Archived Rigs/research

[instockout]

Seems they are getting rid of guided research in October, and moving to a rigs based system only. Assuming the stores will have more control over what areas are scanned... Or this is their way of moving away from the instocks team.

 

[keynesian]

I think they've doe this in 4th quarters prior at certain stores/regions. Its typically used to guide research by store needs as opposed to system led, since they can be so different day to day in Q4.

 

[cobycord]

I'm glad I found this, apparently the instocks hours will be able to be used so that the team can update the areas they so choose. The rigs will go up to 150/day so that'd be double what they are now.

 

[SrTLall]

The whole lows/outs part of the instocks process is useless anyways. As the systems keep getting smarter, this part of the process was bound to be phased out.

I mean, how hard is it to program the system to recognize how many on hands you have, compare that to how much of that item is backstocked, and determine how much is on the floor? If there is a discrepancy, create a RIG!

 

[Bosch]

The whole lows/outs part of the instocks process is useless anyways. As the systems keep getting smarter, this part of the process was bound to be phased out.

I mean, how hard is it to program the system to recognize how many on hands you have, compare that to how much of that item is backstocked, and determine how much is on the floor? If there is a discrepancy, create a RIG!

Its harder than it looks when capacities are wrong, flow refuses to push correctly so things are in the wrong place and the wrong amount.

Capacity 10 but flow jammed 14 in that spot, total on-hand 15. one in the back. The system won't pull it until it finds those four that are in limbo cause the system WON'T recognize items over capacity. So it does nothing. And we can't convince flow that actually pushing to capacity is kinda important. We are not given time to pull all that overstock so that the system has the correct items in the correct places.

The infant water for a back end cap, that at max could fit a dozen gallon bottles. Capacity was set at 205. It had a dozen on the shelf but at a capacity of 205 how many would have to sell before it would drop on a CAF? More than were on the shelf.

 

[keynesian]

The whole lows/outs part of the instocks process is useless anyways. As the systems keep getting smarter, this part of the process was bound to be phased out.

I mean, how hard is it to program the system to recognize how many on hands you have, compare that to how much of that item is backstocked, and determine how much is on the floor? If there is a discrepancy, create a RIG!

capacity differences in new sets, items that may not be on the floor but may not be in location in backstock either, items that may be trapped in transition, mispicks, an item being pushed as it is being scanned, an item in reshop, an item pushed to the wrong location, discontinued items that may be flexed in place of the RIG, missed salvage whose DPCI is back on POG, newly found missed salvage, missed return scan items, items that are never quantitized in the backroom, theft, items sold at register under no dpci or the wrong dpci, pogs that are set wrong, VML merchandised focals, items accidentally put with hanging softlines backstock, incomplete assortments that are backstocked, zoners trying to fill outs with the wrong item, SFS sending out the wrong item, DC sending the wrong PIPO, failed item merges, and any other known inventory issues I may have forgotten.

 

[SrTLall]

Its harder than it looks when capacities are wrong, flow refuses to push correctly so things are in the wrong place and the wrong amount.

Capacity 10 but flow jammed 14 in that spot, total on-hand 15. one in the back. The system won't pull it until it finds those four that are in limbo cause the system WON'T recognize items over capacity. So it does nothing. And we can't convince flow that actually pushing to capacity is kinda important. We are not given time to pull all that overstock so that the system has the correct items in the correct places.

The infant water for a back end cap, that at max could fit a dozen gallon bottles. Capacity was set at 205. It had a dozen on the shelf but at a capacity of 205 how many would have to sell before it would drop on a CAF? More than were on the shelf.

Over stock does not effect lows/outs

 

[instockout]

The whole lows/outs part of the instocks process is useless anyways. As the systems keep getting smarter, this part of the process was bound to be phased out.

I mean, how hard is it to program the system to recognize how many on hands you have, compare that to how much of that item is backstocked, and determine how much is on the floor? If there is a discrepancy, create a RIG!

If you've worked instocks and backroom you'd realize that system always misses stuff. There could be a location that goes empty for a while. There was a time I was the only one on instocks and I was on vacation and there was a product that went empty until I came back. The system is far from perfect. Misses things all the time, especially when the items are pipo. Pipo water and paper always get screwed up easily. Also if you have items that don't require a count in the backroom (women's clothes at my store doesn't ask for a count when backstocked) it might not pull when needed. I scanned a table in softlines and there were multiple boxes of assortments that needed to go out but never did because of lazy employees. So it also finds that.

