Archived Constructive Suggestions!

[Rock Lobster]

Hey guys I have been thinking of making this thread for a while! Basically I have been thinking of putting one place where we can put our great ideas for our workcenters all together! I am looking for constructive suggestions for major operations and processes that could HELP Target... or things we would like to be done in the future! I don't want to see "Quit hiring new ETLs" or "Give stores more payroll" but actual changes to the stores that are feasible, positive, and innovative! Here are my examples...

1) Logistics/Truck Unload: We spend too much time sorting our trucks and the entire process is pretty bulky! I think we need to stop scanning our trucks and push the entire thing... Use the backside of the line as transition and then push everything else! Once this happens they should build SUBT9999 into the STO function and backstock all the remainder! This would work great because there is less sorting (and potential to mess up) and it takes care of all our accumulator issues with the new STO by auto resetting the accumulator after every STO!

2) Backroom/Instocks: We need a use for having quantities in the backroom... There is a ton of time being spent on those numbers and its time we benefit form them! I think we need to move Instocks to nights (Task List drops at 6:30PM) and it should just ditch OUTS and RIGS completely! Redo the RSCH schedule so its even everyday, and then include any 4 ft section with ad product in it (making ad a focus)... Add a new function just called "Audit" for both the task list and in the backroom... have the accumulator pick an item that has OH numbers that do not add up with the backroom quantities and salesfloor capacities (so either the OH is lower than the backroom quantity or the OH is greater than the backroom quantity and salesfloor capacity combined)... Have the TLOD or salesfloor captain do the salesfloor instocks task list and the closing backroom person do the backroom version! All batches will then drop into the next available autofills or truck push...

3) Front End/GE: Continue to make Redcards a focus... Conversion should be important but not the end all score! Make the penetration score (amount of Redcard transactions/normal payments) a larger focus as well! Weight the scores together into one big GE score... So something like (YTD Conversion/Goal)x.5 + (YTD Penetration/Goal)x.5 = REDCARD score... This means that if you aren't green on conversion but a large amount of your transactions are with redcards, you can still be green! If you are red on penetration but green on conversion it will show a strong growth... there are tons of ways to read this number and gives you a better understanding of a stores redcard progress!

Those are my top 3 right now! I know we have other great minds and people who know their workcenters like the back of their hands! Let's see what else you guys can come up with

 

[targetismylife09]

I like your red card idea. I know we are scored on the conversions from prompts, but it seems like there ought to be a way to factor in the people who sign up without being prompted too.

 

[Rock Lobster]

They are evenly weighted... Whether your redcard was prompted or not doesn't matter anymore, as long as you get them! That is why the goal is now 1.2! The penetration number is important because it shows you how many repeat shoppers a store has who uses the redcard! To add to redcards, I think Target should bring back the 10% off at signup bonus OR I think they should have the "weekly wow" have a better sale price if used with the redcard (more than 5%)... So something like "So and So 32" TV on sale for 10% off of X, OR 20% off if bought with the Redcard!" to give guests motivation to signup!

 

[insiteful1]

They are evenly weighted... Whether your redcard was prompted or not doesn't matter anymore, as long as you get them! That is why the goal is now 1.2! The penetration number is important because it shows you how many repeat shoppers a store has who uses the redcard! To add to redcards, I think Target should bring back the 10% off at signup bonus OR I think they should have the "weekly wow" have a better sale price if used with the redcard (more than 5%)... So something like "So and So 32" TV on sale for 10% off of X, OR 20% off if bought with the Redcard!" to give guests motivation to signup!

Piggybacking on RL (because ^^THAT^^ is a great idea)......My store misses several (if not a dozen or more) red cards a week because NO ONE carries checks any longer. Credit cards are not the hot thing to have in your wallet, however the Target debit card is a slam dunk. Corp needs to launch the test where there is a fake check that you can insert in the reader. My store was a test store for that and it was dynamite!

