MEGATHREAD End to End team PILOT

[RandomRedShirt]

So my store has started getting some pallets that are supposed to be backstocked straight from the truck. They're supposed to be seperated be area, the only thing I see it's it's going on the back. It's all assorted, all over the back, with no order at all. Anyone else have this?

 

[Logo]

I wish we would start asking people if they're interested in this new position/shift. Would love to start easing team into a sort of routine like pulling autos and backstocking. Our ETL SF is leaving it to Log to figure everything out. And Log is resistant to change. Hope its not a hot mess!!!!!

 

[SFSFun]

So my store has started getting some pallets that are supposed to be backstocked straight from the truck. They're supposed to be seperated be area, the only thing I see it's it's going on the back. It's all assorted, all over the back, with no order at all. Anyone else have this?

That just sounds like the current unload system. Everything is scanned coming off the truck, and whatever scans as backstock gets sorted to pallets on the back side of the line. It may look unorganized, but it's sorted according to where it gets backstocked.

Unless you're saying your trucks are coming with pallets already built and shrink wrapped?

 

[On6]

Reading through many of the posts on here lately it sounds like they are trying to end overnight stores and make everyone 4am.

There are some stores in the company where this will not be possible. I work in a store that does in excess of $90 million a year and takes doubles on a regular basis, even during the "slow" months. I don't know where you draw the line at $ amount, but I would guess any store over $65 million would have trouble moving to 4am from a logistics standpoint. At a certain point it's cheaper to run a overnight process vs trying to stock a busy store with guests present.

Also as others have mentioned, some stores regardless of volume have restrictions on when unloads and stocking can happen. We have a mall store in my district that can only do their flow process overnight.

 

[YourPPTL]

Sorry i just don't see how this can work without a plano teamlead or team . Have they thought about who will sort, separate, staple and handout all the salesplaners, sidecaps and planos we get every week. This will be fine on low workload weeks. What about when we have three depts setting in one week plus 150 salesplaners. All depts are going to want the same team members. Sorry i just don't see it working. I hope the test stores don't just test in low work weeks but also in a 450 hour week. And don't speak spot coolaid speak the truth so we don't get stuck doing something that doesn't work.. As has happened in the past. Remerber the MSAs.

 

[jenna]

I could see the "A team" setting it's own endcaps in block A, but I think the POG team should still exist to set aisles.

I would not want to be in Seasonal during those sets. No thank you. or Health and Beauty. or Cosmetics. or a major reset in Electronics? NOPE

 

[Xanatos]

Sorry i just don't see how this can work without a plano teamlead or team . Have they thought about who will sort, separate, staple and handout all the salesplaners, sidecaps and planos we get every week. This will be fine on low workload weeks. What about when we have three depts setting in one week plus 150 salesplaners. All depts are going to want the same team members. Sorry i just don't see it working. I hope the test stores don't just test in low work weeks but also in a 450 hour week. And don't speak spot coolaid speak the truth so we don't get stuck doing something that doesn't work.. As has happened in the past. Remerber the MSAs.

I've been reading through ~60 pages of stuff on this rollout and none of it says anything about getting rid of the POG team. I also haven't heard it in this thread, though I could've missed something. And the test stores tested throughout Q3 and Q4.

 

[Logo]

As stated in other responses it looks like End to End teams do small revisions and sales planners. No hours, as I understand, will be taken from presentation.

 

[Xanatos]

I figured they were doing salesplanners anyway. I don't think POG is even supposed to do salesplanners for any area.

 

[jenna]

I was going to make a throw away account to give as much detail as possible but it doesn't let me authenticate it. My plan B is to give you some important information but I will try to protect myself a little so forgive me if I do not include a lot of details.
The document opens with:

"We are implementing business owners that will own a particular area within the store. Each team will be involved with every process as it relates to their specific area of the store creating elevated efficiencies and accountability."