 

[SrTLall]

capacity differences in new sets, items that may not be on the floor but may not be in location in backstock either, items that may be trapped in transition, mispicks, an item being pushed as it is being scanned, an item in reshop, an item pushed to the wrong location, discontinued items that may be flexed in place of the RIG, missed salvage whose DPCI is back on POG, newly found missed salvage, missed return scan items, items that are never quantitized in the backroom, theft, items sold at register under no dpci or the wrong dpci, pogs that are set wrong, VML merchandised focals, items accidentally put with hanging softlines backstock, incomplete assortments that are backstocked, zoners trying to fill outs with the wrong item, SFS sending out the wrong item, DC sending the wrong PIPO, failed item merges, and any other known inventory issues I may have forgotten.

System generated RIGs take care of almost everything you just listed. With the instocks team transitioning hours from shooting lows/outs to having more RIGs, the guidelines for RIG creation will only get more strict, making more RIGs.

 

[keynesian]

System generated RIGs take care of almost everything you just listed. With the instocks team transitioning hours from shooting lows/outs to having more RIGs, the guidelines for RIG creation will only get more strict, making more RIGs.

none of those things listed have to ability to generate a rig on their own: they are human errors created in the physical world in a way which cannot communicate with the digital tracking of inventory. The only ways to "generate" the rig are to either have a negative count (POS exceeds on hands), have no POS for a DPCI, or to have errors found in the backroom audit.

 

[SrTLall]

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere RIGs can be generated by odd sales trends.

Example: we usually sell 20 of these DPCIs a week, we have not sold any for 10 days, RIG created.

 

[keynesian]

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere RIGs can be generated by odd sales trends.

Example: we usually sell 20 of these DPCIs a week, we have not sold any for 10 days, RIG created.

Correct, no POS for a DPCI is a key RIG trigger.

 

[SrTLall]

That's the human error fix, no?

 

[keynesian]

That's the human error fix, no?

Not entirely, there are some things that are never located in the backroom, there are others whose regular sales trend is something on the order of 1 or 2 eaches per month, so it is unlikely a rig would generate. I think the RFID has more to do with the cutbacks than anything else - once they roll out phase two they will be able to check many more items against the "measured" on hands from the cycle count as opposed to the "system" on hands.

 

[SrTLall]

Not entirely, there are some things that are never located in the backroom, there are others whose regular sales trend is something on the order of 1 or 2 eaches per month, so it is unlikely a rig would generate. I think the RFID has more to do with the cutbacks than anything else - once they roll out phase two they will be able to check many more items against the "measured" on hands from the cycle count as opposed to the "system" on hands.

What's not located in the back? Hanging softlines? I was under the impression that all hanging needs to fit on the floor. Upstream DCs were created to help with this as well, by not sending so much to the stores that they couldn't handle it.

Visual OOS will probably always be a thing, combating those DPCIs with low sales. Low sales DPCIs rarely deviate from actual on hands either, so I doubt this would much of an issue anyways.

 

[BoxCutter]

Its harder than it looks when capacities are wrong, flow refuses to push correctly so things are in the wrong place and the wrong amount.

Capacity 10 but flow jammed 14 in that spot, total on-hand 15. one in the back. The system won't pull it until it finds those four that are in limbo cause the system WON'T recognize items over capacity. So it does nothing. And we can't convince flow that actually pushing to capacity is kinda important. We are not given time to pull all that overstock so that the system has the correct items in the correct places.

The infant water for a back end cap, that at max could fit a dozen gallon bottles. Capacity was set at 205. It had a dozen on the shelf but at a capacity of 205 how many would have to sell before it would drop on a CAF? More than were on the shelf.

Preach it, Bosch!

 

[mrknownothing]

none of those things listed have to ability to generate a rig on their own: they are human errors created in the physical world in a way which cannot communicate with the digital tracking of inventory. The only ways to "generate" the rig are to either have a negative count (POS exceeds on hands), have no POS for a DPCI, or to have errors found in the backroom audit.

I heard once that flexible fulfillment INFs also generate a RIG. Is this correct?

 

[Bosch]

I heard once that flexible fulfillment INFs also generate a RIG. Is this correct?

I have been told it does. Though I can't prove it since I don't pull flex orders to see one marked "not found" see it drop a Rig a day or a couple days later.


