I was just informed a few days ago I would be the new Flow TL at my store. I've read around on the forum a little bit and gathered some information. Can anyone give me some ideas or suggestions that would help me succeed? I have been in the front end as a GSA for nearly a year now. I'm thrilled for my new position. Yes, it might be a more challenging role than other TL positions, but I think once I formed a routine I'd be set. Any ideas or personal experience would be lovely! Thanks, everyone.
Archived New TL Logistics (Flow)
- Thread starter dogtired
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dont drink before your shift starts.
. Haha I'll keep that in mind.
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This link might help a little:
http://www.thebreakroom.org/showthread.php/2333
http://www.thebreakroom.org/showthread.php/2333
DMNDZ bruhh
Former Backroom Dayside
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good luck, flow is the largest team in the store, make sure you have eyes everywhere, and since it is early morning or overnight, you WILL get slackers
they say that the rule is one minute per box, but shorten it to 30 seconds and you cut the time in half, make sure your team understands this, and time them!
also when unloading the truck, SWITCH OUT THE PEOPLE UNLOADING IT, since this wears them out later, also a trailer should NOT take more than an hour unloading.
just observe how your flow team works, find its weaknesses and strengths, find out who are your top performers and slackers, then you will see what needs to be changed
(i used to be a flow team pace setter, team captain whatever you want to call it)
they say that the rule is one minute per box, but shorten it to 30 seconds and you cut the time in half, make sure your team understands this, and time them!
also when unloading the truck, SWITCH OUT THE PEOPLE UNLOADING IT, since this wears them out later, also a trailer should NOT take more than an hour unloading.
just observe how your flow team works, find its weaknesses and strengths, find out who are your top performers and slackers, then you will see what needs to be changed
(i used to be a flow team pace setter, team captain whatever you want to call it)
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Congratulations.
I hope the eyes in the back of your head that you developed as a GSA are in good shape cause you're gonna need them.
And don't worry about that gym membership, do your job right you're going to be building muscles in places you didn't even know you had them.
Try to oversee your team and not be an overseer.
I hope the eyes in the back of your head that you developed as a GSA are in good shape cause you're gonna need them.
And don't worry about that gym membership, do your job right you're going to be building muscles in places you didn't even know you had them.
Try to oversee your team and not be an overseer.
FlowMonkey
Former Team Member
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How big are your trucks? ours take on average 1:30-2:00 to unload 2500-3000 cartons average 9 people on unload (2 throwers we don't switch out most prefer it that way, 1 scanner, 1 pallet puller/line 5 line people) we beat our goal by a half hour to 45 minutes usually, we've beat them by an hour before.
DMNDZ bruhh
Former Backroom Dayside
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our trucks average from 2500-2800, we have 2 sometimes 3 throwers, one pallet puller,one scanner, we have about 9 people loading pallets, our flow team seems like they never hit the time goal, it usually takes them an hour and a half, even though it should only be 45 mins to an hour
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That's because you have too many people on the line. The more people you have for the entire unload process, the lower your RWT goal will be. Having 9 stackers is lowering your goal beyond what those 9 people can realistically do.
We recently had a 2500 piece truck and finished it in an hour and a half; with 8 people on the unload. 2 throwers, 1 scanner, 1 puller, 4 stackers. Because we have less people, we beat our unload time. Adding more stackers means they are likely less productive.
We recently had a 2500 piece truck and finished it in an hour and a half; with 8 people on the unload. 2 throwers, 1 scanner, 1 puller, 4 stackers. Because we have less people, we beat our unload time. Adding more stackers means they are likely less productive.
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I agree that finding a routine will be helpful. Also, be aware of the payroll your team takes (especially if you are at a lower volume store) and seek out ways to streamline and make your process more efficient. My store takes mostly 1,700-2,200 trucks on average and is scheduled 110 hours of flow tms but often has to extend about half of the tms shifts another 3 hours. That is definitely not a way to be anybody's friend when payroll has to be cut at the end of the month. Hopefully you also have a good training experience at another store with an excellent trainer.
FlowMonkey
Former Team Member
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I feel your pain, our STL said we are given 140hrs for flow yet RWT shows a goal of 200+ hours most nights yet were expected to come clean on that!?
Experiences will definitely vary from store to store. But one thing that is probably universal is having a strong start leads to a strong finish. If your unload process is flawless, then chances are, you will have a good day. Also because the team is large, be prepared to deal with a lot of different personalities. Watch out for the "old timers" aka the ones who don't do this or that because they've been on the team so long. They think they know everything and can be a pain in the ass to deal with.
Its been stated before, but make sure you work WITH your team. Hop in an aisle or help clean up. Joke around with them because when or if your etl starts acting like a jerk and the team starts to get a "f*** you" attitude, at the very least, they will stay late and work for you because you aren't the jerk that pisses them off.