 

[mrknownothing]

Well, there's the obvious "increase payroll" and "devote more resources to properly training team members." But here's an interesting one. At Electronics, there should be a kiosk with internet access that allows guests to check out ratings and reviews of different electronic items. If a guest can't decide which camera/tablet/TV/whatever to buy, an Electronics TM can bring them to the kiosk and bring up reviews so the guest can make an educated decision.

 

[Stuckinsoftlines]

I like your ideas for Instocks but coming from a high volume store there is no way we could do research at night. At 6:15 thats when our closing team comes in to pick up the trashed zone. Normally by 6:30 it looks like a bomb went off on all the tables and aisles. So maybe moving it to an overnight process starting at close or keeping it in the morning.

 

[Rarejem]

I like your ideas for Instocks but coming from a high volume store there is no way we could do research at night. At 6:15 thats when our closing team comes in to pick up the trashed zone. Normally by 6:30 it looks like a bomb went off on all the tables and aisles. So maybe moving it to an overnight process starting at close or keeping it in the morning.

We are a 4 am store. Our IS team picks up at minimum 3 carts of reshop items while scanning - at least 1 is before 8. The amount of reshop before evening zone is complete would greatly hinder research.

 

[pellinore]

It would be great if the registers (if only at Guest Service) could be used to find an item.....The way you can search on a PDA for an item is great.....if that can be incorporated at GS it sure would be a wonderful time-saver.

I know that "Best Practice" is to have a PDA at GS, but this doesn't happen at my store. So if we could do an item search then guests could be helped more quickly....and we wouldn't have to call someone on the sales floor to come with a PDA to help us out.

 

[pellinore]

RE: printing labels at GS....when a ticket is printed out it sure would be nice to have the price printed on the ticket. Also, it is impossible to reprint a price tag off the printers. What I mean is when we have an item that needs a DPCI ticket printed it won't allow us to put the DPCI in and print a new ticket for that item......so what happens at my store is that sometimes an item that needs a sticker we have to go into "merchandise locate" get the DPCI then go to "price inquiry" to get the price and then go get a clothing label to write on so that the reshop item can now have a DPCI and a price.........very time consuming.

 

[mrknownothing]

It would be great if the registers (if only at Guest Service) could be used to find an item.....The way you can search on a PDA for an item is great.....if that can be incorporated at GS it sure would be a wonderful time-saver.

I know that "Best Practice" is to have a PDA at GS, but this doesn't happen at my store. So if we could do an item search then guests could be helped more quickly....and we wouldn't have to call someone on the sales floor to come with a PDA to help us out.

Yeah, Merch Locate is useless because it only goes by UPC or DPCI. Item Search on the register would be amazing!

RE: printing labels at GS....when a ticket is printed out it sure would be nice to have the price printed on the ticket. Also, it is impossible to reprint a price tag off the printers. What I mean is when we have an item that needs a DPCI ticket printed it won't allow us to put the DPCI in and print a new ticket for that item......so what happens at my store is that sometimes an item that needs a sticker we have to go into "merchandise locate" get the DPCI then go to "price inquiry" to get the price and then go get a clothing label to write on so that the reshop item can now have a DPCI and a price.........very time consuming.

If you have a PDA at Guest Service, you can use the BCODE app to print a label with both the barcode and the price. But then again, it's not often Guest Service has a PDA.

 

[redandkhaki]

if you go into sort stuff and type in the DPCI it will print a ticket out.. if you need the clearance ticket you'll have to hit k3 and that will print too. We're actually not allowed to do that when items are on clearance because it pisses the price accuracy team off so we have to use a PDA to make tickets for clearance items. We also always have a PDA at gs because the opener usually has to help PA if they have time.

