MEGATHREAD Flexible Fulfillment

[MrT]

I am not new to Target but this was my 2nd week as a fulfillment TL and we are failing hard.

We were cut off on Wednesday and I am trying to figure out how to fix some of these problems.

I get INF is high right now and my ETL/SD does too but the pick productivity for a majority of the TMs is too low as well and we are not even coming close to our SFS goal of completing 2000 to 2500 units per day. Not to mention 1500 to 2000 drive up units per day.

My question is do you guys coach your under performers daily, weekly or every 2 weeks? I'm not trying to be a ball buster and a majority of the under performers would be fine if they would literally walk a little faster. I want to make them better but I also have to cover my own ass.

Also curious how you guys maintain your OPUs when they are dropping so crazy. We at minimum need 3 on OPU and 2 on grocery to try to make goal but we are still missing quite a few. They won't talk to each other to cover breaks which is a habit I'm trying to break because the previous lead didn't even care if they had a walkie. I'm thinking of assigning someone who is in standard to be the "breaker" so they know who to call to cover them and then I have just one person pausing a cart instead of multiples.

My ETL gets what's going on because I'm having to build a new team up and break bad habits. But I know being new in role will only save me for so long.

Any tips or advice of things that are helping you guys make it through this crazy time is greatly appreciated!

I have a whiteboard that i list out who is on today and when. It has a row for what cart they are in (OPU only) and they have another row to check off when they are on break. I don't assign breaks but they know they cannot go if there are already one to two people on break. Right now everyone is only scheduled 5 hours shifts so its just a 15 minute break so it hasn't been a big deal.
We do between 2-3k in opu a day on average, more on weekends. I have 5-6 people on opu during peak hours and have to call for backup atleast 3 times a day where it just blows up and i need 4 people to jump in. If you can call back up asap no need to wait if you know they cannot be dome in time.
As for coaching, you should do it daily. You dont have to document everytime you coach someone, but if someone isnt being productive enough you coach them and id follow up woth them every shift. You still want to give them time to improve so id say maybe wait a week and see of they improve. If there is something blatantly wromg ( long breaks, extended conversations with other tms, or on the phone, or something like that ) definitely document it then. When i have team members not up to pace i try and pick a batch with them just to show them the pace you need to be at and help them understand how long and where to look for items that are not in their home location.
NGL most days rn it feels like im failing as a leader, im packing all day lomg, picking opus when it blows up, and just plain exhausted. We make our goals everyday and green 99% of the time but it just feels impossible

 

[Shizle7]

^This. I just checked Kronos for the week of Jan. 24th and am scheduled for 40 hours. For the past two weeks and next week I've been scheduled for 25-28 hours but worked 40 - every day it's "Can you work a full shift?" almost as soon as I get in at 4am. Glad someone finally saw the light. The risk they run when scheduling the shorter hours is that not everyone will stay. Quite a few of the part-time students or others who just wanted a break, would decline to stay which just put more work on everyone else. We're doing more SFS than at Christmas and OPU is just insane. Not totally unexpected for a store in a hard-hit-by-the-virus part of LA County.

Hopefully they will see the light in my store soon. I don’t even have a full shift for the week of 1/24. Fingers crossed!

 

[ElectroDevil]

Remember, have a good day or have a good story for your ETL.

I was just kidding. Ofc.

 

[essie]

For metrics teach them how to read MPM and tell them where they need to be. I made goal sheets to see how much they should be picking and they fill in their units, speed, and INF. They should know how they are doing when I ask. I also print out recaps each week with the most units, highest speed, and highest and lowest INF. They get competitive with each other and want to see their names on top. The ones who don't care? Performance them out. My team has bad days, but if they are upset about their performance that shows me they care, they fight to get back to green, ask for help, etc... The ones who don't care won't do that, if anything they spread that bad attitude.

As a TM I have questions. (I've done fulfillment for 3.5 years and lived through the advents of both drive-up and grocery pick-up.)

