Archived Backroom Stocking Question

[RightArm]

Now with this E2E softlines has to own its own backstock. I end up doing a lot of our backstock. So, here's my question. When you scan a shirt to stow it and it doesn't give you an option for how many do you have to then scan each shirt individually? When it completes the backstock it never says how many is in the waco, instead it says "some". My backroom TL told me today that I had to scan each individual shirt. SO if we got 30 size small black shirts and only 15 would fit on the floor and I go to backstock and scan one shirt to stow and it stows it and says "some" for the count do I really have to scan all 15 shirts even though they have the same dpci? If so, this is going to take FOREVER.... -_-

 

[BackroomBear]

Wow. No! It’s like PIPO used to be before they put quantities to paper. You could scan it in a million times it won’t change anything. Scan it in once. In fact, if you scan something and it’s already in a Waco you can add to that Waco without throwing off BRLA. The audit doesn’t count women’s shirts, just whether there’s at least one of that DPCI in the Waco.

My guess is they’re either really wrong or paranoid about accuracy and think you can’t match DPCIs to grab a stack of small red shirts and backstock together.

 

[RightArm]

Thank you! Our BRLA is off and they are blaming softlines. My problem is trying to figure out what causes problems. I backstock correctly to each aisle (as a workload person I know ALL the department numbers in softlines so I don't goof). I scan the box, scan the shelf, and when it asks how many I check the label and make sure it says 1/1 before I say 1. Most of our assortment boxes count as 1 anyway but sometimes we get a box of all the same size shirts which will say 6/6 and then I say 6 when it asks how many. I just cannot for the life of me figure out what I'm doing wrong that screws up BRLA on our side. Granted I'm not the only one who does backstock for softlines. Can you give me an idea about what sort of things people do in the backroom that messes up BRLA?

 

[Him]

As @BackroomBear said the item you scan that is being put in the Waco is what is known as PIPO. In terms you can easily understand, there is not a specified quantity for the item once it is backstocked. When you have a lot of Softlines to backstock (shirts, gloves, hats, etc.) and they are showing (some) when you locate it, backstock a handful of them. So for example, 20 merona size small women shirts. You would backstock one of the small shirts. Next, gather the other 19 of the shirts and place them inside the Waco. No need to scan them in individually. Location Accurracy will be fine. Item located. All will be good. It can be tedious to Seperate everything beforehand, but it will be well worth it and won't confuse in the long run.

 

[RightArm]

Thanks and that's what I've been doing all along.... I was just informed this morning that I should be scanning each shirt individually and maybe that's why our side is so messed up. -_- Thing is, obviously, that's not it. What are some things you've seen people do in the backroom that screws with location accuracy?

 

[Him]

Backstocking incorrect amounts into different areas. You put 5 items onto a shelf but only press 2 on your device. When someone goes to pull the item from that location, they pull the 2 items and search for the other 3, but since the previous person backstocked incorrectly, they are forced to do what is known as a "M-Delete" which brings down Location accuracy especially when done incorrectly. A lot of people who don't work Backroom a lot don't know all that goes into it as you can see, it takes a lot of training. I have been doing it awhile, so that's why I can break it down even for people not familiar with the Backroom process.

 

[Him]

There is also a report on Workbench accessible to everyone including tm's Leadership uses to "montitor" location accuracy and different workcenters called "Backroom Detail report" That report shows what team member backstock what item where. It is also a way you can check yourself and ensure you are backstocking correctly.

 

[anathema]

Softlines E2E has been pretty rough on BRLA. You'd think most items not being BRQ eligible would simplify things but people still manage to STO 3 different sizes as one UPC and get Y-Usage errors anyway.

We've rectified a lot of issues by not backstocking softlines at all, instead having softlines team members shop from the shelf and fill the floor. With market utterly failing again, it's at least mitigated a lot of damage.

 

[mammoth]

FAST MOVER RACKS! MORE FAST MOVERS!

 

[RightArm]

Backstocking incorrect amounts into different areas. You put 5 items onto a shelf but only press 2 on your device. When someone goes to pull the item from that location, they pull the 2 items and search for the other 3, but since the previous person backstocked incorrectly, they are forced to do what is known as a "M-Delete" which brings down Location accuracy especially when done incorrectly. A lot of people who don't work Backroom a lot don't know all that goes into it as you can see, it takes a lot of training. I have been doing it awhile, so that's why I can break it down even for people not familiar with the Backroom process.

