Archived Silly questions that need answers!

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A couple yrs back, they ran $1389. Not sure what they cost now.
 
If I'm wrong in any part of this answer, please feel free to correct me as its a lot of information covering a large portion of how the system works.

To the first part of your question, zeroing out an item impacts the store directly by causing the DC to fulfill and satisfy the OTL by creating a label batch for it. Think of it as the same thing happening the store when you create an EXF for an empty location and the backroom pulls it to fill the empty shelf space. All departments labels generally drop at 12:00PM Distro time, although it can vary from DC to DC based upon their capacity. An exception to this rule would be a label-trap at the DC for like Trim-A-Tree, in which even though pre-ties would have already been sent in, the system will not drop the labels for the TAT push until a defined date.

In regards to any direct differences, generally the OTL already dictates of what is being pushed from the DC to the store.

All departments are eligible to drop labels at the DC. There is no minimum requirement of DPCI's needed to drop a department. If a DC has the item OH, it will become OO to the store and drop on the next label dump.

Addressing the pecking order, yes and no. The more modern DC's that have a shoe sorting system have a special algorithm in place that manages inventory flow a lot better and tends to evenly distribute things a lot better to its assigned stores. So when like the cold weather is approaching and OTL's are assigned to stores for like, ice melt, the system will try its best at keeping a relatively level inventory level with all of its stores by constantly monitoring the OH's, OO's, WTD sales, current OTL's, etc. Other DC's without the shoe sorter system seem to push out product based upon the store volume, sometimes causing a drastic difference of OH's between high and low volume stores assigned to it. 'The Spot' has seemed to get a lot better in terms of managing the flow of merchandise through its pipeline more properly and handling the distribution of it much smoother. However, sometimes it can also end in complete disaster, like OTL's accidentally being assigned from HQ to '0', resulting in basically the DC dumping ALL of its currently OH's of a DPCI to the poor store. (This is a two-sider with an OTL set to zero. It can interpreted by the system as 'null' and this results in all the OH's from the DC being pushed. This bug is a direct result from the coding for the ITA application that is used. The other side is that it could also be read as it meant to be, Zero. So basically nothing will push from the DC for the DPCI as a result of this. I recall several years ago there was a glitch where all the OTL's for stores were accidentally set to zero from HQ. This basically resulted in outbound completely shutting down at all the DC's because no labels were dropping because the system was thinking, "Oh, all the stores are satisfied because none of them have reached their OTL." This lasted a couple days before the OTL's were restored correctly.)

MSPK or Mispicks actually work and play a dual role. They adjust the OH's for the product on the DCI label of what it thought was in the box to the correct amount and alerts the DC that mis-labeling had occurred. Generally a stray box here or there won't garner any attention as we're all humans prone to error, but if multiple stores start reporting MSPK's on the same DPCI, then typically they begin to investigate what is happening.
 
konk: from first hand experience it can be as simple as the box flipping over when coming off an auto-depal. without specifics on the exact label that was placed on the bottom of a carton, none of the DC staff here will be able to give you an exact answer. next time give us a photo.

Thanks. It's just one of those things you notice more when it happens than when it doesn't. I'm sure it's 50/50. Or some way to say that for 6 sides of a box.
 
A bit random, but how do repack boxes get distributed to stores ie how does the system know which items go into the correct repacks and how does the system know which store gets which repack?
 
After the repack is filled by the girls in the packing mod's they apply a label to it that has your store # in bar code format, then when its on the conveyor system a scanner reads this bar code, allowing the repack to be properly diverted to the sorter chute assigned to your store.
 
Thanks for the info Sarakiel, cleared up some questions nicely. The reason I asked about on hands in relation to OTL's was the change in store scanning to research only. We have become alot more aggressive scanning grocery and HBA on a daily basis which has included focusing more on critical low items. So just for clarification entering zero or a number for a item below presentation minimium would generate a label batch inclusion if the DC has the item based strictly on the OTL of the item?
 
OK, good catch HLM because I wouldn't have a clue about an answer to that without consulting a Logistics GL
 
I apologize for over reaching here HLM, thought a DC person could shed light on how data we send from store level impacts what your DC sends to stores with more specifics. If you can redirect me to a thread where answers in the line of questions would be more appropriate HLM it would be appreciated
 
Rugrat, I'm just a well paid peon. I'm not saying I can't find the answer just that in my job role I don't interact with the process or the freight. If I see a logistics GL I'll be more than happy to ask.
 
Thanks for the info Sarakiel, cleared up some questions nicely. The reason I asked about on hands in relation to OTL's was the change in store scanning to research only. We have become alot more aggressive scanning grocery and HBA on a daily basis which has included focusing more on critical low items. So just for clarification entering zero or a number for a item below presentation minimium would generate a label batch inclusion if the DC has the item based strictly on the OTL of the item?

OK, good catch HLM because I wouldn't have a clue about an answer to that without consulting a Logistics GL

I apologize for over reaching here HLM, thought a DC person could shed light on how data we send from store level impacts what your DC sends to stores with more specifics. If you can redirect me to a thread where answers in the line of questions would be more appropriate HLM it would be appreciated

Rugrat, I'm just a well paid peon. I'm not saying I can't find the answer just that in my job role I don't interact with the process or the freight. If I see a logistics GL I'll be more than happy to ask.

This link may answer your question on counts:
http://www.thebreakroom.org/showthread.php/3837
Thanks green shirt!
 
I second the comment on circling the right numbers on repacks. And stop putting shoes with towels and spices with sporting goods. It's not even the same department number. With all the repacks I get, it might as well be combo packs.
 