 

[rugrat]

Been waiting for someone to pop on a thread like this. Alot of the best ideas I read about operations come from here. So props for those of you who still believe doing things the right way still matters. Suggestions you ask......
1) Immeadiate corrective action penalties for the manipulation and cheating of DTK scoring metrics. There is no more destructive force to process and team member morale than this
trend of just being green. Running a store sucessfully is sales and payroll, not jacking up stats. ASAP on this.
2) Print an items shelf capacity on all planogrammed shelf labels. No excuse for not having this by now. Inaccurate flow of product corrupts every workcenter that follows. Stock the
right amount to start with and many of the zoning, research, over pulling issues go away quickly and time management improves. We still stock shelves like its 1995.
3) Real time payroll reporting. Efficient use of payroll is more efficient if you know what you actually have to spend. Its still a guess on Monday morning before the dreaded conference
call.
4) Easier access to an items real cost. When I was a hardlines TL the first thing I showed electronics team members was the cost of a game system and then the attachments to it.
Why we drive attachments made instant sense to them and it was game on after that. If your serious about driving profitable sales make item cost easy to look up( I used the AP
inventory tracking app) but simplify that even more.

 

[Juan_Valdez]

... it pisses the price accuracy team off ...

Why is that? J/W A couple suggestions off the top: It'd be nice if grids indicated TMs with missing punches (w/ a little symbol next to their name), so leaders can follow up w/ TMs and maybe allow 5 minutes for them in TSC to submit corrections (thus making TLs better partners w/ HR and consistently engaging them in the whole payroll piece of store operations); you could possibly include other symbols on the grid, with a legend at the bottom. Also, I think every Target should have a clearly marked, secure dropbox in TSC for private/sensitive documents from TMs, for which only HR personel have access.

 

[redandkhaki]

It makes them mad because if we print a barcode from the register it has the price on it.. then we put the clearance tag on it with the markdown. So if that item doesn't sell then they mark it down even more and they can't just put a new clearance tag on it because the white tag has a different price on it. I get why they don't want it done from the register but when TM's take our PDA all the time we end up getting a huge pile of clearance items that we need to print new white tags for.
So a good solution would be to give the option of printing a white tag without the price from the register instead of it always printing the price if it's on clearance.

 

[StaticSun]

I just wish the registers had more functionality. Better merchandise lookup features, like item search on the PDA. I wish you could use the "mainframe" button to access RFapps, like BCODE, UPCS, NOP, LP audit/void, SIGN, and even the ability to create label batches (and print if a label printer is setup)!

Possibilities...

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

On label printing, just ask your operator to load yellow labels for you.
On salesfloor, better zoning, great gs, store product knowledge, learning to use resources without a PDA.

 

[Mr Quickart]

I just wish the registers had more functionality. Better merchandise lookup features, like item search on the PDA. I wish you could use the "mainframe" button to access RFapps, like BCODE, UPCS, NOP, LP audit/void, SIGN, and even the ability to create label batches (and print if a label printer is setup)!

Possibilities...

I would love for my guest service team to be able to do LP audit/void without my LPDA. You are a thinker!

 

[cihyfthedoor]

1) The NOP screen is useful, but has a lot of potential. One major thing they NEED to list on it is shelf capacity. This is displayed in item search, but item search is so utterly and completely god awful slow, and is really unwieldy when pushing CAFs. NOP shows a lot of useful information in one place, so it's really confusing why shelf capacity isn't there (and for each location). Not everyone always has a PDA when pushing, but it would go a long way for when they do. There's plenty of real esate on the NOP screen to make this happen.

2) Residual accumulator need should be taken care of when ties are broken. Although sales floor ties are broken immediately when done so in the PDA, residual accumulator need is the root of the problem for the circular backstock-pull-backstock-pull-backstock-pull madness.

Say an item has two permanent home locations. Both hold 10 (20 total). There was an endcap this week for this item that held 50. It is time to take it down. There were only 17 left. So the system was needing 33 to fill it. Now say one home location was missing 3, and the other was missing 5. So it needs a total of 8 more to fill the floor. So as it stands, accumulator need is 41 (33 + 5 + 3). You take the 17 left on the endcap and go to the home. 3 go to one location and 5 go to the other. Both homes are full now.

