Go Patrick Burne my old boss at Overstock.com today he was in DC lobbing for more clear and conscience taxes for small businesses and the e trade..

I was meaning to give a shout out to my old company for some time now, so here is a blog all about Oversock.com.   This was a great company to work for and their vision of customer service is still something to emulate.

I started with Overstock when it was Dealsdirect.com  or D2.com in 1999.  I was not payed very much when I fisrt started, however, I was able to gain some of the most rewarding experience of my then young carrer in logistics.  I later was given a good amount of stock in the company which made up for the leaner times.  Companies that are good or great are like this, they are really out there folks.

I was able to help bring Overstock public, I was instramental in the Portland operation to be sound enough to pass the rigorus process of becoming publicly owned.  I loved this oprotunity to be under such pressure to preform.  I would like to mention two people that were as much or in fact more instramental with regard to Overstock.com sucess.  Scott Stuart, and Chad Ferguson, these great men will always be good friends to me.

So go shop with a company that started with hard work, ethical practices, and a vision that the customer is still always right.  Thank you O.co for all that you have done for me.

There is a commercial from Nissan that has made me think long and hard about the issue of conservation, in particular with regards to energy and fossil fuels. There is a problem with the logic behind said commercial that I would like to blog about tonight.

There is of course problems with the energy sources that we currently use, however, the approach that we as a society have taken bewilder and confuse me somewhat.  Take this commercial that is airing currently on television.  It has a stance against fossil fules, it does pose a good question in that what if all things were to run on gasoline.  I am sure that most of us have seen this commercial.

Each time I see it though I do poke holes in overall logic of the Nissan Commercial, if we are to ever really conserve energy, we will have to come up with a renewable answer rather than the consumable fuels we have to use today.  Even if we all were to drive electric vechicles, there would still be the issue of where the actual electricity to run these vehicles comes from.  Today electricity mostly come from either, nuclear power, hydro power, and or coal respectively.

So really we are just trading one issue for another with regards to electric cars, yes I do understand that emissions does have an impact on the planet, however, that impact is less than the impact of digging for coal, having another Churnoble with nuclear power, or the damning effect litterally on the waterways with hydro electric power.

Look there is not a clear answer to this important issue, however, the alternatives have to be saught out.  If we just give up on the principle of irony, than we will truly loose out, or should I say our children will loose out.  Look at the commercial and see if this effects you the way that it did me.

Regards,

Terry Hatchett

I have often wondered how things get done at the Whitehouse when the President is off on the compaign trail.  I mean if I where to leave my post at my work for at least six months out of the year,  I would be fired, or at very least be so far behind that I would never be able to catch my self back up.

I am sure that his “aids” help while he is away, and I am sure that through modern day technology that he is well aware of what is going on in the United States, and abroad.   I am also sure that there are contingency plans in place for any emergency that the President himself would be able to act upon when needed.  The President is the most powerful person on the planet, let’s face it the Untied States despite the medias take, we are still a major player in the world economy, and a finacial trend setter.

Why the title.. Good question, what I meant by the title of this blog, is that we as citizens of  this country do not just elect a President, we also ellect his desissions with regard to the women/men that he surronds himself with.  What has Obama done, well for that matter what has any President really done for the past decade, they have done what is now the political way of doing things on the hill, and that is they get things done by influence, and with aids that are effectiveness in lobbyist.

So when we all go to the polls this next year, let us not only look at the so called track record of the President, let’s look even deeper into his decisions making with regard to whom he has chosen for his cabinet.  Obama’s cabnet is where the truth about Obama lies, there is where one will find the real President of these United States.

There have been many handhelds in the past few years, yet not all of the warehouses that pick product to ship use them.  More and more it is the time to step on to the data rich logisitcs picking train.  There are no excuses for any warehouse not to purchase what the industry call a RF unit.

Motorola as a company have made great developments the RF gun, they have made it eronomicly friendly, and affordable.   With these developments come very little risk, and much to be gained by streamlining the warehouse picking process.

