We parted on unfriendly terms. But at least we agreed not to mention the crisis to anyone till the open purchase order had lapsed and we had had a chance to get rid of the thousands upon thousands of bearings coming in each day.

Then this morning they sent another TWENTY-THREE THOUSAND. Saraf said that this was enough to cater to JHA requirements for ELEVEN years.

Saraf had the boxes unloaded into my room at the guesthouse.

Now there are boxes everywhere here. I have no idea what to do. I can’t obviously carry them with me to Mumbai. I can’t just leave them here. And besides I don’t think the room can take any more deliveries.

I have no idea where the mistake was made. EOQ is normally such a perfect solution. And I got a B-plus in operations management. One of only forty-two people to get more than a B. So it can’t be my maths. Maybe Saraf screwed up something.

I have to think up a way of getting rid of the bloody things.

Still not a word from Gouri. Should I send her a message? Or wait for her to send first?

So many decisions to make.

Sleepy. I’ve pushed together a few boxes to make a platform for me to sleep on. The bastards have kept boxes of bearings on the bed, the couch, and even inside the TV stand.

Good night.

26 November 2006

10.12 p.m.

We’ve run out of space in the guesthouse, the spare employees’ quarters and the old staff gym behind the powerhouse. And the powerhouse. So far Saraf and I have been able to somehow hide TWO AND A HALF LAKH ball bearings. Nobody knows a thing. Except maybe that guesthouse caretaker. He may have caught us in the storeroom a few times late at night loading up bearing boxes.

And then, just as we were beginning to wonder what to do with any more bearings, the supplier called up to say that he’d run out of them. Apparently JHA has used up the entire all-India supply of SmoothGlide 23A ball bearings and the supplier said that if we needed any more he’d have to import them from Japan. I immediately asked Saraf to cancel the purchase order.

We still haven’t figured out how to settle accounts with the supplier. And I have just two or maybe three more days left to figure out something. Saraf is very, very scared. He thinks that as soon as the Dufresne team goes back things will return to normal and JHA is bound to notice the Rs 65 lakh worth of bearings in their stock.

Personally I find Saraf’s attitude disappointing. If I was in his position I would try to solve this problem myself instead of always falling back on me, the resourceful management consultant, like a coward.

A consultant should be trying to add value to the company and optimizing strategy. He should not be wasting his time with petty inventory issues.