MEGATHREAD Flexible Fulfillment

[Mysterious]

There are also talks about expanding the SFS area in my store as well. It was already upgraded to a 36 feet wide built in surface desk already. Not enough room to expand. The backside of the current set up is usually congested of Infant Furniture and other pallets. Imagine when we keep getting in the way of SFS and BR "crew." Big cluster.

 

[Bosch]

There are also talks about expanding the SFS area in my store as well. It was already upgraded to a 36 feet wide built in surface desk already. Not enough room to expand. The backside of the current set up is usually congested of Infant Furniture and other pallets. Imagine when we keep getting in the way of SFS and BR "crew." Big cluster.

Or having to wait an hour while they unload and reload C&S a couple days a week..

 

[Yetive]

 

[Lazy]

Doesn’t help that we have to have 6 different UPS palettes to sort everything that’s packed onto.

So happy we only have to sort onto 2 pallets. When I heard we we're going USPS, I thought we were gonna sort by zip codes like other people have posted here.

 

[Lazy]

I’ve heard rumors through the grapevine that my store will also be getting one to two more packing stations and the only problem is the same as everyone else’s, no space! But with all these store getting more packing stations is it confirmed that all stores will essentially be ESFS or at least have a FFTL? I know someone mentioned it in the Modernization thread but I’m not sure if it’s 100% confirmed or not.

I don't know if esfs still exist. I'm the fufillment operations lead(basically FFTL) and we're going up in max unit+more stations but haven't seen or been told were gonna be esfs

 

[Moosechives]

If every store becomes esfs, they sure as hell better fix the assortment of web only crap they send out. Frequent mispicks, unlabeled bundles, and no way to track it down if it isnt located properly coming off the truck because it's all not on planogram.

 

[JohnSith373]

But with all these store getting more packing stations is it confirmed that all stores will essentially be ESFS or at least have a FFTL? I know someone mentioned it in the Modernization thread but I’m not sure if it’s 100% confirmed or not.

If you have a dayside backroom TL, they’ll change over to Flexible Fulfillment TL eventually if the pilot rollouts to all stores. Otherwise, there won’t be an actual FFTL until 4th quarter or if HQ feels likes giving us one.

Yeah so since salesfloor has the sheet they have to fill out about what they sold, he doesn't want to feel left out wasting time either!

I wouldn’t mind filling out a sheet if I was on the salesfloor, just to waste some time. But to fill one out for SFS? I gotta pick, pack and receive STS, OPU and restock SFS supplies if I have extra time. My time isn’t going to be wasted on writing INFs when it lists each INF each hour.

 

[PackAndCry]

What fill group does web-only merchandise at ESFS stores fall under?

 

[Moosechives]

What fill group does web-only merchandise at ESFS stores fall under?

Web-only doesn't have its own fill group. It's the same fill groups as all the others in the backroom. We're expected to put it all in a couple aisles designated for web-only aisles with a method they call "chaotic backstocking" aka detrash and backstock wherever the hell it fits~

 

[SFSFun]

If what the ETL from another store told me is true, its everyone is getting ESFS not just SFS.. We were talking about what our store does versus his and he let that drop that it was coming. Cause he asked where we were going to put the second packing station, I had no idea. He said he was getting a fifth one(they are the ESFS store in our area). I am in the pacific northwest, and a few things my TL has dropped lead me to believe this is true.. Cool for me more hours. Bad for us, we don't have the fucking room to do it. We don't have the culture of put shit away, so when it gets busy our backroom around the line it literally grid locks where we can't physically move without some big shuffling and wasting 20-30min playing tetris with vehicles.

I know I’ve said this a lot in the past and turned out to be wrong...but it’s not possible to put a full-sized ESFS in every store right now. Imagine your main stockroom. Now imagine shoving ALL of that shit elsewhere and turning the entire thing into storage for online-only items. That’s what an ESFS backroom is like, and that’s why it’s so far been reserved to only the biggest backrooms.

The rumblings I've heard is that each store will have some smaller online-only items in the BR. My store has a backroom small enough that we couldn't be ESFS originally, but they've been clearing out aisles on our light duty side (our SFS area is on the bulk side) saying it's for "future SFS space".

Now that makes more sense. I can definitely see that happening.

What fill group does web-only merchandise at ESFS stores fall under?

