Archived The Big & Dandy Backroom thread!

[SFSFun]

Oh yeah so the 11's were 6 hours. It was like a mini autofill. The CAFs eventually recovered to be 28 min by 2 though.

If the autofill had a one hour countdown...

 

[Mysterious]

Well, it's been about 2 weeks since we started Pulling and Pushing merchandise to all locations on the floor. So far, so good with a couple kinks to work out.

Pain to work out with limited time between pushing and backroom routines.

 

[Guest]

Nothing would ever get done if backroom had to work CAF batches to the floor each hour at the shithole that I'm at. It's just not possible. Not enough time. I was told today by an ETL not to put too much stuff on a tub. I did my normal "yeah" and walked away. If you don't like how I pull CAF batches, then you are more than welcome to come back and help me do it the "right" way.
I work in the backroom and I pull CAF batches. I'm a facilitator or a middle man(screw you bro, I'm not PC). My job is to make the CAF batches get pulled and are on a flat or tub and placed by the line. All I do is clear the batches. I don't care how it gets done as long as it gets done.

 

[crumbdumb]

\

when we would get asked what can we do different to come clean at the end of the night and we would say hire more people, etls just say other then that -_-

If these geniuses don't want to hire more people, they should do more of the grunt work themselves. And not just for an hour or so a day, *all day*. If it's 7pm and there are 5+ backstock vehicles (because I've been pushing CAFs most of the day, not the sales floor non-team), price changes *and* I have to set the line, take a break, and leave by 8:30, telling me to work faster is not a solution...

 

[callmetaylor]

I'm new to BR, so I'd love some input- sorry this is so long! (also, some of my jargon might be a bit off...forgive me!)

For context my store gets 3 trucks (not including FDC) a week, normally averaging around 1700 (I've seen 1300-2200)

Is it normal to have a single BR TM on weekend nights? I've started working BR Sunday evenings and it's pretty overwhelming.

I was thrown in to doing CAFs with no warning. I've had 3 CAF shifts now and I feel like I'm getting a good process down, but by the time I finish pulling I normally have less than 10min (often less than 5!) until the next one drops.


They finally got someone else to work out my pulls- the first week in BR I had to push all of the pulls at the end of my shift.

But on 15min of training I'm expected to pull all of the batches (my 6pm had 20 batches- most are around 15ish), constantly check Flexible Fulfillment and run all over the store to take care of that, look up/pull junk that salesfloor TMs call for, backstock the stuff from my shift AND the stuff that the morning TMs didn't get to, and help set the line.

...am I crazy, or is that way too much for a single TM? I'm not even officially a BR TM- I'm Flow, but wanted to train in BR. I backstocked for like 2 weeks before I was randomly given a sunday night shift- I just assumed I'd be backstocking all night- it wasn't until the day before that I was told I'd be pulling batches, and someone gave me a 15min overview of how to do it- I had never even really used a PDA before!


At this point, I feel good with pulling the batches, but trying to juggle everything else has me SO stressed all night, especially because those other tasks often cut in to my time to pull batches. I'm normally cutting it pretty close, so being asked to find/pull something for salesfloor or do Flexible Fulfillment makes me want to snap.

I've stayed 1-2hrs late and skipped my 15min breaks every shift trying to get stuff done, but it just feels impossible. Do I suck at my job, or are we understaffed?

 

[asidius]

They usually give double coverage when the CAFs begin to drop. The mid typically comes in around 11 or 12 and leaves at 7-7:30., and the closer gets in around 3. The opener leaves around this time as well. It could be your BR is short on payroll since we're near the end of the month.

Everyone generally sucks at their job for a bit, you'll get better. If you need help pulling the CAFs, do call for help since the leaders don't like to see the batches roll over.

You can check how big the CAFs are by going to Workload Planning Tool in Workbench, and viewing the CAF monitor. It will give you a pull goal. Generally if it's over an hour, you'll probobly want help.

 

[SFSFun]

@callmetaylor

A single closing TM is normal, but how much work you do depends on what time the morning/day crew leaves. Our openers leave at 2:30 and the mid (if there is one) leaves at 4:30. Our closer is usually able to handle the closing tasks and backstock a decent chunk of stuff on a 1:30-10 shift.

 

[j2e86]

@callmetaylor
I get the impression your store is either really understaffed or your leaders just don't understand the importance of logistics. If pulls are just sitting in the backroom until you can run them at the end of the night, you've probably got a lot of empty shelves. Our DTL would rip our STLs shit if we were doing that.