How does that work when you go to backstock those 20 small black shirts of the same dpci as we mentioned earlier and you scan one but put all 20 in the waco and then later when you are asked to pull them in a batch it suddenly wants 25? Those 5 shirts it thinks are there were never there to begin with. When I pull open stock on batches there are plenty of times when it says "pull 5" and I pull 5 and it goes "did you pull all of the item" and I say "yes" but then it goes "pull 5" and there are only 3 and I pull 3 and it never asks if that's it. Would it help BRLA if when it says "Pull 5" and there are only 3 if you do an LOCU of that waco and restock the items? Sry if I'm being a pain here, I'm just trying to figure out how to help besides making sure I backstock correctly in the first place. We had a TL who used to tell it exactly what it asked for even if it didn't match. In other words it would say "pull 5" and she would only find 3 but then tell it she pulled 5 anyway. Does that help or just make it worse? Thanks for everyone's input with experience. I do appreciate it.

 

[Backroom Jesus]

System doesn't know how many are actually in location. It just knows it "needs" 5. Therefore it will ask to pull 5 regardless of how many are there. If there are 5 and you type 5 it will Y/N you. Hitting Y will then delete that DPCI out of the location because you are telling it that there were exactly 5 in location. If there were 6+ in location, then you would hit N and it will know there is at least 1 of that DPCI remaining in location.

If there were 3 and you typed 3, it will then delete that DPCI from location and ask you for 2 later on in another location - if applicable.

Typing what it asks for regardless (saying 5 even if only having 3) will throw off your salesfloor accuracy and thus the auto-replishment integrity.

Coincidentally this is how everything was located up to like 8 years ago. Made backstocking a breeze, but pulling became a chore hunting in some of the more messy WACOs so you didn't delete something on accident.

 

[Him]

System doesn't know how many are actually in location. It just knows it "needs" 5. Therefore it will ask to pull 5 regardless of how many are there. If there are 5 and you type 5 it will Y/N you. Hitting Y will then delete that DPCI out of the location because you are telling it that there were exactly 5 in location. If there were 6+ in location, then you would hit N and it will know there is at least 1 of that DPCI remaining in location.

If there were 3 and you typed 3, it will then delete that DPCI from location and ask you for 2 later on in another location - if applicable.

Typing what it asks for regardless (saying 5 even if only having 3) will throw off your salesfloor accuracy and thus the auto-replishment integrity.

Coincidentally this is how everything was located up to like 8 years ago. Made backstocking a breeze, but pulling became a chore hunting in some of the more messy WACOs so you didn't delete something on accident.

@Backroom Jesus nailed it @RightArm . I hope we cleared up any confusion. Explaining Pipo's can be "wordy" but then again logistics is. Location accuracy affects Many different work centers such as in stocks, sales floor, backroom and flexfills. You can see why everyone stresses how important it is to do so correctly. More questions the better. Everyone who reads these threads take Something from it trust me.

 

[RightArm]

Well, what I'm taking out of this is that I've been backstocking correctly all along and there's really not much I can do to fix BRLA outside of that. I will, however, see what I can do to find that report mentioned and have a look at it. All I'm trying to do is figure out why our side is off and how to fix it. Thanks everyone. I do appreciate all the input.

 

[RightArm]

Softlines E2E has been pretty rough on BRLA. You'd think most items not being BRQ eligible would simplify things but people still manage to STO 3 different sizes as one UPC and get Y-Usage errors anyway.

We've rectified a lot of issues by not backstocking softlines at all, instead having softlines team members shop from the shelf and fill the floor. With market utterly failing again, it's at least mitigated a lot of damage.

Not exactly sure how this works? Not backstocking and shop from the shelf? So is your softlines backroom side completely unlocated? I would think that would throw off your auto-replenishment but then I guess it would ultimately lead to no autofills as long as they keep up filling the floor... Somehow I don't think our Logistics ETL would go for that, especially with this new system soon to roll out where everything has a location, even the tubs/flatbeds...

 

[SFSFun]

I will, however, see what I can do to find that report mentioned and have a look at it.