As for the stacking of water on top of PIPO, outbound members really don't care. Honestly. If they can start their shift, load stuff as fast as possible, then cover it up with "nice walls" they will do it.
 
Here's a silly question.

Why oh why are the repacks not discarded when they are held together with a lick and a prayer?

I can't tell you the number of times I've picked up a repack from the truck line, to have the bottom break open and all the contents spill all over the floor.
 
couldn't tell you, inspecting the repack is part of the packers job, but as productivity quota's increase things are going to get worse over time
 
As for the stacking of water on top of PIPO, outbound members really don't care. Honestly. If they can start their shift, load stuff as fast as possible, then cover it up with "nice walls" they will do it.
In response to your negative statements about outbound team members above. I am a Target outbound team member and I follow all best practices when loading trucks during my shift. We constantly talk about the correct procedures and best practices everyday at startup and after each break. As in any company or operations you will have those who just don't care and give people reason for blaming all and stereotyping all as the same. I am not a crappy worker and take pride in what I do. Have a blessed day.
 
As for the stacking of water on top of PIPO, outbound members really don't care. Honestly. If they can start their shift, load stuff as fast as possible, then cover it up with "nice walls" they will do it.
In response to your negative statements about outbound team members above. I am a Target outbound team member and I follow all best practices when loading trucks during my shift. We constantly talk about the correct procedures and best practices everyday at startup and after each break. As in any company or operations you will have those who just don't care and give people reason for blaming all and stereotyping all as the same. I am not a crappy worker and take pride in what I do. Have a blessed day.
I'll bet your GLs will love when you print that response out and show it to them.

If you take pride in putting boxes in a dirty, dingy, dark truck. More power to ya. You're not going to get paid more than the person next to you that takes less effort. As long as the boxes are in the truck by end of shift, the day goes on.
 
As for the stacking of water on top of PIPO, outbound members really don't care. Honestly. If they can start their shift, load stuff as fast as possible, then cover it up with "nice walls" they will do it.
In response to your negative statements about outbound team members above. I am a Target outbound team member and I follow all best practices when loading trucks during my shift. We constantly talk about the correct procedures and best practices everyday at startup and after each break. As in any company or operations you will have those who just don't care and give people reason for blaming all and stereotyping all as the same. I am not a crappy worker and take pride in what I do. Have a blessed day.
I'll bet your GLs will love when you print that response out and show it to them.

If you take pride in putting boxes in a dirty, dingy, dark truck. More power to ya. You're not going to get paid more than the person next to you that takes less effort. As long as the boxes are in the truck by end of shift, the day goes on.
I don't own a printer. I do enjoy doing the right thing though.
 
As for the stacking of water on top of PIPO, outbound members really don't care. Honestly. If they can start their shift, load stuff as fast as possible, then cover it up with "nice walls" they will do it.
In response to your negative statements about outbound team members above. I am a Target outbound team member and I follow all best practices when loading trucks during my shift. We constantly talk about the correct procedures and best practices everyday at startup and after each break. As in any company or operations you will have those who just don't care and give people reason for blaming all and stereotyping all as the same. I am not a crappy worker and take pride in what I do. Have a blessed day.

Nothing wrong with caring about your work, whatever it is, and wanting to do the best job you can.
I imagine it must be frustrating to watch people just dump things in the truck and not give a damn about doing it correctly.
What I'm curious about, is why does it happen so consistently?
They can't all be losers with no sense of work ethic.

Are there work constraints that make it necessary to dump and run?
Do people find themselves pressured to perform beyond their scope and push items into the truck that cause the kind of damage we see even though they know better?
What do you think causes these problems beyond just poor behavior?
 
@Scott Mckown, welcome to The Break Room! It's great to hear from an outbound TM who cares about their quality of work - like the flow TM who pushes to the piece, FIFOs, and always checks 2nd locations.

Would you be willing to provide any insight as to how your team handles ISM pallets when loading trucks?
 
Do people find themselves pressured to perform beyond their scope and push items into the truck that cause the kind of damage we see even though they know better?

Sometimes yes. I think other times it's just retaliatory, same as the store really.

I imagine it must be frustrating to watch people just dump things in the truck and not give a damn about doing it correctly.

Thats the problem with the way low skill work is now days, you have no real incentive to work any harder then others on your team. Doing the bare minimum to skate buy gets you just as far and makes you just as much as the person who busts their ass and does an amazing job. Bring back opportunities for advancement or offer financial compensation for great performance and you will see a change, but I realize that kind of management philosophy is quite dead.
 
Thats the problem with the way low skill work is now days, you have no real incentive to work any harder then others on your team. Doing the bare minimum to skate buy gets you just as far and makes you just as much as the person who busts their ass and does an amazing job. Bring back opportunities for advancement or offer financial compensation for great performance and you will see a change, but I realize that kind of management philosophy is quite dead.

Hallelujah Amen *bows to trowa03
 
Regarding the ISM loading it is always loaded on store prefered side, unless there are heavy PIPO days and we get approval to side by side pallets throughout the truck. My DC services 80+ stores. On somedays we can get an average of 6-8 pallets per store along with the nonmerch pallets. You multiply that by 8- 10 stores per team member, plus the noncon pallets and the conveyable boxes that come down the chutes for you to build walls with and it can get quite hectic. The tractor trailer loads traveling up and down the roads, well things do shift. Probably alot of damage occurs because a truck closes at less than 100%. The stores are on a schedule to get 3 loads per week, regardless if they are full or not. When that trailer is on the cut list and the team member knows that time, they will clear they conveyor line and put on any pipo and nonmerch sitting in the aisle. I believe that most damage is done due to unfull trucks.
 
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