Logistics The Flow/Inbound thread: Until We Yeet Again edition 🤙

FlowTeamChick said:
That's magical thinking all right. How am I supposed to finish a u-boat stacked higher than I am tall when I keep helping guests find something?
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And god forbid they grab you when you're actually in the process of unloading a box. More than once have I done that and just entirely forgotten the box I was unloading, then come by the same aisle later and remembered, oh right! I was in there! Then you spend time getting that box finished...

...and twenty minutes trying to get around guests, and when you finally get to where you need to be someone needs more help.

It's slow going enough having to keep the Uboat up my ass all the time (mainly because the efficient sorting they touted simply doesn't happen, what should have D1-15 has B, C, D....and sometimes A or E if you're really unlucky. I try to avoid taking it with me when I find one tiny box that goes to some aisle across the store, but I'm always worried I'll get a talking to by some manager or the other.

If I DO take the Uboat, I run the risk of getting flagged down by multiple guests and losing time finding whatever it is they need.
 
can't touch this said:
I can't wait for $15 an hour to hit so hours go completely extinct and the first and only thing guests see when they walk in is a bouncing tumbleweed
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Oh boy, completely extinct is how it feels now. I worked one day this week and only have one next week too. Everyone is getting this treatment and I'm seriously wondering if I should just get another job, or a second job (I like the 401k)--or if that's what they want, people to quit.
 
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flow4areasonuno said:
Oh boy, completely extinct is how it feels now. I worked one day this week and only have one next week too. Everyone is getting this treatment and I'm seriously wondering if I should just get another job, or a second job (I like the 401k)--or if that's what they want, people to quit.
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I make more each day on my 401 k from my banking job that I lost in 2008 than I do st Spot.
Let’s just say I made about 20,000 so far this year from Jan 1, 2019. I cannot wait to retire in 18 years
 
XxxxxxxX said:
got told last week that starting next week people who come 30 mins later after truck has a different task. Instead of pushing uboats we instead have to do exf/reshop/zone/pulls and if we still have, time push uboats from the truck. Lets see how it works im not against it but im just gonna do what im told and lets see how it works. I work 4 hours shifts and have a second job and cant stay longer to do more.
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so we got a huddle in 6am and explained whats the thought process behind these things.
people who come in at 6am still unloads the truck.
us 30 mins later is.
1. they want us doing exf/zone = get rid of stuff in the backroom first and push it
2.pull autofill to make more room for backstock and push it.
3 if we have time push uboats.
so if we are successful with these things its gonna make the truck smaller and smaller means we dont get stuff we dont actually need from the truck. makes sense?
they want all stuff on the back to be pushed first before we get thru the truck and says to us the flow to now worry about not finishing the truck.
they said that let us worry about it.
so imagine these thing happening everyday means what?
more room in the back? to backstock? truck gets smaller = cause we push correct/capacity is correct stuff we need is actually correct?
what i liked about the thing is that we dont have to finish the unloading and we need an attitude change because we feel bad about not cleaning the trailer of stuff.

so anyone from other stores trying to customize their modernization process or its just us?
 
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graffiti said:
Scanning EXFs before pushing the truck? Leadership must love double work. You'll be pulling to fill gaps and then backstocking that same product when it turns out it came on the truck.
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We were told the reasoning was if we fill from the BR first, then the case pack from the truck wouldn't have to be opened and we then wouldn't have to find multiple Waco locations to backstock what didn't fit on the sales floor. We would just have to backstock the full case pack. Also, it is supposed to help get dated product out of the back quicker. ¯\(ツ)/¯
 
BoxCutter said:
We were told the reasoning was if we fill from the BR first, then the case pack from the truck wouldn't have to be opened and we then wouldn't have to find multiple Waco locations to backstock what didn't fit on the sales floor. We would just have to backstock the full case pack. Also, it is supposed to help get dated product out of the back quicker. ¯\(ツ)/¯
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Nevermind the fact that a large portion of the time the stock in the backroom will be insufficient to fill the floor. What may have been a full case going straight from truck to floor becomes a half case you now have to backstock because you wasted time pulling the random stuff out of the back. This is all stuff that's been analyzed LONG ago. It's far more efficient to send product straight from truck to floor as it vastly reduces the number of steps the flow team makes when working. Dated products are obviously a different matter. Backstock should be pulled first.

