Archived Flow team and end caps

[buxboy]

Just wondering if anyone else's flow team utterly sucks stocking end caps? Because it's awful at my store, to the point where they overstock the home location and the end cap is left bare and crappy looking.

I asked how I could help encourage my other team members to fill them but it didn't really go anywhere.

 

[Targetron]

But how would the Backroom get any backstock if flow started filling endcaps

 

[buxboy]

With how overstocked most locations are I'm surprised my back room even gets any backstock anyway.

 

[signingminion]

We tend to be the other direction. Double stacked, sideways, laying down on top of the first row. Plus they "flex" any other similar brand/item into the far right space and squish over the rest of the product as much as possible. I once had the entire permanent Kcup endcap filled with wrong product. The only thing on POG was the display keurig machine.

 

[Redzee]

But how would the Backroom get any backstock if flow started filling endcaps

Well there's that but seriously we want to stock properly

 

[Redzee]

Just wondering if anyone else's flow team utterly sucks stocking end caps? Because it's awful at my store, to the point where they overstock the home location and the end cap is left bare and crappy looking.

I asked how I could help encourage my other team members to fill them but it didn't really go anywhere.

No equipment.

 

[semantics]

No equipment.

Yup equipment for every other position as they need it more, so flow gets shafted when other teams are working at the same time. So unless you really drive home to every team member which items are on end caps they get skipped a bit. Then it gets worse when dayside flexes in other items and tags change but it wasn't tied, then no one knows what goes where.

 

[JimmyTarget]

No equipment.

You don't need equipment to see what's on endcaps. When you enter a section simply look at what's there.
You literally only need 2 eyes and 1/10th of a brain.
Sadly that's too much to ask for.

 

[Redzee]

You don't need equipment to see what's on endcaps. When you enter a section simply look at what's there.
You literally only need 2 eyes and 1/10th of a brain.
Sadly that's too much to ask for.

Really? I'll try to remember that.

 

[Life201]

Just wondering if anyone else's flow team utterly sucks stocking end caps? Because it's awful at my store, to the point where they overstock the home location and the end cap is left bare and crappy looking.

I asked how I could help encourage my other team members to fill them but it didn't really go anywhere.

You can't just ask or remind TMs to fill endcaps & expect it to be done.

TLs &/or ETLs should be aware of how the team is pushing & whether they are checking for other locations. Backstock should be checked BEFORE it is sent to the backroom & if there are products that need to be pushed the TM who was supposed to push those items should be instructed to finish their job properly!

If nobody is ever held accountable for failing to push properly & taught the right way to do the job - the TLs &/or ETLs are the ones not doing their jobs. If they don;t care - why should TMs care?

 

[see spot save]

You don't need equipment to see what's on endcaps. When you enter a section simply look at what's there.
You literally only need 2 eyes and 1/10th of a brain.
Sadly that's too much to ask for.

Pretty sure you can do it with one eye...

Next time I'll make sure to take some time to walk the 80 front and back endcaps and try to remember whats there while they're whipping us to go faster, as we leapfrog back and forth between chem and market (which actually means there's 160 endcaps for us to watch) and scurry around to get pallets and cages off the floor.

My TL and ETL Log sporadically audit our backstock carts, they will also let us know if the aisle we're on also has items on an endcap or at cartwell. The flow team really does need one or two mydevices for the wave.

 

[tgtguy]

You don't need equipment to see what's on endcaps. When you enter a section simply look at what's there.
You literally only need 2 eyes and 1/10th of a brain.
Sadly that's too much to ask for.

Thank you! Years and years ago...we pushed trucks and guess what ? there were no aisle numbers, no schematics and we sure as hell didn't use a pda to push. The truck still got pushed and was pushed correctly. If you push the same area every day...take a second to scan ( visually not with a pda) your endcaps notice if anything has changed etc. The pick label tells you more than enough info to push correctly, Ie second locations AND EVEN the location on exact location on the aisle. Now, a pda does make it faster and easier but you do not need one to push.

 

[konk]

The problem is that team members aren't put into the same areas every day. Everyone waves so no one thinks they can be held accountable. If areas were divided up, who would get stuck with styrofoam confetti and who would get minimal packaging grocery?

 

[Bosch]

The problem is that team members aren't put into the same areas every day. Everyone waves so no one thinks they can be held accountable. If areas were divided up, who would get stuck with styrofoam confetti and who would get minimal packaging grocery?

This by 1000. And most of the time no one is held accountable. Cues "we don't know who stocked that."

 

[semantics]

The problem is that team members aren't put into the same areas every day. Everyone waves so no one thinks they can be held accountable. If areas were divided up, who would get stuck with styrofoam confetti and who would get minimal packaging grocery?

Yup using the Wave means people hit different aisles all the time, no one feels responsible and no one is held accountable to filling end caps. You get told to go fast and faster so people don't take the 5mins when pushing tubs back to check both front and end caps for any holes. Only places that gets filled in my store are electronics and grocery because they run independent and do it their own way, having the same people every day doing the same thing helps. It's the same when people don't feel responsible for their cardboard and leave carts mixed with styrofoam and cardboard making it impossible to throw quickly.

 

[LogisticsFox]

The way my flow team does it is that there's at least 1 person following behind the wave that is auditing backstock and checking for seconds. The team also needs to have a culture where it's acceptable to challenge someone so there's at least 1 person saying 'hey, did you check X endcap? I think this will fit there'.

But yes, on the hole, flow team is pretty bad at getting product to endcaps. I have roughly 84 endcaps in market (with a cartwell promo area to boot!) and I have to constantly make sure they look full.

 

[buxboy]

I've seen a few people mention that part of the problem is that people aren't put in the same aisles every day, but I fail to see how that's actually a problem? Regardless of the aisle you're working, it should take minimal effort to eyeball the ends of the aisles to see what's on them while you're stocking. In my opinion, we should all hold ourselves accountable for this kind of thing. Flow team's job is to make sure the store is stocked and the freight is pushed properly. Endcaps shouldn't be an exception to this.

 

[Spitfire]

@Life201 took what I was going to say. It's all about accountability. Have your TL do backstock audits. Something overstocked, or not stocked to secondary locations? Pull the team member aside and set the expectation. Catch it again and coach them.

At my old store, we got a new Flow ETL to try to fix a hopelessly broken process. In a six-month span, he went from catching pallets on which over 50% wasn't legitimate backstock to trying his very hardest to catch non-legitimate backstock...and failing to find any. It starts by setting the expectation, and continues with following up to see if it's being followed and coaching when TMs fall short of it.

 

[Bosch]

In the wave they don't bother, cause to many people trying to work the same area. And they don't have to care. And they are told In-Stocks will fix it!

POG in my store has taken to that way of working as well.