Not all hanging is on the floor and per orders we have been given from the group visual leader or whatever his title is, backstock hanging so that it is more shopable. Meaning don't have racks so fucking full you brush it with your elbow and half of it hits the floor. So backrooms are full of hanging backstock. Which has proven to be a good thing since our sales are going up not big but climbing. And feed back on survey and comment cards is that people can actually shop the racks versus saying fuck it cause its not worth the fight when carrying other stuff to get it off the rack.

 

[BoxCutter]

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere RIGs can be generated by odd sales trends.

Example: we usually sell 20 of these DPCIs a week, we have not sold any for 10 days, RIG created.

True, however, the system still misses
things. Countless times I have Researched an item and will have zero on-hands. When I go into the activity page there is no data for that item: no received date, no pulled date, no researched date, no sales date, none on the way, etc. And, yes, these are active items, not soon to be discontinued, not discontinued, not CLR. That item should have been ordered by the system or a RIG generated for it. But, it didn't. We will not get it in until Instocks researches it.

Also, the RIGs generated in my tasks are 98% on the floor with relatively accurate counts. Only that 2% are truly out. And, the threshold for a pull on a RIG needs to be adjusted. If a product has one SF location with an accurate capacity of 12, and there are 11 on the floor and a case of 12 in the back, do not pull that case to fill that missing one. It is a waste of the Backroom's time pulling and backstocking, and, if I'm not the one pushing it, it increases the odds someone else will over push it. The system just got a confirmation of the floor count and should only create a pull for it when the Auto pull or CAF pull threshold is triggered.

Systems are only as good as the humans responsible for them. If EVERYONE did their job and followed the system, then, yes, the systems would work well. But, there are too many humans who are more than willing to not do what they are required to do, and, Target as a company, is slow to move these TMs out, if they do at all.

When human TMs over push, miss mispicks, push to the wrong location(s), miss secondary locations, skim pulls, burn batches, don't locate items in the Backroom, etc., etc., etc. ... Then you need a human who is personally dedicated and committed to investigating , finding , and correcting these "errors." And, those humans are us, the Instocks Team.

I've said it before, and there is no evidence that the new systems have changed anything:

RIGs don't fill the floor, Research fills the floor.

 

[ISMike]

I'm glad I found this, apparently the instocks hours will be able to be used so that the team can update the areas they so choose. The rigs will go up to 150/day so that'd be double what they are now.

Only 150 a day? In stores RIG only was piloted I thought they were getting 400 or so.
Also, has anyone noticed there being less than the 85/95 DPCI worth of RIGs each day lately? I had a Sunday that was only around 50-60 total RIGs including multiple location items as well as basically every other day being less.

I heard once that flexible fulfillment INFs also generate a RIG. Is this correct?

Doesn't really seem to be the case. I've looked at my store's list of INFs for ESFS and hardly ever recognize anything on that list in what I've done for RIGs.

 

[Bosch]

Only 150 a day? In stores RIG only was piloted I thought they were getting 400 or so.
Also, has anyone noticed there being less than the 85/95 DPCI worth of RIGs each day lately? I had a Sunday that was only around 50-60 total RIGs including multiple location items as well as basically every other day being less.

I did that pilot, it only proved to me that teams in the store were shooting each other in the foot and it would never get fixed. Without someone huge changes that are never going to happen. Cause its better to have green numbers than a correct store so short cut and half ass it as long as the scores are green.

 

[instockout]

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere RIGs can be generated by odd sales trends.

Example: we usually sell 20 of these DPCIs a week, we have not sold any for 10 days, RIG created.

That's still a lot of missed sales, which should have been caught way sooner.

 

[instockout]

Only 150 a day? In stores RIG only was piloted I thought they were getting 400 or so.
Also, has anyone noticed there being less than the 85/95 DPCI worth of RIGs each day lately? I had a Sunday that was only around 50-60 total RIGs including multiple location items as well as basically every other day being less.


Doesn't really seem to be the case. I've looked at my store's list of INFs for ESFS and hardly ever recognize anything on that list in what I've done for RIGs.

We usually have around 100 on the weekends, and around that during the week and the research areas. After inventory we jump up to around 500 rigs...

 

[ISMike]

We usually have around 100 on the weekends, and around that during the week and the research areas. After inventory we jump up to around 500 rigs...

We had about 110-120 on the weekends until maybe 2 weeks ago the number of them just dropped without warning.
After inventory...yeah, that wasn't pleasant trying to finish in time with basically 2 people.

 

[hufflepuff]

Yeah, my RIGs have been acting funky lately too. Only had about 30-something this past Sunday.. completely threw me off.