The teams of salesfloor, backroom, instocks and flow will be unified under one team. The team will take care of 3 key areas: Essentials, HL, Stlyle, Front End. So the team will unify the roles and divide the areas they are responsible for.

Responsibilities:

• Service
• Zone/Brand including reshop
• Stocking Accurately
• Backroom replenishment (auto, manual, ptm fills)
• Inventory accuracy, planograms, revisions, sales planners
• price change, signing
• Ad prep, set, and audit
• Cashiering

This new approach is supposed to bring better results on the sales and instocks front.

 

[jenna]

We will be starting this in 2 weeks. We already have stopped the wave push process for some time so now we are adding this. Backroom, Instocks, pog, and pricing teams go away. Those tms go into certain depts of the store. The store is broken up into food, essentials (which is most of hardlines), and style (softlines, cosmetics, and domestics/dec home). Our flow tl and myself (PPTL) become sales floor TLs. Our brtl will stay in the back and be in charge of unload, SFS, flexibles, transition sorting, pre-ties. We are responsible for every thing in our areas. Example- push truck, backstock truck, pull/push/bs autos, research shoot/pull/push/bs, ptms, pogs- planning, setting, pull/push/bs, price change, abandons, zone. It will be interesting that's for sure. As we start to do this I will update what works and what doesn't.

 

[CrimsonRaven712]

Is there any word out of when this will be rolling out company wide?

 

[Rock Lobster]

Is there any word out of when this will be rolling out company wide?

No, but it appears to be happening in phases. I have only heard of one store testing the freight coming in on pallets already. Most stores are on the Grocery Operating Model (or will be soon) so that part is already company wide. There are districts testing the Softlines portion going all to Softlines hours already as well.

I posted this a couple months ago though. The biggest hang up at Target is its Trailer Unload (both workcenter and the unload itself). Because it takes so much management for it to be successful, it limits the oversight the rest of the store can have (or hinders the hierarchy of the company). You NEED a PG13 ETL in Logistics if you want a good store, and that is pretty absurd.

Palletized freight is the answer to this problem. When freight comes in already palletized by department (and transition and final pushes come in pre-sorted), then the ETL-Logistics becomes unnecessary on its own. Food, Hardlines, and Softlines can begin owning their own freight (or Food, Essentials, and Style) and efficiency in theory can rise. The test structure I have heard of will work in ULV stores, but you may still need a TL in Logistics at certain levels depending on the amount of deliveries you take.

Ideally, I would divide a store into something like this (again this is assuming a Super Target of decent volume)...
Store Team Leader - answers to DTL
ETL - Essentials
-HBA/Chemicals/Other TL
-Toys/Seasonal/Electronics TL
-Logistics TL (only at high volumes)
(Potential Backroom, Receiving, or Unload Teams... for stores that take 5+ RDC and 7 FDC loads, will need some form of log in building to keep up).
ETL - Style
-Guest Service TL (x2 at high volumes)
-Softlines TL - SL Breakout/Freight/Adjacency (x2 at high volumes)
-Visual Merchandising TL
--(Brand TMs for Cosmetics, Home Innovation etc)
ETL - Food
-Food Avenue/Starbucks TL
-Deli/Bakery TL
-Produce TL
-Dairy/Frozen/Meat TL
-Dry Grocery TL

Assets Protection TL and Human Resources TL in most stores, not on structure and report directly to BP (HRBP and APBP in every district).

This also is an overall reduction to TLs in most stores at first glance, BUT I would suggest using those extra spots to bring back "Closing TLs" which are essentially Senior TLs for zoning and closing the store. This in all honesty would be much easier to staff for most stores as you could find college kids (or a few people that can only do 2nd shift) and hire them specifically for this purpose.

You then could get rid of closing nights for almost all other leadership positions (or at least those that own their own freight), and divide them up between each other. For example, the ETL-Essentials can be sure to always work opposite one of the TLs and they are always the "Essentials TLOD" or something. If there was a manager for each area the STL could LOD most of the time as it would only be responding to general calls, not to actually making tons of decisions (since an ETL or their TL will always be there).

