MEGATHREAD Flexible Fulfillment

[MrT]

So any other stores have absolutely abysmal payroll for flex this week. Its actually mindblowing that we are still doing almost 3k units a day for opu.

 

[JiJi]

It doesn't matter, I'm planning my exit. I'm so unhappy in that store and it's killed my desire to stay with Target.

Honestly, same. I bust my ass off, only to get bitched at about metrics and INF when it's not even my fault.
We've been banned from going through the CNS pallets for OPU, and now they're yelling at us about INF being higher. Like- what the fuck did you expect?

 

[vngoghlvr]

Vngoghlvr got promoted to flex tl last year after transferring from other store.

Yup.
I think the timing and situation were not good, but hindsight is 50/50. I'm at peace with it. I learned a lot, good and bad. Ultimately, I realized that I don't want to move up anymore. I couldn't sit in an office all day while my team needed help. And that's ok. I'll find a place where my style is appreciated and I will thrive. But I shouldn't be driving to work full of dread and on the verge of tears. I have a lot going on at home (I called out for the rest of this week because my daughter is having a huge mental health crisis) and I feel like Target is taking up too much headspace all the time and it's not healthy for me or my family.

 

[Tessa120]

I'm sorry about your daughter. You probably qualify for FMLA if you are considered her caregiver.

 

[MrT]

Yup.
I think the timing and situation were not good, but hindsight is 50/50. I'm at peace with it. I learned a lot, good and bad. Ultimately, I realized that I don't want to move up anymore. I couldn't sit in an office all day while my team needed help. And that's ok. I'll find a place where my style is appreciated and I will thrive. But I shouldn't be driving to work full of dread and on the verge of tears. I have a lot going on at home (I called out for the rest of this week because my daughter is having a huge mental health crisis) and I feel like Target is taking up too much headspace all the time and it's not healthy for me or my family.

Sorry to here that, spot losing another good one ☹

 

[vngoghlvr]

I'm sorry about your daughter. You probably qualify for FMLA if you are considered her caregiver.

Thank you. She's been dealing with depression for almost 6 years now. On top of that she is Autistic. She hasn't had a bad episode like this for a few years, but the pandemic, the disappointment if her senior year and online college along with some personal issues got the best of her. She will get through it, she's stronger than she knows and has a family who loves and supports her.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Thank you. She's been dealing with depression for almost 6 years now. On top of that she is Autistic. She hasn't had a bad episode like this for a few years, but the pandemic, the disappointment if her senior year and online college along with some personal issues got the best of her. She will get through it, she's stronger than she knows and has a family who loves and supports her.

We are always here to support you too.
@vngoghlvr

 

[slowhands]

So any other stores have absolutely abysmal payroll for flex this week. Its actually mindblowing that we are still doing almost 3k units a day for opu.

We've been over forecast so much in January that our store is getting a couple hundred extra hours for Feb.

 

[Boxman]

Yup.
I think the timing and situation were not good, but hindsight is 50/50. I'm at peace with it. I learned a lot, good and bad. Ultimately, I realized that I don't want to move up anymore. I couldn't sit in an office all day while my team needed help. And that's ok. I'll find a place where my style is appreciated and I will thrive. But I shouldn't be driving to work full of dread and on the verge of tears. I have a lot going on at home (I called out for the rest of this week because my daughter is having a huge mental health crisis) and I feel like Target is taking up too much headspace all the time and it's not healthy for me or my family.

Proof that you are not just a good parent, but also someone Spot will miss out on.

Too bad for them. I hope you can find something better out there for you.

 

[ahhd4mn]

My store has decided that the reason we have so much unlocated backroom is because of my team. I don't doubt they do some, but it's not all on them. INF is greatly affected by items that have been out for months or years with no audits in sight. Ugh

Lmao. My store has the same problem yet our small, well trained team would NEVER do this. In any case a good fucking portion of our INFs are random shit that wasn't backstocked right

 

[ahhd4mn]

I've thought of a few things the past few months which could make picking/packing much faster and avoid INFs or cancelled items.
1. changing how epick navigation works. First of all it's stupid that we can't go back. I have to stand there skipping up to 40(+!) locations if I skip one item, or even 79(+!) if I accidentally skip what I was looking for.
a lot of times I find myself having to walk across the store to grab one thing then having to come back and pick the way I came. If I could just reverse the task list it'd save me a lot of time.
2. Making the task list useful and not just a reminder of how dumb the pick path is.
a. It doesn't make sense for me to walk from out the backroom through adjacentgrocery literally across the store to pick something in mens first. I should be able to skip to that item without spamming the button literally 29 times.
b. Just being able to reverse the list could make things so much easier. Sometimes, the pick path almost makes sense, going through (for example) A1-40, linearly. But it forces me to walk across the store to say, A1, even though I started my batch next to A44. In any digital list designed by competent people all I'd have to do is press a button once and the list would be backwards
(continued)

