W H Smith seem to have different days from month to month for this publication. Why is this so?
Because the magazines will be shelved as soon as they are reveived, and they will be sent to branch as soon as they are received at WHSNews Distro.
Is a thing that happens with all monthlies due to company policies, I have known AMO (Additional Misc. Orders, (Stock to add to stock already there)) come in at the same time as new issues when I was working the news dept.
It is the policy of most of WHST and WHSR to place new copies out as received and early return old copies, rather than what publishers prefer that is to embargo new copies until the return data of old copies.
Due to the way monthlies and 4 weeklies are published, basically on a prioritized multi tier FIFO que at the printers, it can be the case that magazines will end up being printed many days before their publication date, this will then be sent to WHSN Distribution, Menzies Distro, Dawsons News etc.
It's policy at WHSN not to hold inital order stock and to send it to branch when received, they will only hold an AMO float, based on sales figures and ordering thresholds of branches. These are either set by WHSN using historical data and publisher stipulations, or by the branch, or a combination of the two, also involving head office planning systems, and sold space agreements with publishers.
So the replacment stock is then sent to the branch (and there is still an AMO trigger on the current stock) so the new stock is placed out, and until the return date, AMO stock will still be sent based on sales figures of the previous issue, polled overnight. As a result, there is a 2 day lead from print completion to shelf display, mainly due to a combination of places not wanting to hold stock, and maximum usage of printing equipment with a squed FIFO system, all topped off by WHSC Policy.
WHST (WH Smith Travel)
WHSR (WH Smith Retail)
WHSN (WH Smith News Distribution)
WHSC (WH Smith Corprate)
Spot the former shift supervisor & ordering supervisor....
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Rail is fortnightly but comes out on Wednesdays, not Thursdays
It actually comes out on Thursdays... (When the old copy return request is filed, this is set by the publisher) But will be on the shelf by wednesday as it usually comes in on a tuesday...