1. Target is all about "teams". Teams by definition work together to achieve a common goal. In fulfillment, strategies like yours pit us against each other. How is that helpful and productive? All I compete against is a clock, and I and my teammates work together and help each other beat the clock. I don't give a shit how fast they are, and I refuse to throw another TM under the bus to raise my own "score". We want guests to get what they ordered when they want it. The end. If that means I don't care about my own "performance" I can live with that.

2. Fulfillment is a world of its own, and there's nothing less predictable. I can get a batch with 40 jars of baby food (woohoo! pick score through the roof!), or one with 10 sterilite tubs (four on the floor, six at the top of the steel), and a 60" TV, and a Barbie car that was unlocated in the back. Follow that with four bookcases (two in the back, two on the floor), a Harry's razor at the bottom of an untied endcap, and a bag of Valentine's Day candy that's somewhere in the shitshow that is seasonal, but I hunted it down to save my INF score (sorry pick score, sad trombone).

3. Do you want me to dig through a couple shelves of soup* to find the ones I need? I know they're there, the DBO just doesn't want to backstock so she shoves anything wherever it fits. So do I dig (and drag down my pick score, and make the guest happy), or do I INF (and drag down my INF score, and make the guest sad)? Either way, I get shit on and the lazy-ass DBO walks away whistling dixie (replace "soup" with "Advil", or "colored pencils", or "Goodfellow socks", or anything that should be in a specific place, but isn't).

4. I have orders for a loaf of Brownberry 15-grain bread and a 12-pack of caffeine-free diet Pepsi. We don't have them, and they're vendor products so we have ZERO control over it. But who gets dinged for that INF? ... Wait for it ... I do!

5. Produce! Ooh, I love my veggies. But when someone orders mushrooms and the only ones we have are ... well, slimy ... yeah, that's gonna be an INF. Sad trombone (on me, again).

So please ... tell me about my numbers, and how fast I should be going, and how I can improve.

 

[MrT]

As a TM I have questions. (I've done fulfillment for 3.5 years and lived through the advents of both drive-up and grocery pick-up.)

1. Target is all about "teams". Teams by definition work together to achieve a common goal. In fulfillment, strategies like yours pit us against each other. How is that helpful and productive? All I compete against is a clock, and I and my teammates work together and help each other beat the clock. I don't give a shit how fast they are, and I refuse to throw another TM under the bus to raise my own "score". We want guests to get what they ordered when they want it. The end. If that means I don't care about my own "performance" I can live with that.

2. Fulfillment is a world of its own, and there's nothing less predictable. I can get a batch with 40 jars of baby food (woohoo! pick score through the roof!), or one with 10 sterilite tubs (four on the floor, six at the top of the steel), and a 60" TV, and a Barbie car that was unlocated in the back. Follow that with four bookcases (two in the back, two on the floor), a Harry's razor at the bottom of an untied endcap, and a bag of Valentine's Day candy that's somewhere in the shitshow that is seasonal, but I hunted it down to save my INF score (sorry pick score, sad trombone).

3. Do you want me to dig through a couple shelves of soup* to find the ones I need? I know they're there, the DBO just doesn't want to backstock so she shoves anything wherever it fits. So do I dig (and drag down my pick score, and make the guest happy), or do I INF (and drag down my INF score, and make the guest sad)? Either way, I get shit on and the lazy-ass DBO walks away whistling dixie (replace "soup" with "Advil", or "colored pencils", or "Goodfellow socks", or anything that should be in a specific place, but isn't).

4. I have orders for a loaf of Brownberry 15-grain bread and a 12-pack of caffeine-free diet Pepsi. We don't have them, and they're vendor products so we have ZERO control over it. But who gets dinged for that INF? ... Wait for it ... I do!

5. Produce! Ooh, I love my veggies. But when someone orders mushrooms and the only ones we have are ... well, slimy ... yeah, that's gonna be an INF. Sad trombone (on me, again).

So please ... tell me about my numbers, and how fast I should be going, and how I can improve.

