MEGATHREAD Flexible Fulfillment

CassRoslyn said:
I haven't seen this option on our epick apps yet. So I guess we just havent been updated completely
Or me and my teammates are all blind, which is completely possible. But I'll check more thoroughly when I work next, since I'm really curious now.
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Its possible you probably don't have it yet. I'd take a picture of it for show, but I don't work until tomorrow.
 
CassRoslyn said:
I haven't seen this option on our epick apps yet. So I guess we just havent been updated completely
Or me and my teammates are all blind, which is completely possible. But I'll check more thoroughly when I work next, since I'm really curious now.
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This is rolled to the chain. Look for the 'create label' button on the bottom left on the put to hold screen
 
seasonaldude said:
Ugh. Double Ugh. Triple fucking Ugh. We don't do that because we want to. We do it because we have to. We have 30 minutes to pick and stow the order no matter how large, no matter what the items are. I had a 26(41) order the other day. It included, amongst other things, 3 bulk paper towels, 2 bulk toilet papers, 6 12-packs of soda, 2 24-packs of bottled water, 5 jugs of vinegar, and 3 packs of diapers.

In what fairy tale world that corporate lives in do I have time to get all that shit and print out a separate label for each item one at a time so that it can be stowed in hold individually? It's not happening, especially not with the focus being on goal time acheived percentage. Your new way of scanning everything out is going to result in one, and only one item, getting a proper label. The rest will get a sticky note slapped on.

If you want the job done right, give us the time to do it. Otherwise, we are going to make do. Just please stop working against us.
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Also coming soon are batches that are capped at 7 DPCIs. We've done time studies that both the pick and put to hold can be done within 30 minutes. Orders will be split if needed to keep this cap consistent. This will help you make your goal time and complete the process correctly. Also, you shouldn't be printing a label for every item as you describe. It's just printing a label for each hold location you're putting items into. So you have an order of 10 items but only 5 fit into a bag. You scan the 5 from your cart and hit create label and scan the hold location. Repeat for the remaining 5 if they fit into the bag. This whole process is being implemented for accuracy of orders for the guest once they come and get them. We are giving away WAY too much because we don't have this check in place.
 
Also on May 15th (for the chain) we are implementing something called cart cubing for SFS batches. We will be eliminating the cap of 30 that's currently in place for number of eaches in a batch and basing our logic on how many orders can fit into the carts based on their cubic dimensions. It's the same service we use to determine what box to use for packing. ePick will now suggest a subcart to put your order into in the cart for every item based on its cubic dimensions. If anything is suggesting a location where the product doesn't physically fit please let us know via mySupport. It's dimensions are likely wrongly set up. Also, if you have carts that are overflowing because of this we want to know. The goal here is to reduce footsteps overall and be more efficient in picking.
 
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I keep thinking of stuff! For the map, you can't edit it or configure it. If there are issues in your store you will need to call the CSC. We also added the ability to pan and zoom not only on the map but also on any product image.
 
mobilelady said:
Also coming soon are batches that are capped at 7 DPCIs. We've done time studies that both the pick and put to hold can be done within 30 minutes. Orders will be split if needed to keep this cap consistent. This will help you make your goal time and complete the process correctly. Also, you shouldn't be printing a label for every item as you describe. It's just printing a label for each hold location you're putting items into. So you have an order of 10 items but only 5 fit into a bag. You scan the 5 from your cart and hit create label and scan the hold location. Repeat for the remaining 5 if they fit into the bag. This whole process is being implemented for accuracy of orders for the guest once they come and get them. We are giving away WAY too much because we don't have this check in place.
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I appreciate the clarification (1 label per location). That is not what is being communicated to the team.
 