 

[ahhd4mn]

I've thought of a few things the past few months which could make picking/packing much faster and avoid INFs or cancelled items.
1. changing how epick navigation works. First of all it's stupid that we can't go back. I have to stand there skipping up to 40(+!) locations if I skip one item, or even 79(+!) if I accidentally skip what I was looking for.
a lot of times I find myself having to walk across the store to grab one thing then having to come back and pick the way I came. If I could just reverse the task list it'd save me a lot of time.
2. Making the task list useful and not just a reminder of how dumb the pick path is.
a. It doesn't make sense for me to walk from out the backroom through adjacentgrocery literally across the store to pick something in mens first. I should be able to skip to that item without spamming the button literally 29 times.
b. Just being able to reverse the list could make things so much easier. Sometimes, the pick path almost makes sense, going through (for example) A1-40, linearly. But it forces me to walk across the store to say, A1, even though I started my batch next to A44. In any digital list designed by competent people all I'd have to do is press a button once and the list would be backwards
(continued)

Another thing: I have no idea how the pick paths are actually generated, but they DON'T MAKE SENSE. If the system could actually LEARN from what we're doing then it could be useful. If the mentioned basic navigation was implemented, they could use the data of what navigation changes pickers made often and their resulting pick productivity and automatically create FASTER routes based on pickers thinking, not the machines.

 

[ahhd4mn]

Another thing: I have no idea how the pick paths are actually generated, but they DON'T MAKE SENSE. If the system could actually LEARN from what we're doing then it could be useful. If the mentioned basic navigation was implemented, they could use the data of what navigation changes pickers made often and their resulting pick productivity and automatically create FASTER routes based on pickers thinking, not the machines.

"so how would INFs work with that"? pressing INF should leave the items for the end of the batch which is what a lot of us already do, instead of just INFing on the spot. Then at the end it could prompt to confirm all INFs. Make it accessible through the task list but remove it from showing up as the next item until the rest of the items have been picked.

Another thing which could help INFs would be a simple symbol in the corner of the screen with a little truck icon that indicates it was delivered 0 days ago. I've wasted so much time looking for things on the floor in unzoned areas only to then see it was delivered 0 days ago.

A note about packing: a simple icon indicating a gift receipt in the item scanning screen could save a lot of time. I can't be the only one that prints the label AFTER closing the package since only like 2% of packages even have gift receipts, which makes me have to open and retape the box.

 

[ahhd4mn]

I've thought of a few things the past few months which could make picking/packing much faster and avoid INFs or cancelled items.
1. changing how epick navigation works. First of all it's stupid that we can't go back. I have to stand there skipping up to 40(+!) locations if I skip one item, or even 79(+!) if I accidentally skip what I was looking for.
a lot of times I find myself having to walk across the store to grab one thing then having to come back and pick the way I came. If I could just reverse the task list it'd save me a lot of time.
2. Making the task list useful and not just a reminder of how dumb the pick path is.
a. It doesn't make sense for me to walk from out the backroom through adjacentgrocery literally across the store to pick something in mens first. I should be able to skip to that item without spamming the button literally 29 times.
b. Just being able to reverse the list could make things so much easier. Sometimes, the pick path almost makes sense, going through (for example) A1-40, linearly. But it forces me to walk across the store to say, A1, even though I started my batch next to A44. In any digital list designed by competent people all I'd have to do is press a button once and the list would be backwards
(continued)

Epick showing the next location in the corner so I can know where to head while multitasking... making the picks menu VIEWABLE while in a batch through a drop down menu... abbreviated names on active carts... INF/pick stats being by DCPI... pack prod. being by container... ship alones having a seperate productivity like grocery does... seperate batches for large items in OPU (but make them combinable) ... drive up app showing out of hold orders/orders being viewed in the pickup app... 2 minute timer between "on their way", and arrived... typing in backroom locations... being able to cancel items while packing OPU... an "undo" button... scanning an item on the pickup/pack apps instead of needing to use myhelp to find where it belongs... INF/pick prod being visible in epick not only mpm... making printers typeable... changing RTS to the pickup app...

I could just go on and on but what's the point.

 

[moninity]

How about a timer letting you know how long you have been picking a SFS batch and it changes from green to yellow to red letting you know how your doing with pick productivity.

 

[OrderSickUp]

"so how would INFs work with that"? pressing INF should leave the items for the end of the batch which is what a lot of us already do, instead of just INFing on the spot. Then at the end it could prompt to confirm all INFs. Make it accessible through the task list but remove it from showing up as the next item until the rest of the items have been picked.

