> unless they... had to stuff things into whatever they had available
I assume that's exactly what happened.
You don't have to be "really bad at packaging stock management", you just have to have a supplier that is late delivering certain box sizes on a certain day. Late fulfillment is far more common than late ordering when it comes to automated systems like these.
(And the more days' worth of box stock you try to maintain in case box delivery is late, the more it costs you in warehousing. So occasionally getting a box too big is probably going to be economically optimal, when the box suppliers aren't completely perfect in supplying on time.)
Also all these boxes have to be within reach of the picker… I’ve been getting more ersatz boxes (just kinda cardboard wrapped around a single book and glued) from Amazon, probably so they don’t have to keep a huge number of pre sized boxes in stock.
I assume that's exactly what happened.
You don't have to be "really bad at packaging stock management", you just have to have a supplier that is late delivering certain box sizes on a certain day. Late fulfillment is far more common than late ordering when it comes to automated systems like these.
(And the more days' worth of box stock you try to maintain in case box delivery is late, the more it costs you in warehousing. So occasionally getting a box too big is probably going to be economically optimal, when the box suppliers aren't completely perfect in supplying on time.)