There’s a tiny “W” on the pick label somewhere, but after it’s detrashed you just have to guess.

 

[Bosch]

SFSFun I hope to hell you are right. Cause when it rolled out originally our STL pushed hard to get it in our store, but we were turned down cause our BR was to small..

But we also know spot tends to forget reasons why things are the way they are and just jump feet first and figure out how and where to land later.. And most of the time, its not soft cool water, its a fucking cactus. And we get stuck pulling out the spines..

 

[JohnSith373]

SFSFun I hope to hell you are right. Cause when it rolled out originally our STL pushed hard to get it in our store, but we were turned down cause our BR was to small..

But we also know spot tends to forget reasons why things are the way they are and just jump feet first and figure out how and where to land later.. And most of the time, its not soft cool water, its a fucking cactus. And we get stuck pulling out the spines..

@SFSFun

There’s a tiny “W” on the pick label somewhere, but after it’s detrashed you just have to guess.

After it’s detrashed and you scan the barcode, won’t myWork give the ‘not sold in stores’ page?

 

[H2Owned]

@SFSFun


After it’s detrashed and you scan the barcode, won’t myWork give the ‘not sold in stores’ page?

Yes the mydevice will tell u if it is an online only item but the Pdas didnt... so back when ESFS started it was hard to tell...

 

[Moosechives]

After it’s detrashed and you scan the barcode, won’t myWork give the ‘not sold in stores’ page?

Yes the mydevice will tell u if it is an online only item but the Pdas didnt... so back when ESFS started it was hard to tell...

At least when ESFS first started, it was all tied to a dummy floor location. For us, it was FF77. Also, not sold in stores more tells me that the item is NOT in my web only assortment. The only way to tell if it's mine or not is the "W" on the pick label or "Sold Online Only" in MyWork in tiny font under the item description. What makes it more fun is the fact that the majority of my web only also shows up as "In Stock at (x)" on Target.com so guests call all the time asking if they we have a web only item in stock they can pick up. Finally, at some point, someone in leadership will probably get the idea to walk up and down your aisles and pull stuff for their front or back endcaps on the sales floor (tying it if you're lucky). Regardless, if it gets unlocated, then you get it all in the NOP portion of the batch and you'll have to walk up and down web only aisles, clearance end caps, the regular aisles, backstock. None of it is RFID enabled either so you can expect about 3-5% higher INF than other non ESFS stores. I'm still waiting for a master DPCI list so i can finally 0 out the crap we haven't had for months so we can stop getting frickin orders for it...

 

[ServerError404]

In the news, via the Wall Street Journal:
Target Tests Retail ‘Flow Center’ for Faster, Nimbler Distribution - https://www.wsj.com/articles/target-tests-retail-flow-center-for-faster-nimbler-distribution-1526299200

“The aim is to pare what Target calls its replenishment cycle from days to hours and reduce inventory at stores, especially at the retailer’s new small-format stores and locations in denser urban areas. The approach, now in pilot mode at a warehouse in Perth Amboy, N.J., also uses the same pool of inventory to replenish stores and fulfill online orders, a depar
ture from Target’s existing supply chain.

Under the operation Target is testing at the New Jersey facility, called a “flow center,” the company sends shipments to stores more frequently and in smaller lots tailored more precisely to demand rather than shipping big cases of products, Preston Mosier, Target’s senior vice president of global supply chain and logistics field operations, said Thursday at an industry conference in New York.”

 

[hufflepuff]

No gripper tape/bags in that box, either.

 

[BigEyedPhish]

If i packed a box like that i'm not sure the guest would even get it.
Also gotta love that the litter is outside considering you put on of those damn things in the box and its 3/4 full already.

Not to mention food, with Chemicals, and none if it is wrapped.

The whole neighborhood, finally can have, its Tide dinner, that is all the rage these days.

 

[JohnSith373]

Not to mention food, with Chemicals, and none if it is wrapped.

You can ship food and chemicals in the same box, but you have to bag all the chem to make sure it separated.

 

[Thunderbird1956]

They are tossing a bunch of ideas at the wall to see what sticks. SFS literally was shoved in corners in most backrooms. The long term plan with modernization is Just In Time delivery but to the store and to the guest. Both would shrink the backroom. Both need the DC to get their act together.

