Inventory & Operations Notes

Overview

Doodlers' fulfillment operations are constrained by a key personnel bottleneck: Jason handles both crop combining (harvesting) and product packing. This dual role creates scheduling conflicts that can delay order fulfillment and put Amazon inventory levels — and organic rankings — at risk.

Harvest Delays

As of early December 2025, not all crops had been brought in. Combining in winter conditions is weather-dependent:

Cold enough to combine: Snow stays frozen and passes through the combine as dust — workable.
Too warm: Snow melts inside the combine, gums up the machinery, and forces the crop out the back as waste.

The narrow window of "cold enough but not too cold" means harvest timing is unpredictable and Jason's availability for packing can shift with little warning.

Jason's Dual Role

Jason is the primary person responsible for both:
1. Combining / harvesting remaining crops from the field
2. Packing and fulfillment of product orders (e.g., for Amazon FBA shipments)

When harvest demands his attention, packing timelines slip. He may need one to two weeks' notice to fulfill a packing request, rather than the 24–48 hours one might assume.

Inventory Strategy: Smaller, More Frequent Orders

To avoid stockouts — particularly on fast-moving SKUs like blue cornmeal — the recommended approach is:

Request smaller quantities more frequently (e.g., 2 pallets at a time) rather than large batch orders (e.g., 10 pallets at once).
Build in 1–2 weeks of lead time when placing replenishment requests.
Monitor stock levels proactively to avoid running out before Jason can fulfill the next order.

"Giving them smaller quantities, a couple of pallets here, a couple of pallets there is better than loading up 10 pallets at once." — Mark Hope, 2025-12-05

Why Stockouts Matter Beyond Lost Sales

Running out of stock on Amazon has compounding consequences:

Lost immediate revenue from the out-of-stock period.
Damaged organic rankings — Amazon's algorithm deprioritizes listings that go out of stock, and recovery can take time.

The blue cornmeal SKU ran out due to faster-than-expected velocity, which served as the trigger for this operational review.

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