MEGATHREAD Flexible Fulfillment

[anathema]

2 people picking isn't anywhere near enough for 500 orders though. Are you sure that's right? Because the only time that it might work is when almost all of your orders are in a small area, like toys during Q4, but any other time of the year we are going all across the store. We aim to be done picking by 10am, packed by 2pm, and trailer loaded by 3:30pm, and even with our two fastest pickers we might finish picking by 12:30pm at 300 orders.

I meant 400, oop, max was intended to be 350.

If it's 500 with 5 people, you can bet your TL, ETL, and anyone else they can throw on there will be helping to avoid your workcenter bleeding out. I remember training my DTL one day on how to pick...

 

[SFSFun]

There was a redwire about SFS hours being reduced basically because this is no longer a pilot and everyone should know what they are doing. There was even an attached "speaking points" document for breaking the news to TMs.

Haven't heard anything about it and no hour cuts so far here. We've been doing 100 orders just fine with about 12-14 hours a day, which is less than the 16 we were supposed to be getting.

 

[SFSFun]

On another note, is everyone prepared for tomorrow? We only got 1 extra TM, so hopefully that will be enough to deal with whatever is dropping today.

 

[Firefox]

On another note, is everyone prepared for tomorrow? We only got 1 extra TM, so hopefully that will be enough to deal with whatever is dropping today.

I didn't even think about Monday. Did orders continue to drop in on Sunday? Because if so, stores are basically getting a day of double orders. I know for a fact that my store is going to sink like a rock.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

My store is not sfs. I wish I could help you out.

 

[SFSFun]

I didn't even think about Monday. Did orders continue to drop in on Sunday? Because if so, stores are basically getting a day of double orders. I know for a fact that my store is going to sink like a rock.

That is one of the issues with SFS now being a big part of target.com. It's not like they would want to close the website for a day.

There was a redwire that stated stores will only receive orders for items that are only stocked in stores (mostly food) and items that the online fulfillment centers are out of stock on. So it probably won't be a full days worth of orders but it will still be something.

 

[Joejoe12]

My store has 3 people on sfs everyday. We do 300 orders and have them pulled packed and shipped by 430

 

[H2Owned]

My store has 3 people on sfs everyday. We do 300 orders and have them pulled packed and shipped by 430

Wow that is really good.. idk why we can't do that at my store... we never finish on time... even with 5 people in the morning. Like what are we doing wrong??...

 

[Firefox]

My store has 3 people on sfs everyday. We do 300 orders and have them pulled packed and shipped by 430

I find that pretty hard to believe. Only way that I can see that working is if you are getting far fewer than 300 orders, your TMs are turning up with a huge number of INFs, or they are super heroes. 300 orders with 5 people is difficult for my team, and everyone is fast and efficient in everything they do.

 

[Joejoe12]

I find that pretty hard to believe. Only way that I can see that working is if you are getting far fewer than 300 orders, your TMs are turning up with a huge number of INFs, or they are super heroes. 300 orders with 5 people is difficult for my team, and everyone is fast and efficient in everything they do.

It's very easy. Are tm don't mess around. They don't help guests when they are on the floor and they have a system once they are in the back packing. Are captain said when they went to a neighboring store for training they tms at that store moved at a snails pace and we're always fooling around.

 

[Firefox]

It's very easy. Are tm don't mess around. They don't help guests when they are on the floor and they have a system once they are in the back packing. Are captain said when they went to a neighboring store for training they tms at that store moved at a snails pace and we're always fooling around.

Would you mind explaining their system when they start packing? If not in the thread then in a PM, I'm super curious how you guys are able too do 300 orders with only three people

 

[see spot save]

My personal record was 120 I think, probably ended up with 100+ to pack. I did it in a 7.75 hour shift.

Basically you divide you day into segments. Hopefully you come in before the store opens. When I did the above I either came in at 4am or 6am. This allows you to get more done because you don't have guest interruption. If you aren't so lucky and you come in at 8am, it's not too terrible, but you might get stopped. I have to help guests because my store is staffed so poorly. I don't think we have hardlines until 10 or 11.

Aim to pick 3 batches an hour, you get lucky sometimes and get screwed others, just roll with it. Walk fast, know the route the batches take you. Know the softlines layout. Aim to have everything picked by the half point of your shift (4-5 hours). Go to lunch, come back and pack like crazy. I can pack about 30 an hour, so with three hours I can pack 100.

Things change when you get more people involved. When we were getting 300 orders a day we had 4 team members. The more bodies at one packing station the harder it becomes to be efficient. When we did that I would pick my entire shift, I was usually done picking 300+ orders with around a half hour left in my shift.

 

[Joejoe12]

Would you mind explaining their system when they start packing? If not in the thread then in a PM, I'm super curious how you guys are able too do 300 orders with only three people

First thing they do that helps is one of the back rooms closers pre builds boxes the night before. When sfs team roles in they have about 60 boxes that are used the most already built the other sizes odd sizes ones that number is cut in half. Our first tm comes in at 6 and begins picking. Next team member comes in at 8 and also picks. The thrid tm comes it st 9 and jumps right into packing. By 11 we have two people packing and one pulling until the last batch of the day is pulled and then we start with all three packing. When all three are packing they break it down. Example tm a pulls the items from the cart places items and labels on table. Tm b packs boxes gives it to tm c who tapes boxes attaches labels and stages. Depending on who opens sometimes the after filling a cart the puller will pre pack boxes so that when the other tms get to the back all they have to do is pack it up and close it. Like I said there is no fooling around these guys are like well oiled machine. Our Etl ops and STL have made it known that these tms do not get pulled for anything and are not to be bothered. One SR tl was actually coached because he asked the one sfs tm to help pull cafs one Friday because of call outs. ASANTS so I am sure these tms wouldn't get away with not helping guest or anything in most other stores but in our store they are untouchable

 

[SFSFun]

Example tm a pulls the items from the cart places items and labels on table. Tm b packs boxes gives it to tm c who tapes boxes attaches labels and stages.

