Garden Shop Floor Memo #1 | Ceramic Pot Inspection Report
There are colorful ceramic pots lined up at the garden shop entrance,
but they don't just go straight from arrival to the sales floor.
Before these wonderful supporting actors in the home of plants
reach the hands of customers,
there is actually a process
that is a bit like a 'ritual'.
That might be a bit of an exaggeration, though 😏
This time, I'll be sharing
the 'ceramic pot inspection work'
that takes place behind the scenes at the garden shop.
A 'giant block' that arrived from somewhere
On the day the products arrive,
what gets carried out from the truck by forklift
is a block consisting of three large pallets.
On one pallet,
pots are stacked up to a height
a little lower than my own height (over 1 meter!)
To ensure they don't collapse during transport, the whole thing is wrapped tightly in plastic wrap to form a single block!
The work begins by carefully unwrapping the plastic
and carrying them into the store one by one.
Foreign cushioning material
Cardboard is inserted as cushioning between the pots so they don't bump into each other.
As I peel off that cardboard one by one, my eyes are suddenly drawn to
unfamiliar foreign characters.
'I wonder what this says?'
As I gaze at the string of characters in a language I can't read, I realize the fact that these pots have traveled a long way from somewhere in Asia? over a long time, crossing the sea, and have now reached my hands.
Listening to the 'sound' like a craftsman
This is where the real work begins!
The inspection process starts.
There are two main points
that I check.
1. Visual check from all angles
First, I check from every angle, from the rim of the pot to the bottom, as if licking it.
☑ Are there any chips from delivery?
☑ Any noticeable cracks?
☑ Is there any dirt that won't come off?
I look at these aspects to see if they are suitable to be displayed as products.
2. Searching for invisible damage with 'sound'
And actually,
what you can't tell just by looking
is 'hidden cracks'.
Even if they look perfect to the naked eye,
there are cases where they are actually damaged.
To determine that,
I 'flicked' the pots lightly with my finger.
By flicking them, the sound unique to the pot resonates.
If it rings with a 'clink!',
it's fine.
If it makes a dull 'thud!' sound,
it's chipped.
I would judge it like that.
This 'distinguishing by sound' thing
is quite noticeable in a quiet store.
It's a secret that I sometimes secretly tapped out a 3-3-7 rhythm.
The inspection work is done for now!
For the pots that successfully passed inspection,
I carefully attach a price label to each one, and the work is finished!
In this way, finally,
they are ready as products.
The inspected pots
are temporarily carried to the stock area,
and when the pots on the sales floor are sold
and space opens up,
they make their debut on the sales floor.
Conclusion
It would be easy if we could just put them out in the store as they are,
but the work of a garden shop that handles fragile items
inevitably takes time and effort.
Struggling with heavy pallets,
peeling off the cardboard one by one,
listening intently to the sound of the pots...
It takes that much effort, but
because I know the characters on the cardboard that arrived from a foreign country and the pleasant 'clink!' sound when they pass inspection,
I end up feeling attached to each and every pot lined up on the store shelf.
If you see a pot at a garden shop,
I would be happy if you could remember just a little bit,
'I wonder if this one was flicked too.'