Archived Instocks metrics

[supbro]

I'm at a C volume pfresh store which uses roughly the following system for Instocks scans: (sorry for the long post)
For four days of the week, we will either shoot new non-dotted holes, complete RIGS, and toggle to EXF for our batches (read below before you murder me for this "cheating strategy") or just run through areas of the store with EXF to clean up after other teams, fill bulk areas, or clean up before a rescan. At least we try to use our best judgement with that, and it is working well. The ad set is one of these days, we'll obviously find ad outs on this day also yada yada.

For the rest of the week, we have three rescan days. The store is split up between these days half of hardlines, the other half, and infant hardlines + softlines on the third day. On these days, we scan every dotted out and non-dotted out in those areas and change the counts (we're still cautious of drastic changes or problem areas). Our numbers aren't awful, but our scans with locs (the compiled score that includes count updates, scans after 11, outs, etc.) isn't consistently green and we're just missing it now.

So I'm one of three Instocks TMs, all of which are seasoned and able to make good decisions about where unknown On-hands may be residing and when to leave a count alone and revisit it; we're careful on truck days, etc. With this said, the three of us almost always account for over 80% of our weekly scans. We also have a few others that fill out our days and are trying to get our trained softlines tm more involved with the tables and what they have time for.

Before I get too involved, let me say that I would love to use best practice and use EXFs sparingly but to stay green it's not practical for us. The accumulator is taken care of (at least on our end) by requesting the correct quantities and resetting it when needed. So EXFs aren't exactly what I want to discuss, it's more how to allocate the scan schedule to get the best balance of scan volume, scans with locs, a practical & efficient process, and count updates.

I've discussed with our flow tl the idea of changing our schedule to 5 days of a full-scan (holes, and dots too in research; no toggling to exf) and splitting the store into 5 sections for these days. This way multiple teams can coordinate a preliminary focus on push, backstock and (if we maybe have time) an exf in that area. I believe if we can get a light, consistent schedule like this in place it would only require 1-2 hours from each team to totally prepare the area (remember it's only one or two blocks of the store for each day so it's light).

Aside from this single block that would get a full scan on that day, we would shoot the rest of the store's new outs only in research while toggling to exf to be practical with numbers. With our drastic count report, we will typically complete it 2-4 times per week if it needs attention. If we make drastic count changes on smaller areas each day, it could be worked each day and would in theory be more efficient because of pathing.

My main question is, is there any disadvantage to splitting the store into 5 parts of researching for pulls (with preparation explained above) compared to how we currently have it (3 days of researching for pulls, and sort of just here and there mostly toggling on the others). I feel it would keep all teams on the same page of cycling their 'leftover' workload, unlocated backstock, push sitting in the back and it would keep each part of the store accurate for just as long as it is now.

Phew, hope I didn't miss anything, sorry for the rambling and long post but I would appreciate any thoughts or ideas 🙂

 

[researchr]

I don't think there is a disadvantage. With the hours being cut the way they are we do not complete a rescan of hardlines in one day. Whatever we didn't get to gets postposted till the next day. If push isnt' completed for an area in hardlines I postpone it's rescan to another day. In a sense we are now doing what you propose but it is not on a designated schedule. If the whole store gets scanned once a week, I don't think it matters what day.

 

[Rarejem]

I'm at a C volume pfresh store which uses roughly the following system for Instocks scans: (sorry for the long post)
For four days of the week, we will either shoot new non-dotted holes, complete RIGS, and toggle to EXF for our batches (read below before you murder me for this "cheating strategy") or just run through areas of the store with EXF to clean up after other teams, fill bulk areas, or clean up before a rescan. At least we try to use our best judgement with that, and it is working well. The ad set is one of these days, we'll obviously find ad outs on this day also yada yada.