If they truly want to make things more efficient, they need to overhaul the system that determines what stores get on the truck to reduce the amount of backstock. If I have 2 full cases of a product in the back as well as a few extra pieces in wacos, there's zero reason we should be getting it on the next truck.

My biggest gripe with this has always been grocery. I worked for grocery stores for several years before going to Target and none of them keep anywhere near the amount of backstock. It was a shock to see the cereal wall on my first day; ~30ish feet of light duty shelving packed full of just cereal backstock? I would have been fired before bringing in even half that much at any grocery store (manual orders).
 
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BoxCutter said:
We were told the reasoning was if we fill from the BR first, then the case pack from the truck wouldn't have to be opened and we then wouldn't have to find multiple Waco locations to backstock what didn't fit on the sales floor. We would just have to backstock the full case pack. Also, it is supposed to help get dated product out of the back quicker. ¯\(ツ)/¯
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I can kind of understand that: I'll often get cases of something where one goes out, and five go to the back, next day same thing, next day same thing... But, seeing as I push that area almost every truck, I just scan those items to see how many are already in wacos and then I'll backstock the case and pull the waco items while backstocking. Or you could scan your EXFs while pushing, if only one or two items go out and to see if you have them in wacos in the back. Filling the floor before pushing the truck just seems like a time-suck.

It does make more sense for FIFO except it still doesn't determine which backstocked casepacks are older to pull. So it makes half-sense.

I guess the only way it really makes sense to me is if you're only scanning EXFs for to look for waco items exclusively, except it doesn't give that detailed of info on the EXF screen, does it?

And it makes me feel better that my current store isn't the only one not grouping DPCIs in wacos, apparently. I feel like the lone crusader in trying to get people not to backstock in 12 different locations. 😵
 
Backroom81 said:
If they truly want to make things more efficient, they need to overhaul the system that determines what stores get on the truck to reduce the amount of backstock. If I have 2 full cases of a product in the back as well as a few extra pieces in wacos, there's zero reason we should be getting it on the next truck.
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This! It's truly amazing to me how much of one product I'll get when the shelf is already full, and there's a bunch in the back as well, and the space right next to it is empty. And there's none of the stuff for the empty spot in the back. And it's not a discontinued product.
But since in-stocks went away and I rarely have time to audit properly, the empty spaces seem to last longer now. Sigh. Give me enough hours to do my job and I can do it very well.
 
Spot the doge said:
Instructions unclear, stores only have leads now
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Speaking of instructions unclear, these guys don't even know how to run the store. They know the food truck pallets breakdown will take up more than TWO Uboats labeled "FOOD". So now we can't borrow tagged uboats from the line anymore because it "throws off" their process but their unload is done and the shit has been pushed. We used up our green metro racks, hardly can find generic vehicles so guess what? Now my STL and Food TL say that going forward, don't break down the pallets if there is stuff to push. Wtf? The same TL has been coaching me and put me on a final for letting pallets roll over into the next day when I clearly told him I was pushing vehicles to fill the floor and whatever was off the truck was backstock (bulk produce) is now telling the two team members that it is ok to not break down pallets. I'd like to get my CAs and CCAs thrown out because these guys make up their own rules as they go. Even this weekend he told the same team member the pallets need to be broken down and not sit the next day.

This company is a joke. "No" hours. And the bitch ETL HR yells all day " XXX you're flagging for work past shift". What is this becoming?
 
Backroom81 said:
Nevermind the fact that a large portion of the time the stock in the backroom will be insufficient to fill the floor. What may have been a full case going straight from truck to floor becomes a half case you now have to backstock because you wasted time pulling the random stuff out of the back. This is all stuff that's been analyzed LONG ago. It's far more efficient to send product straight from truck to floor as it vastly reduces the number of steps the flow team makes when working. Dated products are obviously a different matter. Backstock should be pulled first.