So now you have 9 of these things left (17 - 3 - 5 = 9). You take them to the backroom and they are backstocked. Say there were none currently located in the backroom. These 9 are now the only 9 back there. So the next hour during CAF, the system goes "YAY! We have this product now! I need 41 but you only have 9, so pull all 9 please!" The Backroom TM pulls them. Accumulator is decremented to 32 (41 - 9 = 32). They eventually get pushed. The person pushing them goes "WTF, both homes are totally full, why the hell does it want 9 of these?" They go to the back and are backstocked. The next hour, someone else pulls that batch and the system goes "YAY! We have 9 more of these! I need 32, so pull all 9 please!" And so the cycle repeats for another few hours until the accumulator is finally decremented down to zero.

Congratulations, we have wasted a lot of payroll on this vicious cycle that could have better been spent elsewhere. My proposal is to fix the accumulator when a tie is broken and an endcap is taken down. One really easy way to do this is add simple functionality to the PDA that walks the TM taking the salesplanner down through the home locations during the Tie break process (you don't want someone doing this at any ole time, so it is strictly limited to tie breaks, and maybe only salesplanner tie breaks, i.e. not necessarily permanent locations being adjusted by Plano). Go to home location and scan it. Fill it with however many leftover eaches you have from the location that just came down. Now input into PDA how many eaches are actually in this home location at this point. Continue until everything that was on that salesplanner has had its home locations filled and new quantities entered into PDA. When completing this function, the system goes through and adjusts the accumulator as necessary. If all homes for an item are full, accumulator is 0. If, for example, a home is missing 5, the accumulator is set to 5 for that item. Etc. Sure instocks eventually catches this as the days go by, but this fixes it immediately. It could be days before instocks goes through that area, and by then, the cycle has already played out and payroll already wasted.

This is just one possible version. I'm sure there are other ways. The point is that the accumulator is fixed on the spot when something is taken down. It only takes a few extra minutes, if that, to do this. The TM is pushing to home locations anyway, so this won't even be a blip on the radar when all is said and done. I guarantee you it is going to use much less payroll than 2 or 3 or 5 CAFs or more worth of circular pulling and backstocking and pushing by several TMs until residual accumulator need is exhausted. Yes there is the whole subtract 9999 thing, but not everyone knows about that and not all stores approve of using it (despite that this documentation is on workbench). And yes, it does also open up even more possibility for human error from lack of attention, careless TMs, or lack of training, but the benefits would far outweight the detriments.

3) When using RF Apps, you'll notice that sometimes your input isn't taken. So you have to press it again. Some time later when you exit whatever function you were using, you are immediately popped into some seemingly random other submenu. I've determined that this is caused by the PDA timing out. If you are in some function, and you don't touch the PDA for several minutes, it times out and kicks you back one menu level. (ex. if you are in Replenishment -> Work Batches -> Autofill -> Schedule CAF, you time out to the main Work Batches screen). When this happens, conceptually it's as if your first input afterward is being pushed to a stack; such that after you get done with whatever you are doing and exit out, it pops that first initial input off the stack and you end up in whatever menu that input number/text sequence leads to.

Since then, I've either never let my PDA time out in RF Apps, or if it has, I've exited completely (including pressing E at main RF App login screen) and relogged in. I've never had this problem since I've done this.



I know this was very verbose, but really, I think these fixes are much simpler in reality than they sound written out. I actually ran number 2 passed my store leadership, but they were meh about the whole idea and shot it down, so whatever. In the backroom, one of my older TMs jokingly refers to it as job security (of a sort). As long as the system and process works like it does, we'll always have plenty of work to do!

 

[TargetOldTimer]

So many great ideas!! My ideas seems so simplistic next to all of yours!

