changed towards hammering inventory 

I can recall all the suppliers b*tching , subsequently not stocking anything that does not '_move_' since....

~CS~


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## Milbank_Christine (Apr 29, 2015)

Hello,
The items in stock at your local distributor are typically determined by that branch manager. As someone else mentioned, if it's not a popular/commonly sold item, they would likely not keep it in stock. If there is something you routinely have a hard time finding, I would definitely let the counter guys know so that they can hopefully accommodate you. Hope this helps!


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