Repacks - tips and tricks.

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Nov 9, 2014
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Share your efficiency tricks and tips for pushing Repacks (ssz) from the truck. What habits do you do to make pushing quick and easy in your dedicated area? How quickly can you clear a uboat? Looking for ideas to help my team get better. All areas need help.
 
For beauty, I like to sort by brand/aisle onto a three tier and detrash in the back if possible before pushing product. It makes it a lot faster for me, and more motivating, watching a uboat full above my height turn out to only have two carts worth of products. Also can be applicable to Chemicals + HBA.
 
For domestics I load the bottom 2 shelves of a uboat and leave the top empty. As I unpack I put out bedding and set bath aside on the top. Then after I have the top full I move down to bath and put that all out. Then I unpack and put bath away and set bedding aside. Then as a shelf empties of repacks it becomes a backstock shelf. And so on and so on. Same goes for Stationary. Hba is a different beast. lol. Those are the only areas I’ve ever helped with.
 
One of my friend works mostly on repacks. What she does is , take 5-6 repacks on a flat to floor and she takes one box at a time and dump everything in a smart cart/ three tier. She said it makes moving around easier and work efficiently.
I work in market and we might have only 1-2 repacks mostly spices and some loose snacks or baking stuffs. So it’s pretty much easy for me.
 
For pharmacy and personal care, I load my u-boat with like-numbered boxes (and I check to make sure the DC circled the right number). So all my 1s are together, 5s together, etc. I start push with the 20s because everything in them goes down one aisle only and I can clear out space on my u-boat quickly and have room for back stock. Having one smallish empty box each for plastic and paper/cardboard keeps trash contained; the plastic gets dumped into a bag when the box gets too full.
After the 20s are done, I sort all the repacks of another number onto the middle shelf of the u-boat and push from that, taking 2 or 3 cellophane-wrapped products in hand at the same time to the same small stretch. So I'll take packs of band-aids or vitamins or whatever with me, de-trashing just before stocking. Depending on the aisle and how heavy guest traffic is, I'll park my vehicle in the aisle or at the end.
My TL says I'm the fastest she's seen at doing repacks (and she's been there for probably 15-20 years) because I'm super-efficient. Not to say I'm perfect! But I like to say I'm basically a lazy worker, in the sense that I don't like to make more work for myself. I know my DBO area quite well so I rarely need to scan to know where something goes. Do it right, do it fast, get it done, and get myself gone to the next thing on my schedule.
 
One of my friend works mostly on repacks. What she does is , take 5-6 repacks on a flat to floor and she takes one box at a time and dump everything in a smart cart/ three tier. She said it makes moving around easier and work efficiently.
I work in market and we might have only 1-2 repacks mostly spices and some loose snacks or baking stuffs. So it’s pretty much easy for me.
But with “modernization” you can only use 1 vehicle for freight, backstock, and cardboard. Flats are discouraged. 😂
 
But with “modernization” you can only use 1 vehicle for freight, backstock, and cardboard. Flats are discouraged. 😂
Our store seems fine with flats. We still have atleast 3 flats in market which we take to the floor. Only when there is a visit they will insist on one vehicle.
 
For pharmacy and personal care, I load my u-boat with like-numbered boxes (and I check to make sure the DC circled the right number). So all my 1s are together, 5s together, etc. I start push with the 20s because everything in them goes down one aisle only and I can clear out space on my u-boat quickly and have room for back stock. Having one smallish empty box each for plastic and paper/cardboard keeps trash contained; the plastic gets dumped into a bag when the box gets too full.
After the 20s are done, I sort all the repacks of another number onto the middle shelf of the u-boat and push from that, taking 2 or 3 cellophane-wrapped products in hand at the same time to the same small stretch. So I'll take packs of band-aids or vitamins or whatever with me, de-trashing just before stocking. Depending on the aisle and how heavy guest traffic is, I'll park my vehicle in the aisle or at the end.
My TL says I'm the fastest she's seen at doing repacks (and she's been there for probably 15-20 years) because I'm super-efficient. Not to say I'm perfect! But I like to say I'm basically a lazy worker, in the sense that I don't like to make more work for myself. I know my DBO area quite well so I rarely need to scan to know where something goes. Do it right, do it fast, get it done, and get myself gone to the next thing on my schedule.

My DBO in Pharm is having difficulty getting their repacks done in a timely manner. They rarely ever get to their freight. How long do you think it takes you to do a full Uboat of Pharmacy repacks?