One closer is normal, but single coverage for CAFs is weird. Maybe a smaller volume store like yours doesn't need double coverage, but we average 200+ DPCIs on our weekend CAFs. With the size of our backroom, we typically have 3 TMs pulling all CAFs on Saturday and Sunday. We're a Super with 6+ 2600+ piece trucks a week, so we're a little larger, but I can't imagine one person pulling hourlies on a Sunday night works in any store with more than one or two trucks a week.

@asidius
You can check CAF sizes on PDAs and MyDevices under myProgress. It's not as detailed as RWT, but it's a hell of a lot faster. I don't think TMs checking RWT CAF Monitor every hour would fly at my store.

 

[.the bulls eye.]

i work in a smaller store no p fresh but we have some small coolers with the basics(meat, cheeses, milk, yogurt, juice and some frozen goods) usually we have the opener @ 7am to 330, another tm at 8,9 or 10 (depending on the day/ and or the workload of other departments) then we get another tm in at 11 to 730, then we have 2 closers that come in around 130 and 300, and when it gets busy like on weekends and back to school/seasonal etc. there is a tm that comes in for short shift who comes in around 3, 4 or 5 for about 4 hours. although i feel its mostly like that when my TL works, that is when the schedule is really good. then when he is not there and i am in charge the teams size is 2-3 people smaller lol whatever though i always come clean. around 11 or 12 instocks and backroom start to work together to try and get the line cleared asap. our 11's are usually 2-330 min,(but i like to create and pull manual caffs with all items for chem, papr, grc1, 2 & 3, sometimes snck, bev 1 & 2, dary, frzr, candy, this drops my caff sizes by half sometimes for most of the day) and we use two to three people to pull the 11 and then alternate using 1 person to pull 12 though 6 depending on how big they are. in the morning we start off with fulfillment, suspect audit, the research and we also pull planos pogs. closers usually do projects after backrooms process is complete. i would be interested to know other peoples daily routines, im looking for new way/methods of doing things or just hearing about it.

 

[j2e86]

i work in a smaller store no p fresh but we have some small coolers with the basics(meat, cheeses, milk, yogurt, juice and some frozen goods) usually we have the opener @ 7am to 330, another tm at 8,9 or 10 (depending on the day/ and or the workload of other departments) then we get another tm in at 11 to 730, then we have 2 closers that come in around 130 and 300, and when it gets busy like on weekends and back to school/seasonal etc. there is a tm that comes in for short shift who comes in around 3, 4 or 5 for about 4 hours. although i feel its mostly like that when my TL works, that is when the schedule is really good. then when he is not there and i am in charge the teams size is 2-3 people smaller lol whatever though i always come clean. around 11 or 12 instocks and backroom start to work together to try and get the line cleared asap. our 11's are usually 2-330 min,(but i like to create and pull manual caffs with all items for chem, papr, grc1, 2 & 3, sometimes snck, bev 1 & 2, dary, frzr, candy, this drops my caff sizes by half sometimes for most of the day) and we use two to three people to pull the 11 and then alternate using 1 person to pull 12 though 6 depending on how big they are. in the morning we start off with fulfillment, suspect audit, the research and we also pull planos pogs. closers usually do projects after backrooms process is complete. i would be interested to know other peoples daily routines, im looking for new way/methods of doing things or just hearing about it.

I've never heard of backroom getting that many hours. I'm jealous. A $60 million Super, we got max 190 hours for backroom Q2 and Q3 this year.

I wish we could have a routine that strong. Do you have closers do empty location audits or aisle updates?

 

[crumbdumb]

I'm new to BR, so I'd love some input- sorry this is so long! (also, some of my jargon might be a bit off...forgive me!)

For context my store gets 3 trucks (not including FDC) a week, normally averaging around 1700 (I've seen 1300-2200)

Is it normal to have a single BR TM on weekend nights? I've started working BR Sunday evenings and it's pretty overwhelming.

I was thrown in to doing CAFs with no warning. I've had 3 CAF shifts now and I feel like I'm getting a good process down, but by the time I finish pulling I normally have less than 10min (often less than 5!) until the next one drops.


They finally got someone else to work out my pulls- the first week in BR I had to push all of the pulls at the end of my shift.