1. I would like to be able to scan in NRCC weekly supply pallets. Once I was done scanning the boxes in, it would tell me what I was missing.
2. PPA forms would be printed on the front of every planogram, to eliminate having to copy all the information to another sheet by hand.
3. Separate printer for printing fast signs. That card stock screws up our printer and then we are down for printing labels for a day waiting for repair

 

[Logistics Monkey]

pushing the whole truck sounds great, but our team is pretty crappy. For some reason they just dont work stuff out to the floor, had 3 challenge tubs today and 75% of went out, few was multi locs some was dotted and out. Cant imagine them actually getting a whole truck that was pushed to floor filled right

 

[Rock Lobster]

I like your ideas for Instocks but coming from a high volume store there is no way we could do research at night. At 6:15 thats when our closing team comes in to pick up the trashed zone. Normally by 6:30 it looks like a bomb went off on all the tables and aisles. So maybe moving it to an overnight process starting at close or keeping it in the morning.

Just to speak to more specifics about why I say having instocks at night would be a good idea...
1) If Instocks hours were given to salesfloor, that would add 1-4 people a day to the salesfloor at night! This improves guest service at night, which seems to be when we have staffing issues!
2) It allows the truck/logistics workload to operate more smoothly! Since they can ignore any old instocks workload, they can work the truck in a way that makes sense (instead of working RSCH areas first), they have until 11AM (CAFs) to get everything wrapped up because there are no priority pulls to pull, and the salesfloor can focus on projects other than priorities since they no longer exist!
3) It gives the TLOD a good way to audit the zone of their team! I said the list OPENS at 6:30PM, but you don't have to complete it until 11PM... Since the workload is even (no crazy Mondays or anything), the TLOD just needs to research maybe an area or two a night (along with ad product) after the zone is completed for those areas! This allows them to hold the team more accountable since the TLOD can call the zone wave back and let them know they need to touchup so they can research it! As a side benefit to all of this, the BRTL doesn't need to have Instocks anymore since all the SFTLs will own it!

 

[Rock Lobster]

2) Print an items shelf capacity on all planogrammed shelf labels. No excuse for not having this by now. Inaccurate flow of product corrupts every workcenter that follows. Stock the
right amount to start with and many of the zoning, research, over pulling issues go away quickly and time management improves. We still stock shelves like its 1995.

The biggest thing I have asked myself since I started with Target... Why haven't they put capacities on the labels yet?

 

[Rock Lobster]

One other suggestion...

If Target can estimate the Price Accuracy workload 2 weeks out, then they can definitely estimate a certain amount of hours for the PTM workload! They need to come up with a workcenter (call it merchandising?) that they can put hours into that reflects the amount of time they want us to spend working on PTM aisles! Every store either under does PTM or over does it, and Target gives almost no direction on the amount of time it should be taking to do this! Its part of the transition process and they allocate hours to every other step in it, why not this part? I am talking about their workload of putting up MPG labels, working out dcoded product, and the initial remerchandising of the aisle (upkeep of this should go to the zone team)...

 

[mrknownothing]

It makes them mad because if we print a barcode from the register it has the price on it.. then we put the clearance tag on it with the markdown. So if that item doesn't sell then they mark it down even more and they can't just put a new clearance tag on it because the white tag has a different price on it. I get why they don't want it done from the register but when TM's take our PDA all the time we end up getting a huge pile of clearance items that we need to print new white tags for.
So a good solution would be to give the option of printing a white tag without the price from the register instead of it always printing the price if it's on clearance.

If the white label with the price was printed before the item went on clearance, then the guest can see how much it was marked down. Then you won't have guests arguing (as much) with cashiers about whether or not the "30% off" is from the original price (yes) or the ticketed clearance price (no!!!).

 

[Rarejem]

The biggest thing I have asked myself since I started with Target... Why haven't they put capacities on the labels yet?

I swear I send it in every month as a suggestion. If this can't be done, they need to hire new software writers!