MEGATHREAD Flexible Fulfillment

Castagnier said:
Anyone else have issues with collates not printing out for a while? We had over 50 pop up with less than an hour to go which lead to a lot of panic.
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Yeah that happened to us as well... scanned our last batches in at 1:30 and collates didnt print until 3pm... idk why
 
H2Owned said:
Well idk if this forum would be any help flexible fulfillment is when stores ship orders out from there inventory to other stores or to guests.... not really warehouse..... we have nothing to do with the warehouse side...and idk how there process is.
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Pretty much only 12-16 are for the store. Rest would be DC
 
Castagnier said:
Anyone else have issues with collates not printing out for a while? We had over 50 pop up with less than an hour to go which lead to a lot of panic.
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Ours printed fine. Did u guys try to forceprint them from Manhattan
 
So apparently the new collates(no dog) we have jam our printer but the old collates( with dog) work perfectly fine... Any one else have this issue. We already had our printer replaced but the new one does the same.
 
Lazy said:
So apparently the new collates(no dog) we have jam our printer but the old collates( with dog) work perfectly fine... Any one else have this issue. We already had our printer replaced but the new one does the same.
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The newer ones don't jam the printer for me, but occasionally it will spit out an extra blank sheet. All it is for me is a slight annoyance, so I let it slide. If it did jam the printer I'd be a lot angrier. The dog ones are also a lot easier to peel off than the new ones.
 
Lazy said:
So apparently the new collates(no dog) we have jam our printer but the old collates( with dog) work perfectly fine... Any one else have this issue. We already had our printer replaced but the new one does the same.
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No issues here. Try ordering another box in case it's just an isolated issue with the ones you have now.
 
SFSFun said:
No issues here. Try ordering another box in case it's just an isolated issue with the ones you have now.
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It's been multiple cases. Recently we opened a box with the old collates with the dog and it's been perfect. Go back to the new ones and it Jams like every other collate
 
Lazy said:
It's been multiple cases. Recently we opened a box with the old collates with the dog and it's been perfect. Go back to the new ones and it Jams like every other collate
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Yeah but I meant if there was an issue with that batch of collates during manufacturing. I'm assuming you ordered them all at the same time, so they were all made at the same time.

I've had several boxes of defective air pillows before, and a fresh order generally solves the problem.
 
Any other SFS locations testing the 426 boxes? We've had them for a few weeks now and are pretty nifty. They are designed for detergent as they are shaped as square prisms and have double arrows prints on two side to signify orientation. We're also receiving double capacity ones with a partition in the middle to for added support. Also self binding bubble wrap.
 
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Kroneru said:
Any other SFS locations testing the 426 boxes? We've had them for a for weeks now and are pretty nifty. They are designed for detergent as they are shaped as square prisms and have double arrows prints on two side to signify orientation. We're also receiving double capacity ones with a partition in the middle to for added support. Also self binding bubble wrap.
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Nope, but some of the stores near me are testing this corrugated cardboard thing that basically takes up space in a box and helps keep it sturdy. It is also meant for detergent.

I do like the idea of specific boxes designed for detergent though. I've caught several TMs unnecessarily using 454s and 280s just so the bottles will stand up. Which would be great except those boxes are then weak and flimsy as hell.
 
Are you able to order these new things or do you have to be specially selected? It all sounds nice, though a big problem would be where to store it. Is it possible to order another one of those metal box racks?

And while we're on the topic of things we catch our team unnecessarily doing, I spy way too many single boxes of diapers done like an SIO simply because the collate says so, even though they can easily fit in a 280 or even 454. Same people also do the same thing to comforters, despite those things usually having an open corner. Worst one ever, though, was a chair. Like, just a chair. Packing label was just plopped on the seat. Though that was only once and early on while we were all still learning.
 
I heard orders like that were supposed to be cancelled if you couldn't box. And diapers should all be SIO in my opinion, unless they're with another item. Even then split collate is easy. Your ETL should be able to order just about anything, box rack included. Not much I can think of you couldn't order with the right level up the chain.
 
To the best of my knowledge our store was one among others "chosen" but my leadership has lost much of my trust so I take it with a grain of salt.

Single item orders of diapers I SIO. Multiple that can fit in xyz box I ship in xyz box. If I have 4 diapers that break into 2 collates and 3 fit in xyz box the 4th gets SIO. I don't go out of my way to SIO diapers but I do it often enough.
 
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Castagnier said:
Are you able to order these new things or do you have to be specially selected? It all sounds nice, though a big problem would be where to store it. Is it possible to order another one of those metal box racks?

