Archived *****InStocks Best Practice!*****

[mrknownothing]

And after doing some more research I've realized how wrong I was. TheManInRed is right. When the EXF is bigger than the sales accumulator quantity, the sales accumulator is reset to the EXF quantity. If the EXF is for less than the accumulator, the sales accumulator quantity stays the same.

But then there another link that just says EXFs are added to the accumulator and doesn't make mention of if it is above or below the original SA qty.

I stand corrected as well.

 

[TheManInRed]

And after doing some more research I've realized how wrong I was. TheManInRed is right. When the EXF is bigger than the sales accumulator quantity, the sales accumulator is reset to the EXF quantity. If the EXF is for less than the accumulator, the sales accumulator quantity stays the same.

But then there another link that just says EXFs are added to the accumulator and doesn't make mention of if it is above or below the original SA qty.

 

[sigma7]

So, TheMan, maybe you can clarify...

If the SA for widgets is at 10 and I put in an EXF for 12, the SA need would change to 12 and an EXF for 12 widgets would drop into the gun. When the widget EXF is pulled, (ignoring any ghosts which could make the pull smaller and cause extra product to flow to the floor with the next truck, or casepack rounding which would possibly make the pull larger but still satisfy the SA need), the accumulator is back at 0 (10 changes to 12, 12-12=0). Does the EXF need to be pulled before other batches since it is independent or does it really matter? If the EXF for 12 is still sitting in the gun when the hourly CAFs drop, and there is a batch that needs 6 widgets. If the CAF batch gets pulled first and the EXF second would it look something like 10 changes to 12, 12-6=6, 6-12=0 (obviously 6-12=-6, but using SA logic, the SA can't go below 0)? This would result in overpulling, but the accumulator would still be right. Does "independent of other batches" just mean that the EXF request stays at the same amount and will not update as other batches are pulled? I think that's what it means, but I just want to clarify.

And then with the possibility that the EXF request is less than the SA need...
Does this mean that if the SA is at 10 and I enter an EXF for 6 which is all that will fit on the floor, the SA will stay at 10, an EXF for 6 widgets will drop into the gun, and when it gets pulled then it looks something like (10 stays at 10, 10-6=4). So the new SA is 4 even though nothing will fit on the floor at this time?

And even with the second example, do EXF need to be pulled before the next round of CAFs or autofills to ensure data integrity?

 

[TheManInRed]

sigma,
It shouldn't really matter, because anything that you EXF on the floor should be empty, or so empty that it should never trigger a pull. I need to do a little more research into this. I would think that your EXF batch stays the same, and everything else drops into CAFS. The reason that I say this is because I have seen items that I have EXF'd get pulled through the CAFS when manuals were pulled.

In your second scenario your EXF for 6 widgets when the SA is at 10 would create a pull for the SA need (10). Yes, this will create an overpull for more than will fit on the shelf (4). The 4 must be sent to the back to be backstocked. Since you satisfied the SA need when you pulled 10 it should be back to 0 and it will not pull again until sales create the SA need. This can happen from overpushing by the flow team, or whoever is pushing CAFS. This is why you get SA need when the shelf is still full.
Endcaps that have been built but not tied can cause issues with the accumulator too.
Sorry for the delay on the response, my brand new computer is fried so I'm waiting on a new one.

 

[sigma7]

Np. Thanks for responding ManInRed. EXFing makes more sense now. The issue in my store with EXF (and many others in my district) is that EXFs were being shot just to make things look fuller and it was creating a lot of problems. We used to EXF every endcap daily on the closing shift. People were way over requesting and we didn't have stuff, endcaps got torn down and then the product came in. In my experience it is just a lot of extra work.

But now we never use it. And if the DTL does a walk and scans grey dots in a new set and they don't have a research date, **** hits the fan. Research really is the most efficient way to make sure the floor is full, counts are accurate, and the sales accumulator is accurate. With the hours and the way it looks like things are heading, especially after our PFresh remodel, data integrity is super important. DATA INTEGRITY!!!!!!

 

[seasonal]

When researching an aisle, and the rain check pops up and you have to make a sub, can you do it with promotional items or no? I was scanning some items to make a sub, and it said that the sign was going to be set up for promotional or something around that.

 

[kingpin003]

That means the other item is in the ad, already rainchecked or potentially in next week's ad and they don't want it to sell out. Hit 'Y' and try something else until you find something that works.

 

[seasonal]

ty king.

 

[seasonal]

double post yay -___-. Ok so i am new to instocks, and iv'e been "training" a bit at my store. Here is some Q's i need help on.

1.) When i first started doing instocks, they told me to only scan the outs, and when i scanned an out, i have to put the OH# the PDA says we have even though it is empty. He said to do that because i don't have a lot of scans or w/e. lol what???????? He doesn't even want me to do critical lows.