TM A and TM C have tasks that literally take 10 seconds. But TM B packing boxes should be taking a lot longer than that.

It sounds cool but I'm not really sure how it works and your SFS team is definitely being screwed on hours because you should have more than enough for more TMs.

 

[Joejoe12]

TM A and TM C have tasks that literally take 10 seconds. But TM B packing boxes should be taking a lot longer than that.

It sounds cool but I'm not really sure how it works and your SFS team is definitely being screwed on hours because you should have more than enough for more TMs.

Lot longer?? Takes about 2 mins for a box to be packed any longer is ridiculous and I would consider to be a waste a time. They don't get screwed each get 40 hours a week..

 

[Moosechives]

How much bulk stuff do you guys usually have to send out a day? 300 a day with 3 people would definitely be easier if not for 1/3 of the batches being furniture and diapers like in ESFS.

 

[Firefox]

Lot longer?? Takes about 2 mins for a box to be packed any longer is ridiculous and I would consider to be a waste a time. They don't get screwed each get 40 hours a week..

What he's saying is that pulling an item from the hold location and taping up/slapping the shipping label on a box is faster than actually packing it. It should only take 20 seconds or so to scan the collate and get the item out of the cart and taping/putting the shipping label on takes maybe 25 seconds. And by screwed he means that they could be getting more people, and if one of them has to call off then the others are screwed.

 

[Firefox]

How much bulk stuff do you guys usually have to send out a day? 300 a day with 3 people would definitely be easier if not for 1/3 of the batches being furniture and diapers like in ESFS.

At 300 orders, we typically have around 18-20 batches of 5 SA items a piece, so usually around a third of our orders.

 

[SFSFun]

Lot longer?? Takes about 2 mins for a box to be packed any longer is ridiculous and I would consider to be a waste a time. They don't get screwed each get 40 hours a week..

2 minutes is a lot longer than 10 seconds. I guess I was asking if the TMs who aren't packing just stand around a lot while the one TM does the actual putting the items in the box, filling it with air pillows, and dealing with things like liquids or glass/fragile items.

And when I say your team is getting screwed on hours, I mean that your store should have at least another 80-100 hours allocated for FF that they must be using elsewhere instead. Doing so makes your job a lot more fast paced and intense than it needs to be, for no good reason.

But if it works for you guys and nobody has a problem with it, then good for you.

 

[SFSFun]

At 300 orders, we typically have around 18-20 batches of 5 SA items a piece, so usually around a third of our orders.

Does the system split them like that automatically? No wonder it's such a pain if it's limited to 5 items per SA batch.

 

[brizzy93]

I looked at the newest schedule posted at my store. I do have 3 ship days, but I noticed one day I start at 11:15 instead of my usual 8am. I checked my SFS captains hours too. He also has a few 11:15 start times. Checked the rest of the schedule book to see if anyone is covering those 3 hours... I asked him about it and SFS is getting our hours cut here too. Apparently my BR TL is going to be picking the batches until one of us gets there. I don't exactly trust her with that lmao. My SFS captain is down to 27 hours. I somehow am scheduled for 40.5 hours

 

[Joejoe12]

2 minutes is a lot longer than 10 seconds. I guess I was asking if the TMs who aren't packing just stand around a lot while the one TM does the actual putting the items in the box, filling it with air pillows, and dealing with things like liquids or glass/fragile items.

And when I say your team is getting screwed on hours, I mean that your store should have at least another 80-100 hours allocated for FF that they must be using elsewhere instead. Doing so makes your job a lot more fast paced and intense than it needs to be, for no good reason.

But if it works for you guys and nobody has a problem with it, then good for you.

No they will build boxes or grab supplies down. As far as the hours go am sure your right. The level of hours we have now are the same we had when we went live last summer. The only time I think there was a jump in hours was Q4. I guess the guys are just use to it

 

[SFSFun]

Has everyone heard the news about the cutoff for due today orders being pushed back?

I think it's starting on the 17th that any order that drops in before 12pm will be part of the "due today" workload. But the redwire said that due to "technology limitations" they can't change the auto batching at 10:05am. It also looks like the 2pm picking deadline is gone and we will have until 4:30pm to get everything picked AND packed.

 

[brizzy93]

Has everyone heard the news about the cutoff for due today orders being pushed back?

I think it's starting on the 17th that any order that drops in before 12pm will be part of the "due today" workload. But the redwire said that due to "technology limitations" they can't change the auto batching at 10:05am. It also looks like the 2pm picking deadline is gone and we will have until 4:30pm to get everything picked AND packed.

Meh.

 

[Firefox]

Interesting. I think it might cause problems at my store, just because it'll slow down the packing process if orders that drop in at 11:45 need to be picked when we're usually done with the today batches by 11 or so.