OM Training for Inbound

[vadersubaru11]

I’m moving to inbound as an OM and the their is basically no formal training. I’m being trained by people who haven’t been trained on how to train someone.
Does anyone have any tips on slotting art trailers or determining why CPM is low?

 

[WHS]

I’m moving to inbound as an OM and the their is basically no formal training. I’m being trained by people who haven’t been trained on how to train someone.
Does anyone have any tips on slotting art trailers or determining why CPM is low?

@Hal ?

 

[InboundDCguy]

There are written “instructions” on how to do every function in ART, where TMs should shift if there isn’t anything for them to do in their assigned function, etc.
Find it, study it, go over it at startup, hold people accountable.
How bad is your cph?

 

[Luck]

I’m moving to inbound as an OM and the their is basically no formal training. I’m being trained by people who haven’t been trained on how to train someone.
Does anyone have any tips on slotting art trailers or determining why CPM is low?

CPM being low is a wide variety of factors. For one, some product is simply more favorable than others. Trailers of Sterlite will reduce your CPH whereas trailers full of lots of small boxes will increase it.

Thoroughout will also be affected by what Depal is doing. Depending on how your Mezzanine is set up. Coordinating with the Depal POC on timing unloading UDC trailers that clog up the Mezz is very important for the Inbound team.

Also very noteworthy is how full the warehouse is. Inbound will come to a standstill if the WHS team cannot empty the docks because there is no space in the WHS for it.

Slotting trailers from what I have learned is actually not that hard. The docks are set up to handle different types of trailers/freight. You mainly focus on the more important live unloads and judge when it is better to move a trailer to the non-con dock vs unloading it and having it GPMed to the non-con area.
You will coordinate with OB how many UDC trailers they can take that day and may need to up/down adjust that number based on the eb and flow of the day.

Really the leads will he able to handle a lot of the minutiae and can hopefully offer more insight on strategy that works for your DC.

 

[Avocadioo]

I’m moving to inbound as an OM and the their is basically no formal training. I’m being trained by people who haven’t been trained on how to train someone.
Does anyone have any tips on slotting art trailers or determining why CPM is low?

👍

 

[Hal]

I’m moving to inbound as an OM and the their is basically no formal training. I’m being trained by people who haven’t been trained on how to train someone.
Does anyone have any tips on slotting art trailers or determining why CPM is low?

I'll lead off with IB is probably my weakest department as far as job knowledge. Most of what I know is from the dispatch side, a quality perspective from playing in ICQA for a bit and IBs downstream impacts on other departments (WHS, OB, MBP)

From a productivity standpoint (CPM, CPH, etc) your biggest opportunity is going to be using the knowledge vault and finding the IB standard work bundles and learning them and using the audits to ensure your team is following standard. Once you familarize yourself with the content, which is tough because IB is a beast, you should slowly become more and more able to recognize gaps and opportunities in your team.

Eventually you'll be able to look at a TM performing a process and realize that something they're doing is wrong and start honing in on that.

Also ask your team and your lead tons of questions with genuine curiosity and actually listen to what they say. "Why did you perform the task that way? Why did you do it this way instead of that way?" Helps your team feel like you actually value their input and side bonus you can figure out real quick who your bullshitters are and who your actual performers are real quick.

Another thing you learn is that A) TMs are underperforming because the freight is "bad" or B) the freight is "bad" so the TMs are choosing to underperform. It sounds the same but if I walkby a TM at 70% and they look like their working their ass off, it'll be a very different conversation than the other TM who's at a 70% and looks like they haven't done anything all day.

At the end of the day being an OM is more on the job learning, and there's a fairly steep learning curve. I learned far more after being in role than I did in training because realistically they can't teach you everything in 8 weeks, and it was probably a solid 3-6 months before I didn't feel like an imposter, pretending to be an OM and I already worked for Target for years prior to being an OM.

 

[vadersubaru11]

There are written “instructions” on how to do every function in ART, where TMs should shift if there isn’t anything for them to do in their assigned function, etc.
Find it, study it, go over it at startup, hold people accountable.
How bad is your cph?

Our CPM on Monday was about an 8.8 for the shift. It was a terrible night. Apparently I planned to much reserve.
Quick question for ya! How do I know what to say when the PC asks “IPO?” During pre shift?