But on 15min of training I'm expected to pull all of the batches (my 6pm had 20 batches- most are around 15ish), constantly check Flexible Fulfillment and run all over the store to take care of that, look up/pull junk that salesfloor TMs call for, backstock the stuff from my shift AND the stuff that the morning TMs didn't get to, and help set the line.

...am I crazy, or is that way too much for a single TM? I'm not even officially a BR TM- I'm Flow, but wanted to train in BR. I backstocked for like 2 weeks before I was randomly given a sunday night shift- I just assumed I'd be backstocking all night- it wasn't until the day before that I was told I'd be pulling batches, and someone gave me a 15min overview of how to do it- I had never even really used a PDA before!


At this point, I feel good with pulling the batches, but trying to juggle everything else has me SO stressed all night, especially because those other tasks often cut in to my time to pull batches. I'm normally cutting it pretty close, so being asked to find/pull something for salesfloor or do Flexible Fulfillment makes me want to snap.

I've stayed 1-2hrs late and skipped my 15min breaks every shift trying to get stuff done, but it just feels impossible. Do I suck at my job, or are we understaffed?

They're giving you a raw deal, dayside needs 2 TM with a few hours overlap, Sundays need 3 TM (but rarely happens in my store).

If it takes you nearly the whole hour to do the CAFs regularly, ask for help from an ETL or TL. If they refuse to help, stop skipping your breaks (you should do that anyway) and agreeing to say an hour or 2 late. They can't deny you your breaks and they can't make you stay longer than you've been scheduled. Their understaffing isn't your fault and the only way they'll address it is if you make them. If they ask why there's so much left undone, tell them workload was too much and you didn't get any help. Closers at my store only have to finish price changes, CAF/research/EXFs, and set the line by the time they leave. If backstock is left over, tough luck. If they give you crap about it, the facts are on your side.

 

[anathema]

I'd check CAF times. It's possible you need practice pulling faster but sometimes they're genuinely pretty big. Having some figures to go by can help your sense of time awareness.

Apart from that, I'm not sure how you're expected to pull and push the CAFs. I can't imagine it's BP to have backroom push them?

 

[crumbdumb]

I'd check CAF times. It's possible you need practice pulling faster but sometimes they're genuinely pretty big. Having some figures to go by can help your sense of time awareness.

Apart from that, I'm not sure how you're expected to pull and push the CAFs. I can't imagine it's BP to have backroom push them?

My store TL demands it, some of my other ETLs are more lax about it, but ask us to push if the line's heavy. We regularly keep only 1 or 2 push tubs on the the line and set others aside to keep them off our backs so we have a chance to backstock. Usually works, but not always with the store TL, he trolls the backroom, nitpicks our every move, and overall is a jerk. He's awful. Rarely gives compliments or positive feedback. Always has something to criticize.

 

[callmetaylor]

You guys have made me feel so much better- thanks for all of the feedback!

I should clarify that I only had to push my own pulls that first time- the last two weeks they've pulled a salesfloor TM to push them while I pull.

After my second weekend I approached my ETL-Log and said "hey, I'm working as hard as I possibly can, but I feel like I suck at this. If it's not good enough for you I totally understand- just pull me off, because I don't know what more I can possibly do."

She just said it was fine since I'm still "in training" (more like I'm still in "discover it on your own" mode!)- that maybe if this was the case months and months from now it would be an issue, but definitely not at this point...so I'm not sure what my store's deal is.

So it is what it is. I'm just going to do as much as I can and not worry about the rest. No more killing myself for Spot.

 

[jack Welch]

Off the topic of pulling for a moment as I had a question about backstocking trim-a-tree. Trim a tree is separated into Blue, Green, and Yellow sections in the backroom based on class. Does anyone have a breakdown of classes that make up each color section for department 51? I for the life of me cannot find the necessary info at work on workbench. I find general statements like green is trees and lights but nothing that says blue has class oo, o1, or 02 etc. in it.

 

[Guest]

The closing LOD cracked me up tonight with her comment about how she hates 6pm pulls. I told her that she was 100 percent right. I said that I basically pull the same amount if not a little more. A waste of time.

 

[AKADuchess]

I've never heard of backroom getting that many hours. I'm jealous. A $60 million Super, we got max 190 hours for backroom Q2 and Q3 this year.

I wish we could have a routine that strong. Do you have closers do empty location audits or aisle updates?