Your missing the point. You know what your expectations are and that you are doing whatever you can to service the guests. However im sure many tms that are new do not know how to read mpm or what there expectations are and in that case are not trying to improve or do bot know they need to improve.
Competition can be a big motivational tool, but it isnt for everyone and obviously not for you which is fine. Obviously his or atleast some of them enjoy it. So they are just offering advice on what works for him.
Also you know those are extreme cases and probably dont even happen on a daily basis, and on an average would still not lower your score overall that much
If you were on OPs team you probably wouldnt be part of the problem but that doesnt mean they dont have tms that are underperforming and need to improve.

 

[vngoghlvr]

As a TM I have questions. (I've done fulfillment for 3.5 years and lived through the advents of both drive-up and grocery pick-up.)

1. Target is all about "teams". Teams by definition work together to achieve a common goal. In fulfillment, strategies like yours pit us against each other. How is that helpful and productive? All I compete against is a clock, and I and my teammates work together and help each other beat the clock. I don't give a shit how fast they are, and I refuse to throw another TM under the bus to raise my own "score". We want guests to get what they ordered when they want it. The end. If that means I don't care about my own "performance" I can live with that.

2. Fulfillment is a world of its own, and there's nothing less predictable. I can get a batch with 40 jars of baby food (woohoo! pick score through the roof!), or one with 10 sterilite tubs (four on the floor, six at the top of the steel), and a 60" TV, and a Barbie car that was unlocated in the back. Follow that with four bookcases (two in the back, two on the floor), a Harry's razor at the bottom of an untied endcap, and a bag of Valentine's Day candy that's somewhere in the shitshow that is seasonal, but I hunted it down to save my INF score (sorry pick score, sad trombone).

3. Do you want me to dig through a couple shelves of soup* to find the ones I need? I know they're there, the DBO just doesn't want to backstock so she shoves anything wherever it fits. So do I dig (and drag down my pick score, and make the guest happy), or do I INF (and drag down my INF score, and make the guest sad)? Either way, I get shit on and the lazy-ass DBO walks away whistling dixie (replace "soup" with "Advil", or "colored pencils", or "Goodfellow socks", or anything that should be in a specific place, but isn't).

4. I have orders for a loaf of Brownberry 15-grain bread and a 12-pack of caffeine-free diet Pepsi. We don't have them, and they're vendor products so we have ZERO control over it. But who gets dinged for that INF? ... Wait for it ... I do!

5. Produce! Ooh, I love my veggies. But when someone orders mushrooms and the only ones we have are ... well, slimy ... yeah, that's gonna be an INF. Sad trombone (on me, again).

So please ... tell me about my numbers, and how fast I should be going, and how I can improve.

The team checks in with me before they INF, and surprise, I can go see what they INF'd even if I wasn't there that day. We never hold vendor items or market stuff against them. I've had them radio me because the produce was bad, food was expired, or the only item was opened. Or something that hasn't been sold in over 100 days or audited in a year. We all have bad days and get a bad batch. It happens. If they follow the right steps and check in with a lead first it's fine.

The ones who just look at the home location and INF are the issue. Or never try the rfid gun. They don't check the line, backroom, or walk the department. They don't ask the dbo or TL of that area. I'm sure the rest of you are dealing with tons of flex too, our chem is full of it. We tell the TMs to walk the whole area. If one of us sees something in an odd spot that we pick a lot we share that with each other to help the team.

As a TL it's my job to be on them about metrics, just like my ETL is on me, the SD is on them, etc... Corporate is big on metrics, so we have to be. But if my team is doing their due diligence then I'm not going to hold it against them. We audit the numbers, bring it to the attention of the right department, and move on. I've gone to bat for them over INF when the DC was not sending everything they said they did. When an area was reset but there are empty spaces that haven't been filled in ages. I tell my boss that I walked with them and the item is nowhere.

Do you think we like riding you guys? We don't.

 

[KillerTL]

So my store was shut off in the middle of the week and the thought was to help get gm freight get caught up and then turn us back on today.

Surprise surprise we had a 2400 piece truck today and a 2300 coming tomorrow and a double on Tuesday. We didn't get as much freight out as they would have liked because OPU was insane yesterday. So that plan failed.