 

[Grunt]

I'll lead off with IB is probably my weakest department as far as job knowledge. Most of what I know is from the dispatch side, a quality perspective from playing in ICQA for a bit and IBs downstream impacts on other departments (WHS, OB, MBP)

From a productivity standpoint (CPM, CPH, etc) your biggest opportunity is going to be using the knowledge vault and finding the IB standard work bundles and learning them and using the audits to ensure your team is following standard. Once you familarize yourself with the content, which is tough because IB is a beast, you should slowly become more and more able to recognize gaps and opportunities in your team.

Eventually you'll be able to look at a TM performing a process and realize that something they're doing is wrong and start honing in on that.

Also ask your team and your lead tons of questions with genuine curiosity and actually listen to what they say. "Why did you perform the task that way? Why did you do it this way instead of that way?" Helps your team feel like you actually value their input and side bonus you can figure out real quick who your bullshitters are and who your actual performers are real quick.

Another thing you learn is that A) TMs are underperforming because the freight is "bad" or B) the freight is "bad" so the TMs are choosing to underperform. It sounds the same but if I walkby a TM at 70% and they look like their working their ass off, it'll be a very different conversation than the other TM who's at a 70% and looks like they haven't done anything all day.

At the end of the day being an OM is more on the job learning, and there's a fairly steep learning curve. I learned far more after being in role than I did in training because realistically they can't teach you everything in 8 weeks, and it was probably a solid 3-6 months before I didn't feel like an imposter, pretending to be an OM and I already worked for Target for years prior to being an OM.

What is this knowledge vault and how does one access it?

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

What is this knowledge vault and how does one access it?

Workday.?

 

[Hal]

What is this knowledge vault and how does one access it?

You should be able to access it on any tablet or computer in the warehouse.

If not go to the inside target homepage/SharePoint and search knowledge vault and then "standard work tools."

Its not located on workday

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

You should be able to access it on any tablet or computer in the warehouse.

If not go to the inside target homepage/SharePoint and search knowledge vault and then "standard work tools."

Its not located on workday

I thought it was in the training section of workday,

 

[Hal]

I thought it was in the training section of workday,

It is not. Knowledge vault is specifically for DCs similar to Workbench for stores.

 

[Dcnewb4now]

CPM being low is a wide variety of factors. For one, some product is simply more favorable than others. Trailers of Sterlite will reduce your CPH whereas trailers full of lots of small boxes will increase it.

Thoroughout will also be affected by what Depal is doing. Depending on how your Mezzanine is set up. Coordinating with the Depal POC on timing unloading UDC trailers that clog up the Mezz is very important for the Inbound team.

Also very noteworthy is how full the warehouse is. Inbound will come to a standstill if the WHS team cannot empty the docks because there is no space in the WHS for it.

Slotting trailers from what I have learned is actually not that hard. The docks are set up to handle different types of trailers/freight. You mainly focus on the more important live unloads and judge when it is better to move a trailer to the non-con dock vs unloading it and having it GPMed to the non-con area.
You will coordinate with OB how many UDC trailers they can take that day and may need to up/down adjust that number based on the eb and flow of the day.

Really the leads will he able to handle a lot of the minutiae and can hopefully offer more insight on strategy that works for your DC.

Very good rundown, but depending on how strict your dc is, you won’t have a choice but to throw a udc. Expectation is that they are completed 4 hours after arrival.

 

[Hal]

Very good rundown, but depending on how strict your dc is, you won’t have a choice but to throw a udc. Expectation is that they are completed 4 hours after arrival.

So that's not quite accurate. Its four hours from when the appt is opened. The clerical can hold off on opening the appt. They just don't because Inbound OMs want production and one or two people can destroy a UDC in an hour if they push and its 2k to their plan.

 

[Dcnewb4now]

So that's not quite accurate. Its four hours from when the appt is opened. The clerical can hold off on opening the appt. They just don't because Inbound OMs want production and one or two people can destroy a UDC in an hour if they push and its 2k to their plan.

I must have misread what our od sent out. I thought he said from when it arrived.

ob is such a struggle. “How much over will you go on non con flow”. Ib shrugs. Lol

 

[Avocadioo]

The knowledge vault is old news.