What?!?!? I am like a 30-40 million ULV and i average 180 a week during slow months. I am doing 215-225 on my Nov week 1 sechedule.

 

[signingminion]

What?!?!? I am like a 30-40 million ULV and i average 180 a week during slow months. I am doing 215-225 on my Nov week 1 sechedule.

And suddenly we realize were all getting screwed...we only overlap backroom on weekends for closing. Maybe an hour. Morning overlaps a couple hours but rarely helps pull cafs, they normally just backstock.

 

[BigEyedPhish]

I have gotten so sick of 6pm pulls in market that I grab a PDA at 5:59, pull all the Market Cooler pulls myself and push them, because I can get them done faster if I don't wait for the BR to get through all the HL+(that one random SL pull)+randomly mixing mine... By the time I've pulled/Pushed all the Market 6 O'Clock Pulls the HL's pulls should be hitting the line.....

And that's when these Hardline's Kids learn how push pulls as if their very zone depended on it.....

"Hey @%#$ in A I know u have a A pull, but another just hit the line, I'll de-trash it, bring it to you, and then bring your backstock back... When your done with that come play with us in Dry Market.

 

[j2e86]

What?!?!? I am like a 30-40 million ULV and i average 180 a week during slow months. I am doing 215-225 on my Nov week 1 sechedule.

And suddenly we realize were all getting screwed...we only overlap backroom on weekends for closing. Maybe an hour. Morning overlaps a couple hours but rarely helps pull cafs, they normally just backstock.

We just got a new STL and have gone from 180 hours a week to almost 300. It's amazing. We can't even staff it until we get more hires.

I think it's just a matter of having management that understands the importance of logistics. It was once common sense that logistics was the backbone of the store, but our last STL made it clear they didn't care about any problem you couldn't see on the sales floor. Every year the team would say that the backroom had never been this bad and the next year it would be worse. Just a couple of months in and out stockroom looks better with trim a tree and Black Friday merchandise taking up space on the shelves than it did in January/February in years past.

 

[signingminion]

We just got a new STL and have gone from 180 hours a week to almost 300. It's amazing. We can't even staff it until we get more hires.

I think it's just a matter of having management that understands the importance of logistics. It was once common sense that logistics was the backbone of the store, but our last STL made it clear they didn't care about any problem you couldn't see on the sales floor. Every year the team would say that the backroom had never been this bad and the next year it would be worse. Just a couple of months in and out stockroom looks better with trim a tree and Black Friday merchandise taking up space on the shelves than it did in January/February in years past.

Flow sucks all the hours for us. I know they're trying to restructure, but I'm not sure it's going to get where we want. Plus pfresh still has more hours than they need or can use for no real reason I can discern.

 

[Red Buffalo]

Is anyone else's backroom in complete disarray? Like, at my store, since I started working there, the backroom seems like it's entirely disorganized. We've got an aisle that's blocked 100% of the time with probably close to 60 carts full of random product. Clothing items that get hung up at the top of shelves on high racks that's probably been there for a year, if not longer. An entire aisle pretty much taken up by pallets of soda. I shutter at the thought of how bad it's going to be when we start getting Black Friday products in. Supposedly it wasn't like that before the new STL took over.

Anyway, here's a pic of that aisle blocked by carts. Backroom

 

[Kompa]

The Electronics reset killed our E-stockroom. MM2's autofill was 4 hours long, 2000+ items lmao

 

[SFSFun]

Is anyone else's backroom in complete disarray? Like, at my store, since I started working there, the backroom seems like it's entirely disorganized. We've got an aisle that's blocked 100% of the time with probably close to 60 carts full of random product. Clothing items that get hung up at the top of shelves on high racks that's probably been there for a year, if not longer. An entire aisle pretty much taken up by pallets of soda. I shutter at the thought of how bad it's going to be when we start getting Black Friday products in. Supposedly it wasn't like that before the new STL took over.

Anyway, here's a pic of that aisle blocked by carts. Backroom

Holy fuck that's terrible! Ours is bad, but not that bad.

Are there any shopping carts left for guests to use?

The Electronics reset killed our E-stockroom. MM2's autofill was 4 hours long, 2000+ items lmao

Same here. Made worse by 2 call offs, our BR didn't even backstock the back side of the line. It's still sitting there for tomorrow's truck.

 

[ElectronicsTM]

You should tweet that picture to your DTL with a catchy phrase. #T####Ready4Q4!