I'm OK with, if not happy about the changes except the 7 DPCI cap. I don't see how it's going to help us unless you have multiple OPU pickers and in fact I worry it'll hurt us. The clock is still going to start ticking at the same time for a 7 DPCI or a 70 DPCI order. It won't forgive you for having to do an order in two batches, so now you'll just have to have a second cart going at the same time, right? I try to carry two Zebras for this situation, but it's not always possible. I'll either have to toggle back and forth between multiple carts on the same Zebra, or complete batch one, get it up to GS and then do it again with another batch on the same ticking clock as batch one, possibly making me repeat my exact same path as batch one (i.e., they request 16 nail polish colors that are right next to each other on the shelf, but since they're different DPCIs they're now in three different batches) as opposed to taking a little longer in one batch. Unless the clock starts counting down at different times, which it won't, I'm sure, I just worry this will lead to more potential for missing orders (because you forget to go into the second batch to get item #8 from the order) or missing goals because of multiple trips around the store and to GS. It'll now be no different than multiple guests' orders showing up at one time, if I'm understanding this correctly. 😯
 
mobilelady said:
Coming soon! See your SF path in ePick. Click on the task progress bar while in your batch and tap the 'store map' tab. Goes to chain May 8th.
View attachment 7799
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This will make it alot easier to document terrible batch pathing to report to CSC, thank you. We really need to optimize, since we just finished our remodel.

EDIT: Is it possible to fix multiple backrooms in the pathing? We have a small HBA stockroom in the front of the store, and our batches always start there.
 
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Ringwraith917 said:
^this. I was typing the same comment. I hope everyone has leaders/support willing to jump into all the different batches to help out
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OrderSickUp said:
I'm OK with, if not happy about the changes except the 7 DPCI cap. I don't see how it's going to help us unless you have multiple OPU pickers and in fact I worry it'll hurt us. The clock is still going to start ticking at the same time for a 7 DPCI or a 70 DPCI order. It won't forgive you for having to do an order in two batches, so now you'll just have to have a second cart going at the same time, right? I try to carry two Zebras for this situation, but it's not always possible. I'll either have to toggle back and forth between multiple carts on the same Zebra, or complete batch one, get it up to GS and then do it again with another batch on the same ticking clock as batch one, possibly making me repeat my exact same path as batch one (i.e., they request 16 nail polish colors that are right next to each other on the shelf, but since they're different DPCIs they're now in three different batches) as opposed to taking a little longer in one batch. Unless the clock starts counting down at different times, which it won't, I'm sure, I just worry this will lead to more potential for missing orders (because you forget to go into the second batch to get item #8 from the order) or missing goals because of multiple trips around the store and to GS. It'll now be no different than multiple guests' orders showing up at one time, if I'm understanding this correctly. 😯
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We need a special alert for big orders in OPUs. This is the only way around it, so you can jump on the walkie for some help. If I already asked for help a few times and they wonder why we missing goals, well.... answer the call then.
 
OrderSickUp said:
I'm OK with, if not happy about the changes except the 7 DPCI cap. I don't see how it's going to help us unless you have multiple OPU pickers and in fact I worry it'll hurt us. The clock is still going to start ticking at the same time for a 7 DPCI or a 70 DPCI order. It won't forgive you for having to do an order in two batches, so now you'll just have to have a second cart going at the same time, right? I try to carry two Zebras for this situation, but it's not always possible. I'll either have to toggle back and forth between multiple carts on the same Zebra, or complete batch one, get it up to GS and then do it again with another batch on the same ticking clock as batch one, possibly making me repeat my exact same path as batch one (i.e., they request 16 nail polish colors that are right next to each other on the shelf, but since they're different DPCIs they're now in three different batches) as opposed to taking a little longer in one batch. Unless the clock starts counting down at different times, which it won't, I'm sure, I just worry this will lead to more potential for missing orders (because you forget to go into the second batch to get item #8 from the order) or missing goals because of multiple trips around the store and to GS. It'll now be no different than multiple guests' orders showing up at one time, if I'm understanding this correctly. 😯
Click to expand...

Yes you're correct. If you have 1 order with 20 DPCIs, you will have 3 batches. 2 batches with 7 DPCIs and the last with 6. They will all have the same due time and the clock starts as soon as it drops to your store. You will see the guest name under each batch so you know they're for the same person. DU and regular OPU will no longer be separated either. This is less efficient but allows for multiple TMs to work the same order. This has been a very common piece of feedback because many TMs felt the batches were too big and so wanted multiple TMs to work in the same batch.

Irdasur said:
EDIT: Is it possible to fix multiple backrooms in the pathing? We have a small HBA stockroom in the front of the store, and our batches always start there.
Click to expand...