Let me know if you have any questions about the RF unit of any make or model.

“A life lived with integrity – even if it lacks the trappings of fame and fortune is a shinning star in whose light others may follow in the years to come. “
Denis Waitley

I am going to blog about my son today, he is in the championship of his football league.  Nick is on the Reed Raiders and they are undefeated, it goes without saying that a win would be a great ending to a perfect season.

One thing to consider however, is the meaning of the game to my son.  This is the first time that he has ever played football.  There have been a lot of hard knocks for him, yet he has persevered and became stronger because of the experience.   I am  a football fanatic I must confess, and though I have thought at times to coerce my son into football, he has chosen this path himself.

I am proud of Nicholas, I do respect him for the efforts he has made in football.  He has proven this year that he has the resolve to complete a goal until the end, regardless of the consequences or lack of acknowledgement form either his coaches or teammates.  He does not even start at any one position, yet he  has embraced being there as apart of his team and has completed the season.

In today’s sports there is a sense of entitlement from the players, and the coaches in every sport.  There is a lust for being “perfect”, this is manifested in the way the that the players and coaches conduct themselves, one can see that the sports of today is actually far from perfect.  The record of a team to me is not as important as the integrity of the players and the coaches.  The latest scandal at Penn State reflects the overall trend of sports in this country, it has to do more with the Cash Flows, and protecting that flow more than the program  or itself.

I would like to thank  my son Nicholas Hatchett publicly for his dedication and commitment to his goals and not just to the sport of football.  We need more Nicholas’ of the world, and less of what we have currently being represented in our sports.

To conserve is not just a new and trendy idea, it has been a good business model to reuse as much capital as possible to help the bottom line.  I was looking at my Redbox cases, and also the Netflix system of shipping, I thought why not use this same principle for retail shipments?

Currently many companies use for their inter company shipment plastic collapsible boxes.  I do not know of any retail site like Overstock , or Amazon doing the same for customer shipments.  Think of it, building a box that could be used over and over again, then recycled when the life of the box has taken its course. Again this is not a new concept yet one that has not been adapted to be used to ship the frequent shipments to the end user.

The issues of making such a bold move to reusable boxes to ship for retail are cost, size limitation, and reverse logistics to retrieve said box to reship.  Costs are coming down not only due to the horrible economy, but the “green” idea has taken hold, as a trend becomes a norm then prices come down.  Plus there would have to be some sort of “Green Credit” to the company that started this concept.  Size could be solved by understanding what popular dimension of one product is, then merely use one size for many products. Plus the plastic totes are much easier to stack and load, they are stronger than corrugate.  Reverse logistics would not be that hard to do, a charge would be related to the shipment sent, and said charge would be reversed as soon as these collapsible boxes where returned by the customer.

Logistics is the platform to make real change with regard to conservation, after all we as logistics professionals believe in being efficient.

Conservation does it belong in Logistics?  Let me know..

Terry Hatchett

“Today, the biggest challenge we must meet is the one we present to ourselves. To not become a nation that places entitlement ahead of accomplishment. To not become a country that places comfortable lies ahead of difficult truths. To not become a people that thinks so little of ourselves that we demand no sacrifice from each other.”
Chris Christie

Last weekend I went to a parade in Carson City Nevada to watch my daughter JROTC Navy corp march.  Sadly this is not the point of this blog, what I saw there is many people wearing tee shirts with “I’m am one of the 99%” on them, what was this, what point were these people trying to make with these tee shirts?

What I have found, is that the supposed 99% are all the rest of us that do not occupy the top 1 percent of the nations wealth.  This movement “We are the 99 percent“, in essence, is a forum for college students and the like to complain about the corruption of the current financial system here in America.  Apparently these people are fed up with not getting their just rewards for hard work, and obtaining an education with no clear prospects of that education paying off for them.

