Empty bottles were either returns from the trade or new bottles. The warehouse superintendent was responsible for control and storage of all returned bottles. Every day, truckloads of empty cases retumed from retailers. The printed, corrugated and reusable cardboard cases used by Greaves were imported from the United States. Each case contained 24 bottles. The warchouse crew ensured that each case was in reusable condition and contained 24 unbroken bottles. They then loaded 40 cases of empties on each pallet and delivered the loaded pallets to the covered warehouse. The printed cartons could deteriorate when exposed to the weather, so empty returns received priority over new bottles for covered space. Normally, space in the warchouse was barely sufficient to store the retumed empties. Benson found it very difficult to determine the turnaround time for bottles (i.c. the elapsed time from being removed from storage through processing, finished goods, retailer, consumer, retailer again, and back to storage). The warehouse superintendent estimated tumaround time as being between two and three months. Empty bottle stocks were lowest just after Camival, and did not build up to normal levels until late April or early May. One executive estimated that, every cight years, the total stock of in-service bottles was completely replaced with new bottles, but another thought that at least 80 per cent of the bottles were replaced in two to three years. The warchouse superintendent sent empty bottles into the bottling shop as production demanded. When the empty stocks were low and returns not sufficient to meet production requirements, the warehouse superintendent requested new bottles from Benson. When Benson received the warehouse order, a fiveperson crew "picked" the new bottles. Picking consisted of removing the plastic cover from the pallets, unpacking the new bottles from their plain cardboard shipping containers, and repacking the bottles in the printed company cases. The men placed the cases on pallets again, and a forklift truck transported the pallets to the warehouse