Another thing which could help INFs would be a simple symbol in the corner of the screen with a little truck icon that indicates it was delivered 0 days ago. I've wasted so much time looking for things on the floor in unzoned areas only to then see it was delivered 0 days ago.

A note about packing: a simple icon indicating a gift receipt in the item scanning screen could save a lot of time. I can't be the only one that prints the label AFTER closing the package since only like 2% of packages even have gift receipts, which makes me have to open and retape the box.

I definitely agree on the date delivered thing. Sometimes, especially if I'm mid or closing, I tend to forget a truck came that day if they're mostly done pushing it, so I don't even think of checking to see if there's still stuff on the line like a stray repack. It would save us time looking in myWork, and of course, for newbies who may not have been trained to look.

As for gift receipts, I agree. At least you're not putting them face-out on the box, though 😂 I didn't throw away our SIOC pouches when we got the new Zebra printers, so until we run out of them, if we close it before we print, we just put the gift receipts in the pouches on the outside of the boxes.

 

[vngoghlvr]

Hi guys, I just want to thank you all for your support. She's doing better, but she thrives on routine and just doesn't have one right now. I'm considering a LOA to help get her on track. I have enough vacation, well being, sick, and emergency time off to cover a month. I think it would be good for both of us to be honest. I feel like if I can consistently get her on a sleep, exercise, laundry, clean her room, and other good habits schedule that it would be a game changer for her. I can also teach her how to cook some more dinners so she can be in charge of that a few days a week.

I'm going to talk to my ETL and HR about it on Monday.

 

[Black Sheep 214]

Hi guys, I just want to thank you all for your support. She's doing better, but she thrives on routine and just doesn't have one right now. I'm considering a LOA to help get her on track. I have enough vacation, well being, sick, and emergency time off to cover a month. I think it would be good for both of us to be honest. I feel like if I can consistently get her on a sleep, exercise, laundry, clean her room, and other good habits schedule that it would be a game changer for her. I can also teach her how to cook some more dinners so she can be in charge of that a few days a week.

I'm going to talk to my ETL and HR about it on Monday.

Glad to hear that your daughter is doing better. Taking an LOA sounds like a great idea for both of you. Good luck!😁

 

[Flow Trainer]

Found out today that in a couple weeks, we will be picking alcohol for OPUs. Any other stores doing this now? Does the picker need to be 21? If drive ups are allowed, does the runner need to be 21? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Just kill me now.

 

[LollipopBoyz]

Yeah, I have no idea what to do when the item isn't there because exiting the batch/ePick and auditing the location doesn't work, as the backroom location will still appear in our batch. Now that it'll also give us the floor location, I will skip the backroom location and hope it's on the floor. But if it's not and the backroom location still pops up, I'm not going to lie and make somebody cancel in Pack and Ship or Pickup.

Hmm, now I'm wondering what would happen if I reset the cart after auditing the waco, maybe that would make it disappear. Might have to try that the next time it happens 🤔

Resetting a cart and auditing a waco will make it disappear in the next batch, but will unfortunately make you redo the cart again. Obviously lol, it sucks

 

[JiJi]

Found out today that in a couple weeks, we will be picking alcohol for OPUs. Any other stores doing this now? Does the picker need to be 21? If drive ups are allowed, does the runner need to be 21? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Just kill me now.

My store has been doing this for a while. Nothing said about the picker or runner needing to be of age, I don't think it matters at my store.

 

[Dead and Khaki]

How about a timer letting you know how long you have been picking a SFS batch and it changes from green to yellow to red letting you know how your doing with pick productivity.

Only if we could hide it. Higher anxiety does NOT equal higher productivity for me and many others.

 

[vngoghlvr]

Found out today that in a couple weeks, we will be picking alcohol for OPUs. Any other stores doing this now? Does the picker need to be 21? If drive ups are allowed, does the runner need to be 21? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Just kill me now.

Picker and runner need to be at least 18, but it may vary by local law. In my store if it comes up in a batch the minor must immediately exit and hand off the batch to somebody of age.

I started the process of 45 day FMLA today, for my state it would be paid if approved. My store has been very supportive. I'm looking forward to spending time with my daughter and helping her get on track.

 

[moninity]

Only if we could hide it. Higher anxiety does NOT equal higher productivity for me and many others.

What's the difference between that and the timer that is in OPU? OPU should scare you worse since that time is yelled at OPU/SFS team members daily. SFS would give you an idea of how much time you can effectively look for a missing item without affecting your time in a way which you might not recover from.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Picker and runner need to be at least 18, but it may vary by local law. In my store if it comes up in a batch the minor must immediately exit and hand off the batch to somebody of age.

I started the process of 45 day FMLA today, for my state it would be paid if approved. My store has been very supportive. I'm looking forward to spending time with my daughter and helping her get on track.

Congrats!