And while we're on the topic of things we catch our team unnecessarily doing, I spy way too many single boxes of diapers done like an SIO simply because the collate says so, even though they can easily fit in a 280 or even 454. Same people also do the same thing to comforters, despite those things usually having an open corner. Worst one ever, though, was a chair. Like, just a chair. Packing label was just plopped on the seat. Though that was only once and early on while we were all still learning.
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If your store is selected, your store-specific order guide will have the part numbers listed. I don't think there's any ordering restrictions, but I haven't tried. There's a way to pull up a list of every version of the supply order guides by searching Workbench.

Diapers are supposed to be SIO. That was the item we tested it on a few years ago before opening it up to large items such as furniture. I personally split containers every time to ship each diaper box SIO. It's quicker than trying to find a box size that will work and then filling it with air pillows.

I've given up on trying to fix problems with items being marked as SIO when they shouldn't be. I just make my own box because I'm not taking the hit to fulfillment by canceling it. The CSC is zero help. They once told me the solution was to research an item to zero if I was getting orders for it and didn't have a box for it.
 
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SFSFun said:
I personally split containers every time to ship each diaper box SIO. It's quicker than trying to find a box size that will work and then filling it with air pillows.
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On that note I agree; if I know the box will be majority pillows I will split.
 
So I'm in the minority of not liking diapers to be SIO'd? Interesting. Looking at it from a guest's view, I'd be bothered with having a shipping label and envelope stuck to the diaper box, but I guess I'm just picky.
 
Can you order the new box sizes if your store is not selected? If we were able to get a new box size, I'd have two suggestions for corporate:
420s I think they are; we sometimes get them from S2S orders. They're about the same length and width as a 439 but half as tall. I'd go through those like candy during Christmas. For a second, and from the OP it sounds like that's what the new ones are, would be one about the same size as a 439 but tall enough to fit detergents, the one rice cooker, and the banana hanger. I hate the banana hanger because it's small but the only thing it will fit in is a 278.
 
Castagnier said:
So I'm in the minority of not liking diapers to be SIO'd? Interesting. Looking at it from a guest's view, I'd be bothered with having a shipping label and envelope stuck to the diaper box, but I guess I'm just picky.
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I think it looks weird too, but it was the first thing we were allowed to SIO, so I kinda got used to it. And there used to be insane diaper sales every few weeks, where every day we would end up with an entire full pallet of diapers.

SurefireWolf said:
Can you order the new box sizes if your store is not selected?
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You can always try. Having the part number would help though. I've never tried to order a different size because the part number for our boxes always starts with SFS.B and I figured other sizes wouldn't have a part number that references Ship From Store.
 
So we actually already had the double detergent boxes; no. 428 [or 438, I forgot] and no middle partition. I do like the added variety allowing us to use air pillows with better efficiency.
 
This might've been said before but I can't seem to find it, but do you guys have any pointers or efficiency tips for Ship from Store/Store Pickups? We're only 10 minutes ahead of our pick deadline (2pm) and sometimes packing we miss it (but sometimes we cheat with the scan everything by 4pm by a few minutes) and store pickups, always putting it in hold/canceling it minutes before the deadline). We get the work done but being so close to the deadline worries myself and our new team lead. We're a regular SFS so our orders are usually around 50-60 orders. Our morning FF comes at 7am-330pm (open at 8am) and the closer comes at 11am-730pm with the exception of Monday of a mid at 9am-530pm but it seems here people come here at 6am. I want to get Green across the board for FF but I'm not sure how to get achieve that so any tips would be helpful.
 
@JohnSith373

Coming in an hour earlier would help, but honestly it sounds like you guys just need to work faster. I can't imagine having 16 hours per day and still not being able to get 60 orders done. We usually have 8-12 hours of coverage and are doing over 100 orders without too many issues.

Is your sales floor or backroom trashed, making it difficult to pick? Are you spending 30 minutes looking for one item, and then still not finding it?

You should try to average 30 minutes per batch (yes, some batches will take longer but some will be much quicker).

Also, make sure your closer isn't slacking off or getting pulled away. And if there's nothing to pick at night, then that shift needs to be moved earlier.
 
mobilelady said:
FF experts! I need your opinions...if we don't have labeling for OPU orders over 4th quarter, will that break you?
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I think Service Desk TMs might have a problem with that. It wouldn't really make much difference to me though. If anything, it would make it easier by removing a step in the picking process.

I could see it being an issue for FFTMs that have OPU hold locations in the backroom. But all of mine are at the service desk, so they are the only ones who have to find orders that are being picked up.
 

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