If they truly want to make things more efficient, they need to overhaul the system that determines what stores get on the truck to reduce the amount of backstock. If I have 2 full cases of a product in the back as well as a few extra pieces in wacos, there's zero reason we should be getting it on the next truck.

My biggest gripe with this has always been grocery. I worked for grocery stores for several years before going to Target and none of them keep anywhere near the amount of backstock. It was a shock to see the cereal wall on my first day; ~30ish feet of light duty shelving packed full of just cereal backstock? I would have been fired before bringing in even half that much at any grocery store (manual orders).
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That explains why Target ends up throwing away so much dry grocery items. And they will throw out even more fresh items when they take away the PA from pushing and integrating the PA into FDC breakdown. At my store, the packed meat doesn't get pushed in days.
 
I don't understand why they don't scan the trucks anymore or make the process any more intelligent. There is so much backstock, so much out of place, I'm doing my best and pointing these out to my TL (although now I realize they're just nodding and disregarding the information). I waste so much time hunting down devices that we don't have to backstock, even, when I really need one for my section since apparently everything transition isn't labeled as transition anymore, and I only realize it doesn't go out when I'm already trying to stock it. Added in with the fact that my shit isn't sorted, I know it can't get done. But why solve problems when you can put band aids over everything until it rips apart?

my spot has become as awful as possible to ensure as many quit as possible. It's working. Then again, due to this behavior, it's the people who care about their work and are hurt by Spot's 180 in attitude that they're losing, not the people who don't care at all.
You do you, Spot. You can't win this. The only difference now is I won't feel bad when you shut your doors. I'll just feel bad for the friends that stuck by you.
 
can't touch this said:
Couldn't find a similar thread so I made one. Flow general thread.

Flow is kinda my path to Zen. I come in early before the store opens, don't have to use my brain at all (it's not functioning anyway) and the flow TL/ETL-LOG is a great leader and chill to work with. I've had many retail jobs and keep ending up in flow/stocking positions because it's basically a "move boxes, acquire money" type deal.

on the flip side though, our flow team and process has come apart at the seams during my time with Target. When I started in late 2015 we had a very big team with a lot of cool, competent people who showed me the ropes and made everything fun. It wasn't without its shitty days, but the ratio of shitty days to good days was roughly 1:50.

now here in April 2018 I am the only OG flow TM left excluding the ETL-LOG. Literally everyone else that I started with has moved on or been termed. That's 95% turnover. About half of the quitters didn't even put in their 2 weeks and just stopped showing up. The replacement hires have ranged from totally useless to passable, but even the okay ones do the absolute minimum they can get away with, refuse to stay late if extra hours are offered, and promptly fuck off at 10AM. The OG crew had a median age of 35 and many were in their late 40s with years of retail experience, but now I'm the oldest flow TM by 10 years, the rest are all 18 - 20 years old and living with their parents (with all the apathy and indifference that entails). It's mind numbing.

p crazy how fast things can go downhill in such a short time.
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I know your post is a year old, nearly, but I just wanted to virtually hug you (as good as it gets, I don't hug irl) because this is me. I started closer to 2010 than you did and within a week I was pleased with the work, pleased with the schedule and pleased with the people. Everyone was cool and nice (well, mostly, there's a few I can't see with rose colored glasses) and the culture of the flow team was awesome. We got things done, and as a team- imagine that. It was hard work for me, physically, because I do not naturally move fast for reasons and am not very strong, but I learned and I was willing. It was good.
And then 6 am. And now 9. All through the seasonal period, I stayed late everyday. Now, thanks to the way they've scheduled me, I can't, even if the hours are offered. I have to go.
I am separated from the rest of the people (those who still exist) I enjoyed working with and the pressure to 'quit before you're fired' is unreal.
 
New schedule is up. I am due no more than one day, it seems. This week, next week, and the week after! Not to mention, 2 weeks out, I have been scheduled for an 11 am start time rather than 9.

UGH.
 

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