The detail report is literally just a line listing of every single item currently backstocked, sorted by either location or date. For each item it lists the location, item description, DPCI, date backstocked, TM who backstocked it, and a few other things.

You can narrow it down to a specific stockroom, aisle, or section in an aisle. At my store we sometimes look at it to see who is backstocking multiple sizes of the same item in the same waco, so the SLTL can follow up with them. You would pull up the report for a softlines aisle, then scan through it to see if you find sequential DPCIs.

 

[anathema]

Not exactly sure how this works? Not backstocking and shop from the shelf? So is your softlines backroom side completely unlocated? I would think that would throw off your auto-replenishment but then I guess it would ultimately lead to no autofills as long as they keep up filling the floor... Somehow I don't think our Logistics ETL would go for that, especially with this new system soon to roll out where everything has a location, even the tubs/flatbeds...

Pretty much everything aside from shoes and maybe basics is unlocated. Remember that we use RFID to scan softlines now.

 

[Bosch]

Softlines E2E has been pretty rough on BRLA. You'd think most items not being BRQ eligible would simplify things but people still manage to STO 3 different sizes as one UPC and get Y-Usage errors anyway.

We've rectified a lot of issues by not backstocking softlines at all, instead having softlines team members shop from the shelf and fill the floor. With market utterly failing again, it's at least mitigated a lot of damage.

But not backstocking it screws over your flex order pickers. Now we have no idea where those shirts are. I spend hours searching through unlocated softlines, worse when you ask softlines peeps and they don't know where they keep things. Locate them please.

 

[anathema]

You have an RFID scanner and many people in softlines that can help you locate items. There's no reason to spend 'hours' searching for unlocated product when there's literally a gun that will direct you to where the product is. Softlines TMs should become experts heading into Q4 in order to supplement SFS picking as well.

 

[SFSFun]

You have an RFID scanner and many people in softlines that can help you locate items. There's no reason to spend 'hours' searching for unlocated product when there's literally a gun that will direct you to where the product is. Softlines TMs should become experts heading into Q4 in order to supplement SFS picking as well.

It can take a minimum of 5 minutes per item to key it in, wait for it to load, click next and wait for it to load some more, then scan the area of the sales floor where it should be...then repeat later in the backroom.

 

[anathema]

Now you're just being absurd for the sake of your point. If your network is that slow, sure, locate all your softlines. If your E2E team is that bad, sure, locate all your softlines. We have several softlines TMs scheduled during the day that can assist SFS both on the floor and BR. Some of these TMs will also be available when orders pick up and some will even be scheduled SFS to pick batches. Shit's not hard, dude.

 

[SFSFun]

I'm not being absurd, I've timed it before and anyone who picks SFS batches on a regular basis should know that's how it goes. The network is fine, we even had the it upgraded with Verizon fiber and it didn't make a difference on the slowness of the app. Even if the app was lightning fast it wouldn't help.

I'm just saying it takes much more time to go scan the floor and back with the RFID reader (or ask a softlines TM) instead of having the item pulled from the back first thing at the beginning of the batch.

 

[Tessa120]

Last year I noticed that the feel of the fabric kept changing whenever I folded RTW Mossimo v-neck t-shirts that were either black or white. Turns out there were two different shirts. Every time I managed to separate the stack, that lasted only as long as the end of my shift.

I've also seen items that have a different dpci because while they are identical in every way, fibers used, tactile, visual, they were manufactured at separate times.

Don't risk a screwup by either having two different manufacturing dates or two different but visually identical items. That is why I was trained to scan every tag while backstocking. Yeah it can take a bit longer, but honestly I don't think it makes that much of a difference. You either take the time to count the shirts and verify the size and dpci and re-stack them and then backstock them as a group -or- you pull out the box and place it next to your stack and scan each item as you move it from the stack outside the box onto the stack you're making inside the box, and then replace the box.

 

[Punkin]

As a BR team member, I would be happy to have someone back stock soft lines. We couldn't do the soft line autofills this morning because of 8 shopping carts full of clothes down the backroom aisles.

 

[Tessa120]

As a BR team member, I would be happy to have someone back stock soft lines. We couldn't do the soft line autofills this morning because of 8 shopping carts full of clothes down the backroom aisles.

Wtf were they doing there???

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

No shopping carts allowed in my backroom.