Archived CAF/Research/EXF/Plano/Autofill Differences?
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Scheduled CAF - Batches dropped automatically at the top of the hour beginning at 11 am through 6 pm to fill the floor based on what's selling. These rollover if you don't complete them in time and ding a metric.
Autofill - These fulfill the same purpose as the scheduled CAFs but are super huge (typically 4-12 hours) and pulled early in the morning by the early morning team while flow is unloading the truck. This is the primary way to fill the sales floor from the previous day. They only drop once per day.
Research - Also called OUTS, these are batches your Instocks team create and are used to fill super low and empty locations on the sales floor. These should be pushed to the floor by your Instocks team (and the pulls person after Instocks has gone home)
EXF - A batch anyone can create to fill an endcap or an empty location. Used to flex items out too.
POG/Plano - Items to be pulled to set/fill a planogram (a blueprint of an aisle/endcap). These are typically pulled and worked by your plano team but you may be asked to pull these as well.
Autofill - These fulfill the same purpose as the scheduled CAFs but are super huge (typically 4-12 hours) and pulled early in the morning by the early morning team while flow is unloading the truck. This is the primary way to fill the sales floor from the previous day. They only drop once per day.
Research - Also called OUTS, these are batches your Instocks team create and are used to fill super low and empty locations on the sales floor. These should be pushed to the floor by your Instocks team (and the pulls person after Instocks has gone home)
EXF - A batch anyone can create to fill an endcap or an empty location. Used to flex items out too.
POG/Plano - Items to be pulled to set/fill a planogram (a blueprint of an aisle/endcap). These are typically pulled and worked by your plano team but you may be asked to pull these as well.
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Ringwraith917
Professional Badass
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Research is not the same as OUTS. When the team shoots Research, they are counting the on-hands of products on the sales floor and changing the counts (both the "on-floor" and "in stock" numbers) in the computer, and if the product is on location in the stockroom it will be put into a RSCH batch.
OUTs also count how many of a product are "on floor" but do not change the "in stock" numbers in the computer. If items are shot in OUTS but have backroom locations they fall into EXF batches.
EXFs are dangerous, because if shot incorrectly can damage the flow process by creating tons of extra work. If a team member uses the "Get More" function to request more of an item, it will create a "need" for that quantity to be put on the sales floor. If we have some in the stockroom, the number requested will be filled as an EXF batch. Here's the danger: it will continue to be filled until the request is met. If the "get more" number was 5, and we have 3 on location, it will pull 3, then when there are more it will pull them until it reaches 5 pulled. If the number is large, there will be a constant "need" for that product in the computer until the number is reached. Say the Team member said "get more" 555 on accident. System pulls the 3 we have on location, pulls it the next time it comes in, then once the shelf capacity is reached, continues to pull it every time it gets back stocked because it thinks we still "need" 500+ more for the shelf.
OUTs also count how many of a product are "on floor" but do not change the "in stock" numbers in the computer. If items are shot in OUTS but have backroom locations they fall into EXF batches.
EXFs are dangerous, because if shot incorrectly can damage the flow process by creating tons of extra work. If a team member uses the "Get More" function to request more of an item, it will create a "need" for that quantity to be put on the sales floor. If we have some in the stockroom, the number requested will be filled as an EXF batch. Here's the danger: it will continue to be filled until the request is met. If the "get more" number was 5, and we have 3 on location, it will pull 3, then when there are more it will pull them until it reaches 5 pulled. If the number is large, there will be a constant "need" for that product in the computer until the number is reached. Say the Team member said "get more" 555 on accident. System pulls the 3 we have on location, pulls it the next time it comes in, then once the shelf capacity is reached, continues to pull it every time it gets back stocked because it thinks we still "need" 500+ more for the shelf.
zoned2deep
Market TM
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I thought this problem was fixed after they ditched the old system?
Nope, just like when overnight stuffs a SF location over capacity the system pulls to keep it over full. For several CAF rounds. Picture frames come to mind for me, pulled a tub of overstock out backroom did the back stock in them and then they pulled every CAF round that into the next day.
When unsure pull outs, it doesn't affect counts as much an can be backstocked. What we do anytime overnight is behind or we just don't know what it going on with area. You may end up with extra back stock but usually not anything the backroom will want your head for.
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BlueSide
Green side?
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My only criticism to your list is directed at Research and POG, because you've included how the tasks are delegated, and that's store specific. Typically, plano teams do not pull from the backroom, but they push the POG batches. The burden of pushing research changes from store to store, but the fact that they are priority pulls to be worked immediately on the floor remains the same everywhere.
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What does EXF stands for?
About the "Get More"... or example, I have Kind #1 and Kind #2. Hoem locs are full and we have an endcap for them but they are not store tied to the endcap. The next week, Kind #1 is still in the endcap but Kind #2 was removed. Later on, during the week, when I backstock Kind #2, system is asking me if I really want to backstock it. Is this what you mean where system still thinks it needs to be replenished?
I am having a problem when the system asks me if I really want to backstock something when I am sure that the home loc is full and there is no other area that needs the item. The quantity capacity is correct.
About the "Get More"... or example, I have Kind #1 and Kind #2. Hoem locs are full and we have an endcap for them but they are not store tied to the endcap. The next week, Kind #1 is still in the endcap but Kind #2 was removed. Later on, during the week, when I backstock Kind #2, system is asking me if I really want to backstock it. Is this what you mean where system still thinks it needs to be replenished?
I am having a problem when the system asks me if I really want to backstock something when I am sure that the home loc is full and there is no other area that needs the item. The quantity capacity is correct.
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EXF stands for Exception Fill.
What does RIG mean?
And I've been at 4 stores. None of the Plano teams pull the batches. I've stated here over and over that best practice is that backroom pulls POG batches. You can look it up on work bench. Every store is different though, so maybe I've just been in oddly run stores.
What does RIG mean?
And I've been at 4 stores. None of the Plano teams pull the batches. I've stated here over and over that best practice is that backroom pulls POG batches. You can look it up on work bench. Every store is different though, so maybe I've just been in oddly run stores.
SFSFun
Ship from Store: Don't call it Ship To Store!!
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Generally if you have products with a second location, when those items sell it will lower the SFQ and cause the system to think they are needed on the floor (in the home loc). So if you have a capacity of 10 in the home location, and you sell 5 from an unlocated endcap, the system will now think there are 5 less in the home location and will attempt to fill it. The next time some come in on the truck or get backstocked, the system will try to send it to the floor.
Also, you said the "quantity capacity" is correct. Those are two different things. And are you talking about the home location?
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Yes, capacity at home. But will it correct itself? We didn't locate the endcap bec we were losing backroom space for too much product. This was when I just got back from a long vacation. But the problem also happens to other stuff that doesn't have a second location. It's making me think someone was changing the capacities since I didn't have a problem like this before. But what the purpose? It's baffling.
SFSFun
Ship from Store: Don't call it Ship To Store!!
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It happens any time an item is overpushed (when there are more on the floor than the capacity in the system). If the capacity for an item is 10, and someone squeezes 12 onto the shelf, when 2 of those sell the sales floor quantity will now think there's only 8 on the floor...even though there's actually 10 and the shelf is full.
It also seems to happen with items that recently had a transition, where the transition was staged in the steel and not actually backstocked. You could take it out and push it all and it would have SFQ of zero because it didn't get pulled in a batch and wasn't received on a truck after it was set.
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