Managing talent is difficult in my experience. It can take us almost half a year to get rid of no good team members. All the while they lower the morale of the harder working team members. Its harder than some people make it seem on this board to term team members for anything other than attendance or some of the more obvious reasons.
You are not God. You cannot see or hear everything that is going on during the process. Hopefully your etl isn't lazy and maybe walks the floor every now and then to ensure the bowlers are being productive while you are supervising the unload. And if your peers are *****ing about your team messing up their areas with bad zoning and not pushing to the piece or blowing payroll for the rest of the store. Don't stress out over it. They don't know how hard you have it.
I've also noticed that etls and team leads you were cool with before you switched to a.m/overnight flow or backroom turn into real assholes once you make the switch.
Your experiences may vary, and hopefully they will. The above is what I have to go through on a daily basis in addition to the stl kicking the team out early to save payroll and letting the flow leadership finish everything.
Tldr; Expect, plan, and be prepared for the worst.
Its been stated before, but make sure you work WITH your team. Hop in an aisle or help clean up. Joke around with them because when or if your etl starts acting like a jerk and the team starts to get a "f*** you" attitude, at the very least, they will stay late and work for you because you aren't the jerk that pisses them off.
Managing talent is difficult in my experience. It can take us almost half a year to get rid of no good team members. All the while they lower the morale of the harder working team members. Its harder than some people make it seem on this board to term team members for anything other than attendance or some of the more obvious reasons.
You are not God. You cannot see or hear everything that is going on during the process. Hopefully your etl isn't lazy and maybe walks the floor every now and then to ensure the bowlers are being productive while you are supervising the unload. And if your peers are *****ing about your team messing up their areas with bad zoning and not pushing to the piece or blowing payroll for the rest of the store. Don't stress out over it. They don't know how hard you have it.
I've also noticed that etls and team leads you were cool with before you switched to a.m/overnight flow or backroom turn into real assholes once you make the switch.
Your experiences may vary, and hopefully they will. The above is what I have to go through on a daily basis in addition to the stl kicking the team out early to save payroll and letting the flow leadership finish everything.
Tldr; Expect, plan, and be prepared for the worst.
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I've been a Flow TL for a little over 8 months now, extremely tough position. Coaching is harder because you cant just say "you don't have a sense of urgency" you have to have reasoning behind it, for example to many foot steps. Or like xPLUGZ said give goals times, those are easy coachings too. If you have any questions or anything let me know, I'm still learning so much and am having a tough time bringing work home with me because this position stresses me out so much. I was also a GSTL before this, so kinda same thing.
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You need to be good at holding people accountable. Set timelines and coach when needed. While you will be pushing at times you don't want to be stuck down an aisle and not knowing what the rest of the team is doing. You are a Leader, point the team in the right direction. Turn over is high in any industry that works the hours we do. Make sure you aren't running into a staffing situation. Every Flow team member should be scheduled 3-4 hours. Try different ways of working the wave until it works for your store. Like a previous poster said prepare for most of the sales floor Team Leads to turn into assholes. Everything gets blamed on Logistics. Good luck.
How can you give time goals for pushing when the store is open? You can't just say ... Have that aisle done in such a such time. What if they have to help a guest with a registry? What if a guest needs help picking out a towel? Or backup cashiering? The whole point of ULV stores processing the truck later is guest service. We are going to 730 unload in April. How do you reconcile holding someone accountable when there are so many variables?
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Did the original poster say anything about ULV? I am ignorant about how ULV works as I have never worked in any store like that. My advice was for Early AM / Overnight. Chances are if you are ULV you won't have much guests to help in the morning.
Glad to know someone up front is now in the back and on the floor! I am now a tad nervous hearing what you just said!
cihyfthedoor
Former BRTL – not working @ Target anymore! :D
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Please audit the pushing very, very, very closely. With the volume of product that flow moves each night, poor work ethic exponentially impacts how the floor looks. When inventory comes around and 4 days of superzoning ahead of time leaves you with 15-20 flats of backstock every night....that's bad. Not cool, at all, whatsoever. It's not easy or even possible for 2 flow TLs to watch 30-40 people simultaneously, and so stuff will get by....but do what you can! A backroom TM spending half of their CAF push time on the floor having to fix the overpush, and coming back with sometimes more than they left with, really puts a damper on the replenishment process.
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Im really not trying to make you nervous but your ETL team must think you can handle it, don't be nervous. My process is bad and its mostly because no one wants to change so I usually have 6-10 coachings a day. Just try to make a good routine of whats on your plate. Like cihys said remember your push audits those are extremely important and easy coachings and are highly looked at on every visit right now.
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