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Hey @Rock Lobster ! There is a big D.C. Meeting happening next week.

 

[HRZone]

There are some stores in the company where this will not be possible. I work in a store that does in excess of $90 million a year and takes doubles on a regular basis, even during the "slow" months. I don't know where you draw the line at $ amount, but I would guess any store over $65 million would have trouble moving to 4am from a logistics standpoint. At a certain point it's cheaper to run a overnight process vs trying to stock a busy store with guests present.

Also as others have mentioned, some stores regardless of volume have restrictions on when unloads and stocking can happen. We have a mall store in my district that can only do their flow process overnight.

Also a 4am requires a larger team. We can get our truck done easily at 11pm even with a skeleton crew.

Like you said you can't do a double at 4am unless you have a lot of bodies.

 

[Rock Lobster]

Also a 4am requires a larger team. We can get our truck done easily at 11pm even with a skeleton crew.

Like you said you can't do a double at 4am unless you have a lot of bodies.

Yes it is much more rigid when it comes to staffing. For anyone converting by May, make sure to start practicing now. Whenever I converted my process I set a goal time of having the floor done by 3AM (so scheduled my team off by then), and then started hiring and scheduling 4AM-8AM shifts for at least a month before the conversion date. This way you can see how "close" you are to being done by 8AM or how many more people you need.

 

[Rock Lobster]

Hey @Rock Lobster ! There is a big D.C. Meeting happening next week.

Well, I hope they printed out my posts over the last few months to guide their decisions... Its to the point that I wonder if Brian is on here reading

Hey, imagine if I had a few business analysts to provide some information for my ideas! Right now I am literally just making these suggestions by looking!

 

[Xanatos]

My mistake on the POG team stuff. I didn't realize there is a pilot for doing this stuff for the WHOLE store. They're rolling this stuff out for market throughout the whole company within the next couple of months, but I guess I mistakenly assumed this thread was about market only. Carry on.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Well, I hope they printed out my posts over the last few months to guide their decisions... Its to the point that I wonder if Brian is on here reading

Hey, imagine if I had a few business analysts to provide some information for my ideas! Right now I am literally just making these suggestions by looking!

I am certain that spot did. Hey team! We need to get on board now.

 

[Unsilent]

I could see the "A team" setting it's own endcaps in block A, but I think the POG team should still exist to set aisles.

I would not want to be in Seasonal during those sets. No thank you. or Health and Beauty. or Cosmetics. or a major reset in Electronics? NOPE

Might be a case of ASANTS, but TLs already set the endcaps/sidecaps in their respective departments, so I doubt that's going to be relegated to department teams. More likely than not, everyone's going to learn to set, and while the presentation team won't be going away and will be in high demand initially, I imagine they'll be phased out in time as setting just becomes a regular duty for all team members as part of End to End.

 

[Flow Warrior]

They are talking about the total payroll it takes to work a truck, not actual timing of aisles. They are saying that from start to finish, the average store spends about 160-180 hours on a truck (unload, stocking, backstocking, trash, pulling etc). A 2400/160 hours = 15 cartons/hour of payroll. They are saying this is FAR below the industry.

Again, this is not necessarily a TM performance problem. Its an actual operational problem. The unload is FAR worse than the industry (despite old school brainwashing convincing people otherwise). Bowling is a bad habit at Target, yet the only way to handle the freight at higher volumes (I have a limited amount of pallets but an almost infinite amount of floor space, and 5500 pieces of freight coming down the line... therefore its getting thrown on the floor).

I have pointed this out before, but Target spends around 11 payroll hours just unloading the truck, 5-10 bowling it out, 10-15 pulling from the backroom, and another 5 backstocking stuff straight from truck to stockroom. That is 36 hours of payroll per truck being spent before a single box is ever even opened. Then you still have breakout hours for softlines and repacks to add in (sorting before stocking).... And you are getting close to 50 hours of payroll just to get product out of the truck and onto the floor so the team CAN stock it. Now imagine if it took half an hour of payroll to unload the truck and the team could just work right off of pallets sorted by efficiency...

