This is going to be a long one.
A couple of things to ask. Because they all have different potential answers. Likely its not just one problem that leads to INF being bad otherwise you could probably figure it out yourself. Ive partnered with my ETL, SD, AND fellow TLs to get it under control.
My INF when i was the SFS TL up until about a month ago was around 5% SFS and 2% OPU/Grocery
1. Are they not finding the items because there is not enough time to look.
2. Are they not finding items because they are not looking well enough.
-feel rushed-
-dont know where to look-
-dont care-
3. Are they using all the tools available
-RFID gun-
-asking dbos for help-
-asking leaders for help-
4. Are they not finding items because the inventory is off.
My team needs to ask a leader for permission to INF. When they do they should already have the information ready.
-What it is * i know they should know this but I've had some tms forget what they are looking for and im like if you don't know you will never find it * this would be a documented conversation because they are not paying attention.
-Last delivery ,sold, and audit dates.
-how many on hand.
When i had a problem with style infs i had to partner with my style tls and they approved style INFs.
Same thing with grocery.
You said your freight isnt too far behind, but ive had problems with that before and had to make sure the leftover freight was properly dated and not mixed. Its a lot of work and will probably get pushback but it helped tremendously.
Productivity also effects INF if they feel like they dont have time to properly look for items. My OPU team is scheduled 5 hours shifts and theyre tasked with 250 units a shift. 200 is probably my minimum acceptable number. If they are taking multiple batches it shouldnt be a problem.
Inventory problems are probably your most difficult to fix, but tbh its usually not as bad as it may seem.
-If your backroom is a mess probably have a bunch of unlocated items in the back. With the company focused on pull % hopefully getting items out of your backroom will help you fix that as they go.
-Make sure items being flexed on the sales floor are located and labeled.
-Again if style is bad make sure they are going through the RFID reject report otherwise the RFID process isnt doing anything .
In summary,
Make sure you are available for your team to help them, this was the biggest improvement for me. If you are not already figure out how you can be available and not stuck jumping in to pick or needed to pack to get your goals done.
I used my time to do a bunch of small tasks to help my other leaders so that they could help me. Since the 90 minute goal INF has definitely been more difficult to manage, especially now with the less hours and still high amount of OPU/SHIP.
If you have more concerns or want more specifics to anything i mentioned you can ask here or PM me is fine. I always enjoy working with other leaders and stores to see how things are done.
The new TL at my store took half my tasks (RTS, cleaning, supply audit, to name a few) and told me some of the other ones I do aren't important, and that I need to only pick. Wow, okay, fuck me I guess.