I am not one of the 99 percent, not because I am  ”wealthy”, I have five children and am going to school full time as an adult, I to have difficulties taking care of my family but there is a difference between me and these 99 ers. The difference is that I know that I have all the opportunity to make a go at making money in this country, I have already accomplished this feat without a degree, it can be done. I choose to earn a degree, a degree should not be an entitlement, is has to be earned or it will loose the intrinsic value of the degree.  I love this country, I beleive that the people of the 99 percent movement love it too, in their own way, I know and understand that  they are frustrated, however, they are going about fighting this issue all wrong, they are coming off as brats that want it now or else, they are only feeding the perception that entitlements are a human right, and this just is not so.  The opportunity to create entitlements for one self is a human right.

I have lived abroad and we are not by far the most corrupt country.  This is not to say that we do not have our problem, we do; the political system is a joke, we as a country are in debt up to our ears, and we suffer from a sickness or epidemic of entitlement.

I am not one of the 99percent for one reason, because I am grateful for the opportunity that is afforded me in this country to succeed.  Patience is a virtue that is lost on the new generation, everything must pay off now, they have to be successful now, they have to be wealthy now, this is a problem that will continue until the youth of this country realize that hard work is the real reward, not the dividends that are payed or not payed to the one who performs the work.

Let me know what you think about this movement “the 99 percent”

Terry Hatchett

Well it is Friday, once again, and I get to pick a random topic to blog about.  This is a “get to” for me, so today, I will speak to a topic that I love, and that love is FOOD.  Is there anything better in life but when you find that one restaurant that brings you home.  You know just like the scene in Disney Pixar film Ratatouille, where the critic is transported back to his home with one taste of the food given him.

I had this same real life experience here in Reno, I must admit Reno has not been so kind to me with regard to food.  Don’t get me wrong there is good food in town but you do have to search for great food.  I know that I have found it in the 5th Street Bakehouse.

The day that I discovered this small yet potent gem, was last Tuesday, I was getting the old van lube oiled and filtered, when with a non sellout, yet earnest suggestion from the service writer about this place, he stated that the employees would frequent it and that I should go while the car was being serviced.  The service writer earned his stripes with this suggestion.  I know that I will have my vehicle serviced there from now on, just on the mere fact that he recommended this restaurant. (Yes it is that good)

I had what was called the California breakfast sandwich, it had egg whites, avocado, tomato, ham, Monterrey jack on a homemade focaccia bread.  When I say fresh I mean that mornings batch, all for a perfect price of $4.25.  All indigence where fresh and actually good for me, this combination is rare to find indeed.  I was so impressed by my simple yet sumptuous meal, that I also had to have a multi-grained apple muffin.  Please if you are in Reno GO!!! I know that I will be going again…

What are your favorites in your town let me know.

5th street Bakery

Many in management may think that managing a smaller group, lets say 5 to 20 employees is easier than a larger group of hundreds.  This is actually a false assumption, if one thinks of the numbers, when a single employee is out of work for whatsoever reason, the effect is immediate and severe for the company.

Absence of an employee is a huge issue with a small number of employees, and for good reason.  If as a manager you have only 5 employees and one is missing from work, that is 1/5 of your work force gone, that is 1/5 of production gone all day.  Invariably as the manager, you will have to step in and perform said duties of that employee that has gone missing.  This not only puts a stress on production, because let’s face it as a manager one is not as practiced at the employees job as the employee who perform his/her duty everyday.  Not to mention that your tasks of the day is all but sacrificed the entire day.

Another issue with such a small number of employees, is that the interpersonal relationships are strained much sooner.  The environment is much like a family dynamic, quarrels come easier, each employee much more personal knowledge of the other. In fact they probably know entirely too much about each other, of instance each others wages, their home-life, and most damaging the employees become much more dependent on each other for their work well-being.

I am not saying to avoid small companies or small work groups, after all  small groups accomplish goals effectivley as do large groups.  What I am saying is to not fall into the trapings of “size” when it comes to managming a group of people.

Have you ever managed a small company, I would like to hear your experinces with this.

Terry Hatchett