For the rest of the week, we have three rescan days. The store is split up between these days half of hardlines, the other half, and infant hardlines + softlines on the third day. On these days, we scan every dotted out and non-dotted out in those areas and change the counts (we're still cautious of drastic changes or problem areas). Our numbers aren't awful, but our scans with locs (the compiled score that includes count updates, scans after 11, outs, etc.) isn't consistently green and we're just missing it now.

So I'm one of three Instocks TMs, all of which are seasoned and able to make good decisions about where unknown On-hands may be residing and when to leave a count alone and revisit it; we're careful on truck days, etc. With this said, the three of us almost always account for over 80% of our weekly scans. We also have a few others that fill out our days and are trying to get our trained softlines tm more involved with the tables and what they have time for.

Before I get too involved, let me say that I would love to use best practice and use EXFs sparingly but to stay green it's not practical for us. The accumulator is taken care of (at least on our end) by requesting the correct quantities and resetting it when needed. So EXFs aren't exactly what I want to discuss, it's more how to allocate the scan schedule to get the best balance of scan volume, scans with locs, a practical & efficient process, and count updates.

I've discussed with our flow tl the idea of changing our schedule to 5 days of a full-scan (holes, and dots too in research; no toggling to exf) and splitting the store into 5 sections for these days. This way multiple teams can coordinate a preliminary focus on push, backstock and (if we maybe have time) an exf in that area. I believe if we can get a light, consistent schedule like this in place it would only require 1-2 hours from each team to totally prepare the area (remember it's only one or two blocks of the store for each day so it's light).

Aside from this single block that would get a full scan on that day, we would shoot the rest of the store's new outs only in research while toggling to exf to be practical with numbers. With our drastic count report, we will typically complete it 2-4 times per week if it needs attention. If we make drastic count changes on smaller areas each day, it could be worked each day and would in theory be more efficient because of pathing.

My main question is, is there any disadvantage to splitting the store into 5 parts of researching for pulls (with preparation explained above) compared to how we currently have it (3 days of researching for pulls, and sort of just here and there mostly toggling on the others). I feel it would keep all teams on the same page of cycling their 'leftover' workload, unlocated backstock, push sitting in the back and it would keep each part of the store accurate for just as long as it is now.

Phew, hope I didn't miss anything, sorry for the rambling and long post but I would appreciate any thoughts or ideas 🙂

This is actually how it used to be completed. When the task lists became part of the routine, that changed. I am not certain what the rationale was, but I do know that when this was rolled out instocks was a big focus, there was payroll, and team members that understood the process integrations were chosen for the team. Most of that is no longer true. I'm not really sure how to answer the question since I don't truly know why it was changed from this.

 

[murphyslaw]

Quite honestly I feel like there's no distinct answer about many things regarding instocks. I have had issues in the past and asked different TLs, read best practices and such but everyone seems to have different answers on how instocks should be done or how a certain thing needs to be improved. There are stores that do things to get to green but disregard best practices(which is the battle you're facing), and those that do things the "right" way and prepare their defense arguments when something isn't improving fast enough and is in the red. Sometimes it just feels that the old research schedule was way better due to the fact that you can focus on certain areas and scan others later. The new way is good for one thing-updating counts on a regular basis and catching any discrepancies, but there's just too much confusion and individual store problems that can get in the way of how it is supposed to be done. I think your idea of splitting it is good, but I would still minimize your use of EXFs. Wish I could tell you more.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

It depends on process & store size.

 

[InStalker]

This is my first official post here!

Anyway, I'm facing problems in my store as far as trying to get our scores out of the red. I'm one of those types of people that needs to do things the right way rather than taking shortcuts and I'm certain that, if we fixed a few process errors and got the rest of the team leads on board, we can fix it the right way. With that said, things may be getting easier for everyone on instocks soon. The other day I found something on My Support that said there was an update to the instocks task list that would be rolling out (at least for our store) at the end of May.

One of the major things included in the update is that the task list will direct the instocks team to certain departments on certain days based on sales. It sounds like it will essentially be going back to the old process minus the OUTS that would appear in the list. It will still be all research all the time.