Also, you say you don't scan, but are you aware that there are items that have different barcodes, which ties it to different locations, but they're the same items (OLLY vitamins does this often, for instance, the Sleep pills have 4 locations, and three different barcodes depending on the location). Does this mean you also don't EXF while you push to ensure accurate On-Floor and Capacities?
 
My DBO in Pharm is having difficulty getting their repacks done in a timely manner. They rarely ever get to their freight. How long do you think it takes you to do a full Uboat of Pharmacy repacks?

Also, you say you don't scan, but are you aware that there are items that have different barcodes, which ties it to different locations, but they're the same items (OLLY vitamins does this often, for instance, the Sleep pills have 4 locations, and three different barcodes depending on the location). Does this mean you also don't EXF while you push to ensure accurate On-Floor and Capacities?

I was told a while back that the average time to push a repack in my area is 10 minutes. And that's about right if there's not a lot of guest traffic. But I don't do it the way corporate says I should; way back when this first started, I was told to work a repack entirely before moving to another one. Forget that; with a 5, I'm in the feminine care and first aid aisles mostly, but there's other stuff in there too. Which is why I'll sort all of the 5s out onto the u-boat at the same time. It happens often enough that I'll find one each of a product in 3 different repacks from the same truck, so I sort first then push.
And yes, I quickly check bar codes for items that have more than one location. Right now I have Olly vitamins in the home location, plus a side cap, plus on those white display fixtures on wheels. (In previous non-retail jobs, I had to do a lot of proofreading of numbers and spreadsheets, and maybe that helps me be faster with checking UPCs against the shelf label.) Plus a couple kinds are on a cough & cold end cap.
I check EXF for products where I have back stock, but not for every product on the truck every day. That would take forever. And I'll check EXF when I'm pushing my 1 for 1 batches if more comes out than what will fit. If I identify a problem with capacity or floor count, I'll fix it then, but I don't go looking for problems. That said, I've learned the hard way that it's a good idea to check capacity and floor count when I set a sales planner or do a revision because a lot of the new capacities are wrong and then a boat load gets pulled from the back - and a whole lot gets re-back stocked. If I don't have time to do it right then, I'll try to get it done during my next shift. Waiting too long just makes things worse.
 
I was told a while back that the average time to push a repack in my area is 10 minutes. And that's about right if there's not a lot of guest traffic. But I don't do it the way corporate says I should; way back when this first started, I was told to work a repack entirely before moving to another one. Forget that; with a 5, I'm in the feminine care and first aid aisles mostly, but there's other stuff in there too. Which is why I'll sort all of the 5s out onto the u-boat at the same time. It happens often enough that I'll find one each of a product in 3 different repacks from the same truck, so I sort first then push.
And yes, I quickly check bar codes for items that have more than one location. Right now I have Olly vitamins in the home location, plus a side cap, plus on those white display fixtures on wheels. (In previous non-retail jobs, I had to do a lot of proofreading of numbers and spreadsheets, and maybe that helps me be faster with checking UPCs against the shelf label.) Plus a couple kinds are on a cough & cold end cap.
I check EXF for products where I have back stock, but not for every product on the truck every day. That would take forever. And I'll check EXF when I'm pushing my 1 for 1 batches if more comes out than what will fit. If I identify a problem with capacity or floor count, I'll fix it then, but I don't go looking for problems. That said, I've learned the hard way that it's a good idea to check capacity and floor count when I set a sales planner or do a revision because a lot of the new capacities are wrong and then a boat load gets pulled from the back - and a whole lot gets re-back stocked. If I don't have time to do it right then, I'll try to get it done during my next shift. Waiting too long just makes things worse.

Sounds like you are the perfect DBO for OTC. Wanna come to my store and show my TM how it's done?

Seriously though, you do sound like you have a grasp on it. What's your average time on a uboat then? If 10 minutes, that's about 2 hours (12X10).

Do you get your 1-4-1s, freight and backstock done too during your shift? We have our DBO scheduled 4hrs. Sounds like it's possible to do all of that in that time.
 
Sounds like you are the perfect DBO for OTC. Wanna come to my store and show my TM how it's done?

Seriously though, you do sound like you have a grasp on it. What's your average time on a uboat then? If 10 minutes, that's about 2 hours (12X10).

