Archived Accurate inventory count issues?

[Logo]

Just an update one of our areas has seen a dramatic difference in what is being received since counts have been updated. They have minimal backstock now.

 

[SprooseMoose]

So, I've seen something similar and don't know what to make of it. Guest comes in looking for Random Item. Could be from any department usually. Anyway, you look up their item they have pulled up on their phone, 0 on hand. Their phone says in stock. Ok. Find elsewhere. Your store and every other store you can see shows 2 on hand. Never more or less, always 2.

Doesn't always happen but when it does it sucks because the guests don't believe you and think you are lying to them.

 

[CTL]

I just wish they would have had better training for the team on how to properly backstock, pull, etc. Way too many errors being made, and it would have been pretty easy to show people how to do it properly. At my store at least I blame previous leadership for not acting on strategies when they should have.

 

[Endlessbackstock]

The main reasons for all the backstock errors are people being rushed, untrained employees, and/or employees that do not have enough education to figure out simple tasks like scan, add, enter quantity, take, enter, etc...

The last one is probably the most common. Honestly a lot of people can lie and have a sparkling personality in an interview but do not know simple tasks. If you can use a smartphone for most leisure apps and such, then you should be able to use a Zebra correctly. We have a GSTL who has no idea about common things in a store. She kept calling me for go backs and telling me there were cans of "button" that needed to be put back. I was like huh? That is near sewing and I was in sporting seasonal and toys. Turns out after going up to get it, I found out it was BUTANE fuel, not button. This is the level of some GSTL I deal with on a daily basis.

 

[CTL]

They should require people to take a competency test when they interview. I mean, in all actuality, this is retail, not rocket science. You have a brain, use it! Sometimes I wish I could just be as stupid as some of these people because they live a a constant state of ignorant bliss!

 

[ShortTM]

The main reasons for all the backstock errors are people being rushed, untrained employees, and/or employees that do not have enough education to figure out simple tasks like scan, add, enter quantity, take, enter, etc...

Sometimes it's an honest mistake. I've accidentally hit the wrong number and not realized it until the next day when I go to pull it. Then there was today when i somehow almost hit 38 instead of 3. I noticed it when I pulled my Zebra back out of the holster and say I never finished the backstock.

 

[FlowTeamChick]

Lately, all the time and we just went through inventory fairly recently (with enough time since then for updates to drop in). Went to pull some Ensure, go to the location and there's no Ensure there. Do a search to find out where it is, and supposedly we have 16 eaches of it (which would be 4 cases - a large quantity of this product for my store). There aren't 16 of anything on that shelf, even counting all of it together. I don't see 4 cases of it anywhere. And that's just one example.
Talked to the Beauty DBO so see if she's been finding weird stuff in her back stock area and she's finding similar issues. We're both working on getting it all cleaned up, but yikes, it's not good.

 

[FlowTeamChick]

I’ve had a lot of issues the last couple of weeks with counts being off. One in particular is really stumping me. A guest was looking for a particular baby lotion, my device said we have 6 on floor, 0 in back, 6 on hand, delivered the previous day. In reality, nothing on the shelf, no uboats in the back, not in repacks, and not just randomly tossed into a backstock location either (at least not the aisle it should be backstocked in). It very well could be elsewhere in the stockroom, our BRLA is probably f-ed right now because people cannot seem to figure out the simple concept of backstocking. This was just one example, but I had three separate issues with infant hardlines specifically the other day regarding inventory issues.

Is there a new TM pushing in this area? When a certain particularly inept TM often finished up the truck in my area somewhat often, I was constantly finding weird stuff, including product shelved in the wrong locations. Could be someone needs some retraining.

 

[seasonaldude]

Lately, all the time and we just went through inventory fairly recently (with enough time since then for updates to drop in). Went to pull some Ensure, go to the location and there's no Ensure there. Do a search to find out where it is, and supposedly we have 16 eaches of it (which would be 4 cases - a large quantity of this product for my store). There aren't 16 of anything on that shelf, even counting all of it together. I don't see 4 cases of it anywhere. And that's just one example.
Talked to the Beauty DBO so see if she's been finding weird stuff in her back stock area and she's finding similar issues. We're both working on getting it all cleaned up, but yikes, it's not good.

This. The number of times I go to a backroom location and don't find the product I'm supposed to find has absolutely exploded recently. It's constant. It's happening often in aisles where I know the DBOs know what they're doing. I'm used to it in a couple of aisles where we have shitty people, but it's all over now.

I'm thinking it's the result of app issues. I know epick has been having lots of problems recently. I wouldn't be surprised when it's doing it's "please wait" crap if it's not properly recording that an item was pulled from the back. Other TMs tell me that they've been having lots of issues with MyWork and Move recently. Those could be causing errors as well.

Really costing me a lot of time I don't have to scan everything before hitting AIS (who knows if that is working right either?) and then getting another task to find the needed item elsewhere.

 

[Far from newbie]

Sometimes there's just no way to explain just how screwed up our systems for counts are.
Happened yesterday to me, get a case pack fresh off the truck. It's a brand new item, never received before. Look at the zebra, shows 6 on the floor, zero in the back, 12 on hand. Case contains 12, so the on hand is correct, zebra confirms no sales, and delivered yesterday when truck acknowledged, so where is the 6 on the floor coming from? No orders, no sales, nothing but yesterday's receipt of 12...

Nothing screwed up about counts in your example.
The salesfloor CAPACITY is probably 6 so as soon as the truck is received the system ASSUMES you ran and put 6 there and have yet to backstock the OTHER 6 in the box to locate them in the back. which equates to 12 OH, 6 on SFL, 6 will be in back once you do your BSTK.

 

[HardlinesGuy]

Scan an item in the Waco in MyWork. Go to exf and create an adhoc for that item. Open Move and enter that adhoc. Scan nothing and hit All Items Scanned.

Note your ETL-LOG will scream in agony. But, it will work for your purposes.

Alternatively, partner with a flexfill TM. Do an online order for an item in the waco and ask the flex TM to hit All Items Scanned in ePick without scanning anything. Cancel the order. That'd work too and would have your ETL-LOG in less agony (but, who really wants that?).

Sounds like a lotta hoopla for a little LOCU.

 

[Ceeyaaa]

Sometimes there's just no way to explain just how screwed up our systems for counts are.
Happened yesterday to me, get a case pack fresh off the truck. It's a brand new item, never received before. Look at the zebra, shows 6 on the floor, zero in the back, 12 on hand. Case contains 12, so the on hand is correct, zebra confirms no sales, and delivered yesterday when truck acknowledged, so where is the 6 on the floor coming from? No orders, no sales, nothing but yesterday's receipt of 12...

As soon as truck is received the floor location is updated to floor capacity and then the BR will be right after items are backstocked.

 

[ToyMaster]

Would be so nice if that were true but, floor location had zero (makes sense since it was brand new), capacity was 12, which was backstocked because of street dating, and later pushed to that location. After being backstocked it showed 6 on floor, 12 in back, 12 on hand. Once pulled and pushed to the floor it still showed 6 on the floor, zero in the back, and still 12 on hand. System clearly not working as intended.

As soon as truck is received the floor location is updated to floor capacity and then the BR will be right after items are backstocked.