Today we were cut back on and guess how many units dropped in for SFS. 4000!!!! FML. Not to mention we have already picked 300 over our OPU/grocery forecast. I inherited this team, it is my second week as their TL. We only have 3 people out of 10 picking at a green speed or higher today. Everyone else is red. So to save my ass it looks like everyone is getting coached daily.

Not sure what else to do. All my SD says is we have the payroll to get it done. Yeah if everyone was awesome at their job.

 

[MrT]

So my store was shut off in the middle of the week and the thought was to help get gm freight get caught up and then turn us back on today.

Surprise surprise we had a 2400 piece truck today and a 2300 coming tomorrow and a double on Tuesday. We didn't get as much freight out as they would have liked because OPU was insane yesterday. So that plan failed.

Today we were cut back on and guess how many units dropped in for SFS. 4000!!!! FML. Not to mention we have already picked 300 over our OPU/grocery forecast. I inherited this team, it is my second week as their TL. We only have 3 people out of 10 picking at a green speed or higher today. Everyone else is red. So to save my ass it looks like everyone is getting coached daily.

Not sure what else to do. All my SD says is we have the payroll to get it done. Yeah if everyone was awesome at their job.

Thats rough. Im getting a little less then 1000 units for sfs a day and its a struggle. No hours at all, and doing atleast double forecast in opu everyday.

 

[Switchto4]

We've been like 1000 over in OPU the past couple days and have been exceeding our 250 forecast for ship also. Still getting 40 hours, but I was kinda looking forward for it to slow down for a month and its literally just as crazy. Oh and fuck this pillowfort 40% off deal too.

That was one sale I didn't mind at all. Easy to find and easy to pack. I'll take it over paper/chem, pet food, or beauty deals any day.

Plus I got my kid some cute shit for her room.

 

[Black Sheep 214]

Not sure what else to do. All my SD says is we have the payroll to get it done. Yeah if everyone was awesome at their job.

Back in the day our SD used to think that, too. Then we were so far behind one Sunday during Q4, he had to help pick. They practically had to take him out on a stretcher, and the complaining and whining went on for the whole next week, at least. He never helped us again, but but at least he found out what we were up against.😂

 

[JiJi]

As a TM I have questions. (I've done fulfillment for 3.5 years and lived through the advents of both drive-up and grocery pick-up.)

1. Target is all about "teams". Teams by definition work together to achieve a common goal. In fulfillment, strategies like yours pit us against each other. How is that helpful and productive? All I compete against is a clock, and I and my teammates work together and help each other beat the clock. I don't give a shit how fast they are, and I refuse to throw another TM under the bus to raise my own "score". We want guests to get what they ordered when they want it. The end. If that means I don't care about my own "performance" I can live with that.

2. Fulfillment is a world of its own, and there's nothing less predictable. I can get a batch with 40 jars of baby food (woohoo! pick score through the roof!), or one with 10 sterilite tubs (four on the floor, six at the top of the steel), and a 60" TV, and a Barbie car that was unlocated in the back. Follow that with four bookcases (two in the back, two on the floor), a Harry's razor at the bottom of an untied endcap, and a bag of Valentine's Day candy that's somewhere in the shitshow that is seasonal, but I hunted it down to save my INF score (sorry pick score, sad trombone).

3. Do you want me to dig through a couple shelves of soup* to find the ones I need? I know they're there, the DBO just doesn't want to backstock so she shoves anything wherever it fits. So do I dig (and drag down my pick score, and make the guest happy), or do I INF (and drag down my INF score, and make the guest sad)? Either way, I get shit on and the lazy-ass DBO walks away whistling dixie (replace "soup" with "Advil", or "colored pencils", or "Goodfellow socks", or anything that should be in a specific place, but isn't).

4. I have orders for a loaf of Brownberry 15-grain bread and a 12-pack of caffeine-free diet Pepsi. We don't have them, and they're vendor products so we have ZERO control over it. But who gets dinged for that INF? ... Wait for it ... I do!

5. Produce! Ooh, I love my veggies. But when someone orders mushrooms and the only ones we have are ... well, slimy ... yeah, that's gonna be an INF. Sad trombone (on me, again).