If that's the case, that would be a huge help to our store given the fact that we get the bare minimum for payroll hours, I'm in an 'A' volume store, and at least a couple days out of the week, I'm the only person scanning the ENTIRE store. Yes, by myself. Most days I barely have time to finish RIG's and maybe a single block of aisles in research. Don't ask me how the ETL's expect one person to make a significant impact on the store. It makes no sense. And that's barely scratching the surface of the problems with our store.

 

[commiecorvus]

Welcome InStalker.
Greetings and salutations.

 

[InStalker]

Thanks! I forgot to add: Substitute signs will now start printing with the home location on it, so there will no longer be a need to look up the location in NOP before scanning the sign. Although, I will miss killing all that time looking up those locations and scanning in signs while I listen to music...

 

[researchr]

This is my first official post here!

Anyway, I'm facing problems in my store as far as trying to get our scores out of the red. I'm one of those types of people that needs to do things the right way rather than taking shortcuts and I'm certain that, if we fixed a few process errors and got the rest of the team leads on board, we can fix it the right way. With that said, things may be getting easier for everyone on instocks soon. The other day I found something on My Support that said there was an update to the instocks task list that would be rolling out (at least for our store) at the end of May.

One of the major things included in the update is that the task list will direct the instocks team to certain departments on certain days based on sales. It sounds like it will essentially be going back to the old process minus the OUTS that would appear in the list. It will still be all research all the time.

If that's the case, that would be a huge help to our store given the fact that we get the bare minimum for payroll hours, I'm in an 'A' volume store, and at least a couple days out of the week, I'm the only person scanning the ENTIRE store. Yes, by myself. Most days I barely have time to finish RIG's and maybe a single block of aisles in research. Don't ask me how the ETL's expect one person to make a significant impact on the store. It makes no sense. And that's barely scratching the surface of the problems with our store.

Changing how the instocks team is directed in the task list sounds like an excuse to cut even more hours. As for the home location being on the sub signs, I tie them to the aisle where the item being substituted is because it may not be in an aisle where there are sale signs already and may be missed. If the location for the sub isn't on the sign you still have an excuse to look up the locations and listen to music! 🙂

 

[InStalker]

This is my first official post here!

Anyway, I'm facing problems in my store as far as trying to get our scores out of the red. I'm one of those types of people that needs to do things the right way rather than taking shortcuts and I'm certain that, if we fixed a few process errors and got the rest of the team leads on board, we can fix it the right way. With that said, things may be getting easier for everyone on instocks soon. The other day I found something on My Support that said there was an update to the instocks task list that would be rolling out (at least for our store) at the end of May.

One of the major things included in the update is that the task list will direct the instocks team to certain departments on certain days based on sales. It sounds like it will essentially be going back to the old process minus the OUTS that would appear in the list. It will still be all research all the time.

If that's the case, that would be a huge help to our store given the fact that we get the bare minimum for payroll hours, I'm in an 'A' volume store, and at least a couple days out of the week, I'm the only person scanning the ENTIRE store. Yes, by myself. Most days I barely have time to finish RIG's and maybe a single block of aisles in research. Don't ask me how the ETL's expect one person to make a significant impact on the store. It makes no sense. And that's barely scratching the surface of the problems with our store.

Changing how the instocks team is directed in the task list sounds like an excuse to cut even more hours. As for the home location being on the sub signs, I tie them to the aisle where the item being substituted is because it may not be in an aisle where there are sale signs already and may be missed. If the location for the sub isn't on the sign you still have an excuse to look up the locations and listen to music! 🙂

Arbitrarily cutting hours to save payroll is stupid, yes. Streamlining the technical processes in the store in order to be more efficient is just good business sense. They're essentially implementing a process that I imagine most of us already follow anyway. That still doesn't mean I'm excited at the prospect of more hours being cut. Besides, who knows exactly what the knew process will be like anyway. It could be that we will be able to hit the priority button to sort out the important departments for the each day. That would make the most sense anyway.