Web only is still supposed to be split by fillgroup but it's 2 or 3 fillgroups per aisle. The profile is completely different than the standard c types Target uses for most aisles. You should get hours to reprofile, if they use those hours for that or not is a different question.

The W on the pick label does not mean it's online only, just that the item is intended for web sale so based on in store sales the W items can have a floor tie. Right now we have planograms for shoes that are web only. It means these shoes are on the floor and not RFID enabled. Softlines if it's online only doesn't have a RFID tag even if it's labeled for one. Breakout for softlines will be a pain as web only comes in bags that have a barcode on the bag. If not done correctly you'll essentially have a clearance rack of web only things pushed to to floor that are all not RFID enabled.

Web only should not end up on the floor if it does they are doing your break out wrong or the DC is sending it in the wrong repack. Web only doesn't fall into any audit batches because they have no floor locations so you're responsible for that. My tests show if it's not in your onhands it won't sell even if it has a backroom location, so the only way to purge is through doing a full aisle audit.

The flow TL and LOG need to not push NOP items to the floor thinking it's transitional. Most web only only have 2-6 eaches per DCPI, if they send enough to fill an endcap it will be a web only sale and go out all in 1 or 2 days. Some genius tied our web only to an endcap. Ever seen 2 pallets of diapers go out in a day and you again have an empty endcap? Tubs may fit down an aisle but 10 baby diapers will never fit in a cart let alone down the aisle.

There is talk of more types of batches, such as web only batches as everything in those should be in the backroom, or softlines only batches, so every order would have a softlines item.

Target is thinking of trying to load shape, meaning some ESFS stores will be baseload, smaller ones will be variable. 50% over forecast means something different if you're scheduling 8 people a day than if you're scheduling 3. That way instead of getting 22 hours last min the big stores will always be constant orders (I'm sure exceptions with advanced warning will be made) and the smaller SFS locations will get the additional.

The new design of the pack stations appear to be much better in minimizing movement and increasing efficiency.

I'm sure I'll update this or add more information at some point.

 

[SFSFun]

Breakout for softlines will be a pain as web only comes in bags that have a barcode on the bag. If not done correctly you'll essentially have a clearance rack of web only things pushed to to floor that are all not RFID enabled.

Wow that has got to suck! I never thought about that before.

Target is thinking of trying to load shape, meaning some ESFS stores will be baseload, smaller ones will be variable. 50% over forecast means something different if you're scheduling 8 people a day than if you're scheduling 3. That way instead of getting 22 hours last min the big stores will always be constant orders (I'm sure exceptions with advanced warning will be made) and the smaller SFS locations will get the additional.

They already do that to a certain extent. If you check the order flow report first thing in the morning each day and sort it by percent to forecast, you'll see the same stores consistently around the forecast amount. I was always jealous of those stores...

 

[Thunderbird1956]

@SFSFun if they did that effectively you wouldn't see a enhanced and non enhanced at the same or close to the same percent over forecast. If you compare the percent under forecast to the percent over forecast it makes no sense for a 500 unit store to be 105% and a 200 unit store to be at 85%. I'm the majority of sales for the district but I shouldn't also be the overage. When I split by the percentages far more stores are under forecast then should be. A lot of the smaller SFS should be closer to forecast instead of be consistently under or fluctuate more wildly, but the metric should reflect that variability.

 

[Moosechives]

"If they did that effectively" is an understatement. My entire district is 15-20% over forecast every day and we're all 400-500 units a day.

 

[SFSFun]

I've been out of the loop for a while, so it's possible things have changed. I know my store would start off slow before getting the bulk of the orders in the afternoon, often running way over forecast by late evening. Meanwhile the stores that were right around 100% at 6am were still there by the end of the night, and they were able to complete their workload because nothing else dropped in.

 

[ServerError404]

If i packed a box like that i'm not sure the guest would even get it.
Also gotta love that the litter is outside considering you put on of those damn things in the box and its 3/4 full already.

Is that box packed with brown paper towels you find in the bathroom

 

[Dog]

I’m sure someone has already answered this but does anyone know how to get back into an OPU batch if it kicks you out? I tried “no cart” or w/e and then tried scanning the cart but it just says “cart already in use.” Tried 3 different zebras and restarting the move app but to no avail lol