So please ... tell me about my numbers, and how fast I should be going, and how I can improve.

The only time I've had to talk with my TMs about their metrics was when I walked through their INF and found most of it. I have everyone check in with me or one of the other pace setters before INFing something, because we have some lazy pickers. As long as you guys are doing what you need to do, and checking in when you INF, they'll be understandable (at least, they are with my team).

 

[vngoghlvr]

This is nice, in the Feb planner

 

[CassRoslyn]

I totally skipped over that hazard label info when reading this earlier today, whoops! I was so focused on thinking "what are they doing letting flowers and greeting cards be in opu!?" as I printed the page out for my team lol.

But yeah, that's cool. Now I gotta do...something...with the 2-3 boxes of labels we have laying around tho. Reminds me of when we changed printers last year and I had 15 boxes of collates to recycle. Sigh.

 

[vngoghlvr]

Fucking Flowers

 

[DatBoi9497]

I already know we are going to get cutoff from the cards in orders considering some of the flex tms can't find stuff in its home location. I also like how they had to clarify when items are available to order after they completely botched this toy transition and despite what they said, items that had never been sold were orderable...

 

[DBZ]

So we had some market orders go red today. The solution? Ignore them and only work on the ones you can actually meet goal on. I had a guest call at 8 to ask why her order wasn't done yet. It was placed at 3:30.

 

[thebroche]

So we had some market orders go red today. The solution? Ignore them and only work on the ones you can actually meet goal on. I had a guest call at 8 to ask why her order wasn't done yet. It was placed at 3:30.

Tell them that our goal time was reduced to get them their order faster.

 

[Bosch]

So we had some market orders go red today. The solution? Ignore them and only work on the ones you can actually meet goal on. I had a guest call at 8 to ask why her order wasn't done yet. It was placed at 3:30.

Yeah our SD had us do that over the weekend.. I said fuck that and every other batch was old orders.

And today's fun was all the batches look good to us on the zebra yet alerts for batches over time? All of us were like the WTF?? Where??? Nothing in the que all of us had over 30min on our batches when SD was screaming who had blown the goal time.. another mysupport filed cause this same thing happened a couple weeks ago.

 

[moninity]

Did anyone else's store have an issue for packing? I want to say between 10 am and noon half of our orders to pack were missing but all showed up after 12.

 

[MrT]

Yeah our SD had us do that over the weekend.. I said fuck that and every other batch was old orders.

And today's fun was all the batches look good to us on the zebra yet alerts for batches over time? All of us were like the WTF?? Where??? Nothing in the que all of us had over 30min on our batches when SD was screaming who had blown the goal time.. another mysupport filed cause this same thing happened a couple weeks ago.

Global issue today, cart information was incorrect half the time in opu and packing was broken as well.

 

[MrT]

Did anyone else's store have an issue for packing? I want to say between 10 am and noon half of our orders to pack were missing but all showed up after 12.

Global issue today, yes

 

[moninity]

Knew about opu having issues had to tell a team lead to calm down that it was a issue that was out of our hands but didn't know if sfs packing was part of it for other stores.

 

[Bosch]

Global issue today, cart information was incorrect half the time in opu and packing was broken as well.

Yeah well our SD didn't give a fuck and we had to hear a radio full of it that if were going to miss goal times we had to call for help and to not let it happen again. And her tone was just straight up hateful toward us. Even our TL and others were like WTF is wrong with her..

 

[Far from newbie]

Back in the day our SD used to think that, too. Then we were so far behind one Sunday during Q4, he had to help pick. They practically had to take him out on a stretcher, and the complaining and whining went on for the whole next week, at least. He never helped us again, but but at least he found out what we were up against.😂

Awesome. One batch Should be a weekly requirement - just as a reminder.
Don’t talk to me till you walk in my shoes ! When you can do it better than me, then we’ll talk and I’ll listen.

 

[calimero]

We are getting the grocery pick up , I would like some feedbacks to succeed! The do and the don’t, what would you have done differently if given the chance?