Do you get your 1-4-1s, freight and backstock done too during your shift? We have our DBO scheduled 4hrs. Sounds like it's possible to do all of that in that time.
I've been in my area since way before modernization, so I know it well. And I have a head for detail, so all those varieties of little things like Old Spice and vitamins is right up my alley. That average time probably works better on a weekday than a weekend when we have more guest traffic.
I do personal care; another TM does pharmacy, but I often end up finishing her push (plus zone & back stock) and scan both of our areas for outs and audits. (I've posted in the TTOTM thread about her passive-aggressive behavior because she doesn't like how her job has changed with modernization, so don't want to go into all that blah-blah again here.) Anyway. She has a 4-hour shift and rarely finishes. I have a 6.5 hour shift (not including lunch) and always finish my area plus what she doesn't get done. And I generally do the sales planners and revisions for both our areas.
 
I've been in my area since way before modernization, so I know it well. And I have a head for detail, so all those varieties of little things like Old Spice and vitamins is right up my alley. That average time probably works better on a weekday than a weekend when we have more guest traffic.
I do personal care; another TM does pharmacy, but I often end up finishing her push (plus zone & back stock) and scan both of our areas for outs and audits. (I've posted in the TTOTM thread about her passive-aggressive behavior because she doesn't like how her job has changed with modernization, so don't want to go into all that blah-blah again here.) Anyway. She has a 4-hour shift and rarely finishes. I have a 6.5 hour shift (not including lunch) and always finish my area plus what she doesn't get done. And I generally do the sales planners and revisions for both our areas.
It seems a bit weird . How many repacks you get on a truck ? And how many case packs ? My girls get on average 30-40 repacks on personal care alone and about 4-6 uboats of case packs . 141 are always in 150 dpcis . And otc gets about half of repacks of hba and 2 uboats of freight. But my team are schedule 4 am to 12:30 so yeah they get it done . But with only 4 hours wouldn’t be able to make it.
 
Share your efficiency tricks and tips for pushing Repacks (ssz) from the truck. What habits do you do to make pushing quick and easy in your dedicated area? How quickly can you clear a uboat? Looking for ideas to help my team get better. All areas need help.
Do you have secondary sort going at the same time with the truck? I use metro racks at my store and repacks gets broken down and detrashed by aisles in Waco’s .
 
Do you have secondary sort going at the same time with the truck? I use metro racks at my store and repacks gets broken down and detrashed by aisles in Waco’s .

Our store does secondary sort for A&A only; scheduled under inbound.

HBA/Beauty team members do a sort (beauty cart and 3-tiers) when they start their shift, but that's part of their Beauty hours.

No other SSZs have secondary sort and are pushed straight from repacks.

I have asked my OTC DBO to at least resort their repacks so that when they pull their uboat out, they can wave through from aisle to aisle without needless additional steps. It takes them about 15 minutes to resort, but they don't do any detrashing or anything like that until they push. I condenses repacks down, but fills them completely. So, they are pushing very full repacks and average a full uboat (12 repacks) after condensing.
 
It seems a bit weird . How many repacks you get on a truck ? And how many case packs ? My girls get on average 30-40 repacks on personal care alone and about 4-6 uboats of case packs . 141 are always in 150 dpcis . And otc gets about half of repacks of hba and 2 uboats of freight. But my team are schedule 4 am to 12:30 so yeah they get it done . But with only 4 hours wouldn’t be able to make it.
We're a low volume store. Last truck, we had, I think, 4 repacks of personal care and 11 of OTC plus 2 more for OTC that were single product (Ricola cough drops and something else in another box). Case pack count I don't really know, but it wasn't heavy, probably less than 1 totally full u-boat for each. It wasn't a big truck, but it's unusual to have more than 1 full u-boat for each of HB01 and Pharm.
I wish we started at 4 am, but we don't. I start at 6, only because I have another job that I have to get to; the preference would probably be for me to start at 8, which is when my co-worker starts.
The 1 for 1's vary widely; sometimes they're surprisingly small.
 
We're a low volume store. Last truck, we had, I think, 4 repacks of personal care and 11 of OTC plus 2 more for OTC that were single product (Ricola cough drops and something else in another box). Case pack count I don't really know, but it wasn't heavy, probably less than 1 totally full u-boat for each. It wasn't a big truck, but it's unusual to have more than 1 full u-boat for each of HB01 and Pharm.
I wish we started at 4 am, but we don't. I start at 6, only because I have another job that I have to get to; the preference would probably be for me to start at 8, which is when my co-worker starts.
The 1 for 1's vary widely; sometimes they're surprisingly small.
Shit that’s it? I get 9 trucks a week and my girls always come clean . Then is no excuse for your team not to finish all in less than 4 hours .
 
Our store does secondary sort for A&A only; scheduled under inbound.

HBA/Beauty team members do a sort (beauty cart and 3-tiers) when they start their shift, but that's part of their Beauty hours.

No other SSZs have secondary sort and are pushed straight from repacks.