2.) When doing a substitute and you scan the sign in, why does my leader want me to scan it in a location that doesn't exist in our store, instead of it's actual location?

3.) When you go into stand alone research, do you have to select an aisle or can you just scan any out?

Thanks! ^__^

 

[greydotgal]

I am not sure what your store has you do and why. My store has us scan the outs and critical lows. Anytime the location is empty using the instocks app, we are to enter 0.

When scanning in sub signs, we use the aisle number that the sign is in.

You can just start scanning in stand alone without choosing an aisle. Just be careful with the second location beep. If there is a second location, count the on hands for all locations to prevent a drastic count.

 

[seasonal]

hmmm this is really odd.

 

[InStalker]

I'm not entirely sure how ad take down works but my bet is that your lead wants you to scan them into fake locations to make the take down process easier. I only say that because I think they have to scan those signs out when they take them down, and if they're all technically located on the same aisle, the team can run down each aisle, grab the signs, and scan them out without having to toggle to different aisles for each sign. Unless they don't have to scan them out, in which case, I have no idea why your lead would have you do that. :huh:

 

[flwbkrinstks]

I am a logistics team leader in a high volume store. The main problem I have with subt 9999 is that team members, once they know how to do it, will tend to over use the method. The only time I feel subt 9999 should be used is right after Plano sets. You shouldn't be using it for anything else. Subt9999 is avoiding the root cause of your replenishment issues. It also makes it difficult to hold team members accountable because it doesn't attach a name to the product being located and so detail reports become useless. The in stocks process should be used for fixing problems. Most of the time if your flow teams back stock is being audited properly and back room team members during the day are pushing to the piece and not burning batches you shouldn't have too many real issues. Someone said they were having two flats of back stock from their trucks. My question is how big are your trucks? If you're really having that much challenge then you should notify your ETL LOG or ETL Replenishment and partner with them on finding the root cause. If you can't come up with anything and you're still having a ton of challenge and your cafs are pulling the same things over and over again, I suggest my supporting the issue and seeing if HQ can helps find a solution.

 

[flwbkrinstks]

BTW here is some info about my store: we're an over night process. Back room starts at 10:30 and flow at 11. We get 7 DC trucks a week with the average being 1750. Our auto fills average around 13,000. We have two flow team leads, me(back room) and a logistics team leader day for instincts/ back room. We have an ETL LOG and ETL REPLEN. I run both the flow and back room four out of seven days and the other three just back room. I also direct the dayside back room team and check in with in stocks when I see them. They come in at 7 am and I leave at 7 am. We take food trucks over night as well, which average around 500. We get three a week. Our scans with love right now is green only and so is our back room location accuracy.

 

[flwbkrinstks]

Edit**in stocks. Scans with locs

 

[flwbkrinstks]

We're also PFresh and do 60 mil.

 

[flwbkrinstks]

Also, and I know this can be frowned upon, but... Manual caf'ing is a great way to supplement the system pulls to help full your floor. We manual caf at least 10 fill groups every day. It helps keep the auto fills in check and has helped is drive our scans with locs% down.

 

[flwbkrinstks]

Just one quick tip for log tl's. make sure the total store team is utilizing store tie. This will help with proper freight flow and account for the extra capacity in the SA.

 

[seasonal]

when you're scanning outs and you run across an item with multiple locations right next to it, and one of the locations is empty do you still scan that as an out if you can't flex any in from the other locs?

 

[kingpin003]

Not in outs, no. Outs tells the system that you need the full capacity to fill the floor. Lets use an extreme example. There are 40 pegs for hot wheels, but you only have enough product to fill 35 pegs. Outs will set the accumulator high enough to completely fill all the pegs. When that product comes in on the truck, you will get excess push because it is pushing 35 eaches more than your true need.

 

[stupid rules]

I was under the impression that you shouldn't be scanning outs any longer, now you just do your rigs and research the store. Am I wrong?

 

[seasonal]

i thought researching and scanning outs are the same thing pretty much.

 

[sigma7]

i thought researching and scanning outs are the same thing pretty much.

Research changes the accumulator to match what's on the floor and will change counts on items if they are off. Outs just sets the accumulator to 0 being on the floor.

 

[seasonal]

i'm still an instocks newbie, ( not my main dept btw) but i scanned something in market and it said the OH #s were like 125 or some crazy number, and there was none out there or even a second location, If i zero'd that out would that ding the instocks report? That's a lot to zero out.

 

[mrknownothing]

i'm still an instocks newbie, ( not my main dept btw) but i scanned something in market and it said the OH #s were like 125 or some crazy number, and there was none out there or even a second location, If i zero'd that out would that ding the instocks report? That's a lot to zero out.

If they are backstocked, then it would affect your scans w/ loc score. If not, then it would be a drastic count change. Ask your Instocks TL for advice in this situation, as different stores handle this differently.