The only way to fix this at the moment is to relabel your HBA stockroom. The backroom pathing is alphanumeric so is pretty 'dumb'. 01A, 01B, 01C, 02A, 02B, etc. We are looking at BR pathing to be combined with SF pathing to make more efficient paths in the total store, but that is likely at least a year away.
 
mobilelady said:
wanted multiple TMs to work in the same batch.
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A lot of us don't have multiple TMs who can jump into opu. Having the option is one thing, but forcing multiple batches that all have to be done in 30min could cause more issues than it would solve. If someone is the only person on hand who works orders, they will have to run around twice as much just to finish the same amount of items as before.

Couldnt we just institute a "split batch" option for larger orders instead? Let different store formats with more or less fulfillment TMs do what works for them best.
 
mobilelady said:
Yes you're correct. If you have 1 order with 20 DPCIs, you will have 3 batches. 2 batches with 7 DPCIs and the last with 6. They will all have the same due time and the clock starts as soon as it drops to your store. You will see the guest name under each batch so you know they're for the same person. DU and regular OPU will no longer be separated either. This is less efficient but allows for multiple TMs to work the same order. This has been a very common piece of feedback because many TMs felt the batches were too big and so wanted multiple TMs to work in the same batch.



The only way to fix this at the moment is to relabel your HBA stockroom. The backroom pathing is alphanumeric so is pretty 'dumb'. 01A, 01B, 01C, 02A, 02B, etc. We are looking at BR pathing to be combined with SF pathing to make more efficient paths in the total store, but that is likely at least a year away.
Click to expand...
I like the concept of seperating larger orders into seperate batches but its definitely one of those things that works better for some stores then for all stores. What I think would be efficient would be to have a "merge batch" option that merges batches and their pathing together. That way, stores with less team members available for OPU can still get away with one fast team member picking and meeting a goal. Also, similar to the SFS priority times for their batches, some sort of indicator in the ePick app to help team members prioritize OPU batches so they're grabbing the batches by priority.
 
mobilelady said:
Also on May 15th (for the chain) we are implementing something called cart cubing for SFS batches. We will be eliminating the cap of 30 that's currently in place for number of eaches in a batch and basing our logic on how many orders can fit into the carts based on their cubic dimensions. It's the same service we use to determine what box to use for packing. ePick will now suggest a subcart to put your order into in the cart for every item based on its cubic dimensions. If anything is suggesting a location where the product doesn't physically fit please let us know via mySupport. It's dimensions are likely wrongly set up. Also, if you have carts that are overflowing because of this we want to know. The goal here is to reduce footsteps overall and be more efficient in picking.
Click to expand...

This fills me with a sense of dread. Are the powers that be not aware of how often and how badly that software misses the appropriate box size? We have found items with decimals one or two spaces in the wrong direction where those cubic dimensions are concerned. This only has a chance of working if we can manually override the software and have it remember when the item was not the expected size.

mobilelady said:
Goal times were set by leadership. It's staying this way as far I know for the foreseeable future.
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How do they justify it? The reduction of OPU time from one hour to half that has been a huge issue for my ship team from its start. Sure its possible to finish most (but not all) batches in that time but that means dropping a SFS batch you might be close to completing to grab a single order or not letting another OPU or two drop in so you can handle more picks for every trip from the back of the store to the front and back again. Instead of working efficiently, everything stops for that trip to get a few items then up to the front and then back to what you were doing if you can make it before another OPU drops in.
 
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Boxwrangler said:
This fills me with a sense of dread. Are the powers that be not aware of how often and how badly that software misses the appropriate box size? We have found items with decimals one or two spaces in the wrong direction where those cubic dimensions are concerned. This only has a chance of working if we can manually override the software and have it remember when the item was not the expected size.
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I disagree. If an item is too large for the cart you can finish as much of the cart as possible and then reset the cart, pushing all of the eaches that couldn't fit back to be picked up in a new batch. As for a "manual override", you could just scan it to the location it wants you to scan it to, and put it somewhere else in the cart and organize it yourself. Just like boxes with packing it should be treated as a recommendation, not an absolute. Once this system is up and running, optimization for items not matching their cubic dimensions will begin and instances where the software is wrong will become less frequent. All things considered, I think this method is better then the one we have now where you can get 30 eaches of paper towels on a single cart.
 

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