I worked in a employeed owned small grocery change fixed to a major metro and they got palletized freight. They bowled it out too. However, their only did 800 to 1000 pieces.

 

[Flow Warrior]

This is my problem right here. Instead of hiring team members. We are looking for robots who can work fast.

Half of the "fast" flow team members at my store are the ones who ignore capacities or put product in the absolutely wrong place.

Solution to that is someone needs to catch them. We have that problem too. I remind people, 'Doing it wrong fast is still doing it wrong. I would rather have a slow person doing it 100% right than a fast one at 50%

 

[Flow Warrior]

I was going to make a throw away account to give as much detail as possible but it doesn't let me authenticate it. My plan B is to give you some important information but I will try to protect myself a little so forgive me if I do not include a lot of details.
The document opens with:

"We are implementing business owners that will own a particular area within the store. Each team will be involved with every process as it relates to their specific area of the store creating elevated efficiencies and accountability."

The teams of salesfloor, backroom, instocks and flow will be unified under one team. The team will take care of 3 key areas: Essentials, HL, Stlyle, Front End. So the team will unify the roles and divide the areas they are responsible for.

Responsibilities:

• Service
• Zone/Brand including reshop
• Stocking Accurately
• Backroom replenishment (auto, manual, ptm fills)
• Inventory accuracy, planograms, revisions, sales planners
• price change, signing
• Ad prep, set, and audit
• Cashiering

This new approach is supposed to bring better results on the sales and instocks front. The guide gives some general lines on the scheduling but most of the planning and method of execution is left to the store at this time.
I believe that this method could work well IF the performance management is on point and if 100% of the team is performing well.
We are not clear if or when the paygrades will change. My wild guess is that they will not change for the TMs that are enrolled now or will be enrolled for the next months. If they decide to roll out the new system for the whole company then I foresee Target choosing a middle paygrade for the team (my guess is PG05) and adjust those TMs that are lower, leave the ones that have a higher PG at their current pay, and enroll the new one under the new PG. (Does that even make sense? I hope it does)
Our store is supposed to work on this new roll out for the next 8 months.
I have more info about org charts if you want but honestly the ETLS and TLs are not going to change their job by too much, they will just take responsibility for one area of the store (our LOG TL will be responsible for essentials, Salesfloor TL for style+cosmetics, etc).

I am super tired so I hope this is clear and makes sense. I will try to answer questions as I find out more information. Please keep updating if this happens in your store.

My store I believe will be rolling this out. I am not sure if our ETL-HR said it right bit we are getting grocery for sure because Groc-TL is excited bout this because he gets TLs to work with him and the two others.
However, I think ETL-HR was right and we get end to end. I am curious how it going to affect us because we have 10 salesfloor TL and 30 LogTLs (split between BR, FLOW etc)

 

[Flow Warrior]

How does this work for TMs with limited availability? I'm open but have friends who only work a few nights or only weekends etc. Also, what happens to Plano and pricing teams? Do they become part of this too?

Spot will screw them. All the truck unload hours being migrated around and then dedicated stocking of areas with everything required. Thats 4 hours at least a truck day for Bullseye

 

[Flow Warrior]

I must be in a lucky store...nearly all of the "fast" stockers are pretty good about being fast and accurate (of which I consider myself both because I know I'm fast and because others have told me I am). There is one person (I think I know who, but not positive) that will put one or two items that don't fit into the space provided in a nearby empty space instead of backstocking it. That drives me nuts.

I believe that is called 'plugging' and I hate it with more than anything because if effs up instocks. Especially when the nightly zone does it to make the aisle beautiful. I need my holes to know how things are selling and what is being touched.