 

[aifbeewert]

I was an IB TM for my first ~18 months at target and can say that once we got a new set of OMs the entire department went to shit. Every day become working transfers and sterilite and floor loads/ART trailers on the manual dock combined with grilling us about prod at startup - it completely killed morale and lead to a good portion of the department quitting or jumping ship to other dept/keys. I suspect other keys were just shifting garbage to our key once they realized we had an entirely new team and our OMs put up with it without knowing better - don't let that happen and you should have a much easier time.

 

[Hal]

The knowledge vault is old news.

It is not old news. It is literally all our standards for every department in each the building types is updated regularly as well as new standard work bundles updated regularly.

It is the sole source of truth for how a process should be performed, and all standard work documentation is listed there.

 

[LiftHeavy]

First and foremost, congrats on getting the OM position!

Working in ART, I would recommend the looking out for the following to improve CPH:
1. If the container is pallet loaded, make sure Unloader A and Unloader B are effectively transitioning from pallet to pallet without any down time. Once the unloaders get half way done with the current pallet, one unloader ought to continue throwing while the other one is prepping the next pallet by cutting the shrink wrap and moving out empty pallets/trash. When the line is backed up, one of the unloader should flex out and assist the line processors to get the line cleared ASAP, whether it be assisting building pallets, changing out cage carts, receiving pallets, stack and push, XSing, etc. Unloaders play the biggest factor in maintaining a high CPH especially with a high flow trailer.

2. Streamline the XSing process -- the person that should be the main person XSing should be the fastest one on the line. He or she should be able to run at least 10CPH by themselves receiving, labeling, and putting cartons in the cage cart -- once they clear the line of XSes, they should quickly flex to building pallets. My observation is often times the slowest/laziest people will jump on to do XS and take 5-10 minutes to XS 10-15 cartons so they don't have to work hard. If the line is completely backed up with onsies and twosies, I recommend having the entire line processors jump on -- 1 person should organize the line by DPCIs, 1 person ought to be receiving, and 1 person ought to be applying labels and throwing them into the cage cart.

3. Have your trainers train TMs to quickly recognize when a trailer has to be moved to the NCN dock. Everyone on the line should be trained to know how to end appointment, switch appointment, and move trailers to the NCN dock after they notify the LWW/OM to avoid downtime changing to adjacent trailer. That means the line leader should be checking the contents of the container using the jump code RAQ before starting a trailer and they should routinely check in on the unloaders.

4. Switch out your TMs routinely from ART, manual dock, and modified manual dock to prevent burnout and quiet quitting. Bad behaviors/foul attitude will infect a line or the set and it will be very hard to turn that culture around.

5. Just remember your CPH isn't end all be all -- there are other things to think about such as turnover time, gaps, etc. Some trailers will be a nightmare to work, but I believe on the system it shows you the expected time it would take to finish a trailer. Not really accurate, but you know if you have a low density truck your line will probably have a rough night, or a trailer with big cartons (sterlite, fruit of the loom, sleeping mat/bags) will just naturally result in low CPH.

It has been awhile since I worked Inbound, but those are the things I would always look out for.

 

[Grunt]

The knowledge vault is old news.

Please elaborate.

 

[Luck]

Please elaborate.

Avacado man is above the rest of us. He already knows all. He had the iPhone 14 three years ago. His level of relevance goes way beyond what mere mortals could hope to ever achieve.

 

[WarmBody]

Switch out your TMs routinely from ART, manual dock, and modified manual dock to prevent burnout and quiet quitting. Bad behaviors/foul attitude will infect a line or the set and it will be very hard to turn that culture around.

A suggestion: ASK your team members what they actually like to do. Some may like a rotation, some might like manual dock all day every day, and some might hate one position that's usually rotated into but don't care otherwise what they do.

Pay attention to people's faces when they see the staffing list. Do they roll their eyes or look visibly upset when they see what they're doing? You can tell if they don't like something if you watch for it.

I'm not saying everyone should get to do what they want all the time, but having the TMs actually enjoy what they're doing for 10/12 hours makes a huge difference in morale.

 

[Gabrigawr]

What is this knowledge vault and how does one access it?

Try this:
Open Chrome
Type go/knowledgevault
If that doesn't work than you have to type it like this:
H TT P://go/knowledgevault
It will send you directly to knowledge vault. Once you do it once with HTTP you don't have to put that and can just use go/-destination-
It works at my DC so can't say it will work but I think it may. If not good suggestion to implement cause it makes it so much easier