I have asked my OTC DBO to at least resort their repacks so that when they pull their uboat out, they can wave through from aisle to aisle without needless additional steps. It takes them about 15 minutes to resort, but they don't do any detrashing or anything like that until they push. I condenses repacks down, but fills them completely. So, they are pushing very full repacks and average a full uboat (12 repacks) after condensing.
For hba and otc your repacks should be already sorted off the truck , and put on a uboat and worked as is. Like let’s say I would do otc I fill my uboat and go to the aisle with cough drops because that’s what I have in my repack I stock that and if I have band aids in the same repacks I leave it in , finish that repack and move to the next aisle which is not the band aid aisle but still some bandaids in that repack I just throw it in the previous repack and so forth until I reach that aisle . I’m not going to make additional steps to get to a different aisle for one item I just sort as I go in repacks .
 
This is what my first truck for tomorrow has in for otc and hba without counting the 31 repacks for beauty. And second one hasn’t dropped yet. But all I know is that they would come clean by the time they are off at 12:30
 

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For hba and otc your repacks should be already sorted off the truck , and put on a uboat and worked as is. Like let’s say I would do otc I fill my uboat and go to the aisle with cough drops because that’s what I have in my repack I stock that and if I have band aids in the same repacks I leave it in , finish that repack and move to the next aisle which is not the band aid aisle but still some bandaids in that repack I just throw it in the previous repack and so forth until I reach that aisle . I’m not going to make additional steps to get to a different aisle for one item I just sort as I go in repacks .

That's the ideal process for sure. Touching the product the least amount of times. Sadly, the reality is, my OTC person is still too green. They've been in role for about a month now. They're still learning their area. IDK how long your DBOs have been in role, but it does sound like you understand the system well enough to have guided them along the way.

I'm going to talk to my ETL about adding OTC to the secondary sort process, might give the DBO a better chance at getting through their push quicker and coming clean.

Sounds like you run a tight ship over there. Kudos. Guessing you've been doing the modernization process from the start. My store only has a few TLs that were around from the beginning of the modernization process. We are still working out the kinks of who to schedule and process to the guide. It's been a constant struggle in all areas. Right when we think we've figured it out, something else comes along. The DSD is a regular figure in the store these days. It's kind of annoying actually.

I appreciate the insight though. All good info.
 
That's the ideal process for sure. Touching the product the least amount of times. Sadly, the reality is, my OTC person is still too green. They've been in role for about a month now. They're still learning their area. IDK how long your DBOs have been in role, but it does sound like you understand the system well enough to have guided them along the way.

I'm going to talk to my ETL about adding OTC to the secondary sort process, might give the DBO a better chance at getting through their push quicker and coming clean.

Sounds like you run a tight ship over there. Kudos. Guessing you've been doing the modernization process from the start. My store only has a few TLs that were around from the beginning of the modernization process. We are still working out the kinks of who to schedule and process to the guide. It's been a constant struggle in all areas. Right when we think we've figured it out, something else comes along. The DSD is a regular figure in the store these days. It's kind of annoying actually.

I appreciate the insight though. All good info.
My dbos are the former overnight sort crew they been with spot for 20 years and naturally they don’t even use devices due to their experience . Don’t get me wrong they were very much against the process imagine sorting in guest carts for 20 years and now wanting something different . But either way when I asked something they respond you are the boss and I just work here lol . In reality is we all just work to what the company wants and figure it all out. I do hope you have at least 2dbos for hba right?
 
Sounds like you run a tight ship over there. Kudos. Guessing you've been doing the modernization process from the start.
I’ve transferred stores 2 times in less than 10 months now I’m back to my home store due to the DTL wanting me back because the store giving push back to modernization . The other store I was at it’s the one I started the process . So going back to my home store was a bit of a battle for them to understand why I want the things done a certain way. But we are there like I said when I come in at 3 am my line is clean and current with 9 trucks a week.
 
My dbos are the former overnight sort crew they been with spot for 20 years and naturally they don’t even use devices due to their experience . Don’t get me wrong they were very much against the process imagine sorting in guest carts for 20 years and now wanting something different . But either way when I asked something they respond you are the boss and I just work here lol . In reality is we all just work to what the company wants and figure it all out. I do hope you have at least 2dbos for hba right?

I have 1, kinda. Beauty handles the bulk of HBO2 (Hair Care, Face, Skin and Bath). The new HBO DBO does HBO1 (Men's Personal / Women & Family Personal / Oral Care / Trial & Travel), but they're a transplant Beauty TM, so not new to the area, but new to owning a department alone.
 
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