Logistics The Flow/Inbound thread: Until We Yeet Again edition 🤙

[can't touch this]

Couldn't find a similar thread so I made one. Flow general thread.

Flow is kinda my path to Zen. I come in early before the store opens, don't have to use my brain at all (it's not functioning anyway) and the flow TL/ETL-LOG is a great leader and chill to work with. I've had many retail jobs and keep ending up in flow/stocking positions because it's basically a "move boxes, acquire money" type deal.

on the flip side though, our flow team and process has come apart at the seams during my time with Target. When I started in late 2015 we had a very big team with a lot of cool, competent people who showed me the ropes and made everything fun. It wasn't without its shitty days, but the ratio of shitty days to good days was roughly 1:50.

now here in April 2018 I am the only OG flow TM left excluding the ETL-LOG. Literally everyone else that I started with has moved on or been termed. That's 95% turnover. About half of the quitters didn't even put in their 2 weeks and just stopped showing up. The replacement hires have ranged from totally useless to passable, but even the okay ones do the absolute minimum they can get away with, refuse to stay late if extra hours are offered, and promptly fuck off at 10AM. The OG crew had a median age of 35 and many were in their late 40s with years of retail experience, but now I'm the oldest flow TM by 10 years, the rest are all 18 - 20 years old and living with their parents (with all the apathy and indifference that entails). It's mind numbing.

p crazy how fast things can go downhill in such a short time.

 

[Marcellow]

10 am? Is this a 4am process?

My store is still overnight (very high volume) and while I used to be dayside, overnight is where it’s at so I agree with not dealing with guests. I’m on a specialty team though, we only are in charge of market. It was originally a 5am process that went overnight. Was supposed to be a temporary change but it worked so well and sales skyrocketed that it stayed this way.

 

[can't touch this]

6am process here. I would give one of my kidneys to have a true overnight flow but my store ditched ours and moved to 6am in 2009, long before I showed up.

I honestly don't know of any other major retailer that does truck stocking during the day. I find it hard to believe that the extra dollar overnight differential really added up to much.

 

[Planosss]

6am process here. I would give one of my kidneys to have a true overnight flow but my store ditched ours and moved to 6am in 2009, long before I showed up.

I honestly don't know of any other major retailer that does truck stocking during the day. I find it hard to believe that the extra dollar overnight differential really added up to much.

Its not just the 1 dollar differential. They gutted the ON flow, and that definitely adds up.

 

[can't touch this]

The next time I hear "X isn't brand" I'm gonna choke a bitch. You know what else isn't brand? 10 pallets of truck push staged on the salesfloor when the store is open so guests have to parkour over it to get down the fuckin aisle

Seriously tho it looks ghetto af, like Big Lots.

 

[Planosss]

The next time I hear "X isn't brand" I'm gonna choke a bitch. You know what else isn't brand? 10 pallets of truck push staged on the salesfloor when the store is open so guests have to parkour over it to get down the fuckin aisle

Seriously tho it looks ghetto af, like Big Lots.

Big lots = big savings!
Think positive!

 

[Billybobjoe]

Flow team thread? I thought they were going to become extinct soon?

 

[can't touch this]

Flow team thread? I thought they were going to become extinct soon?

Eh. Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions but they still get plenty of screen time. Lol

 

[unknown]

Couldn't find a similar thread so I made one. Flow general thread.

Flow is kinda my path to Zen. I come in early before the store opens, don't have to use my brain at all (it's not functioning anyway) and the flow TL/ETL-LOG is a great leader and chill to work with. I've had many retail jobs and keep ending up in flow/stocking positions because it's basically a "move boxes, acquire money" type deal.

on the flip side though, our flow team and process has come apart at the seams during my time with Target. When I started in late 2015 we had a very big team with a lot of cool, competent people who showed me the ropes and made everything fun. It wasn't without its shitty days, but the ratio of shitty days to good days was roughly 1:50.

now here in April 2018 I am the only OG flow TM left excluding the ETL-LOG. Literally everyone else that I started with has moved on or been termed. That's 95% turnover. About half of the quitters didn't even put in their 2 weeks and just stopped showing up. The replacement hires have ranged from totally useless to passable, but even the okay ones do the absolute minimum they can get away with, refuse to stay late if extra hours are offered, and promptly fuck off at 10AM. The OG crew had a median age of 35 and many were in their late 40s with years of retail experience, but now I'm the oldest flow TM by 10 years, the rest are all 18 - 20 years old and living with their parents (with all the apathy and indifference that entails). It's mind numbing.

p crazy how fast things can go downhill in such a short time.

I'm pretty sure this is what Target wants in employees. It's the culture they are cultivating.

I personally don't do the absolute minimum. But I care less and less each passing year. And I have no guilt saying this because the company itself cares less and less every year. If Target was a person, it would be the person to stab you in the back. Years of service mean nothing.

 

[FlowTeamChick]

Love this thread! A few random comments - Kroger stocks during the day. When we went to an 8:00 process - which didn't last long, thankfully - the first thing I thought of was how much I dislike having to get around their u-boat equivalent while I'm shopping. We got lots of guest complaints about it.
Completely agree about how those being hired in, despite the higher starting pay, mostly aren't worth their keep. A few are.
Also have to agree about how hard Target is making it to care much about doing a great job. When I started and for the first few years, I definitely wanted to do a great job and it actually was a fun place to work. Now? Nope. It's almost like they want us to quit.
A TM was saying as we were hanging up coats etc. that this kind of crap is why unions get invited into a workplace. (Shh, right?) I told him to keep comments like that very quiet, and to be careful who he talks to, but he's right. I'm not of a mind to let a union suck dues out of my already-small paycheck, but still, he made a good point.
Totally agree about pallets being on the sales floor after opening. Don't think the guests like it much either. I think it was much nicer for the guests back when pallets and trash cages had to be off the floor at opening time. We'd still have flatbeds and tubs all over, but at least they're more easily moved out of the way.
I'd love to find a job to replace this one, but early-morning part-time jobs are few and far between. Still looking.

 

[can't touch this]

I'm definitely mulling over the idea of getting a second job. I feel like my store still has a little spark of life in it despite everything, so I don't want to quit just yet. I'm probably going to give it another year, and if things don't improve, or non-specific deity forbid, they get worse, I'm out. The downside to juggling two meme jobs is that I'm extremely likely to end up with shitty hours at both, so that it turns into a "two jobs for the price of one" kind of deal, which would be infuriating. A couple TMs at my store work morning shifts at Target and evening shifts at Home Depot and Lowes. Target gives them 15 hours a week, Home Depot gives them....drumroll please...15 hours a week. A lot of companies will pass over your application if you don't have open availability, even if they have absolutely no intention of ever scheduling you for 40 hours.

 

[can't touch this]

I've noticed that due to the mysteries of ASANTS, some stores have high expectations and low hours, and some have low expectations and low hours. Which one are you?

Mine is the latter. tbqh this is probably the only reason I haven't quit yet. Our leads are quite detached and apathetic toward truck completion, and 100% of their focus is payroll. If you go so much as 30 minutes past your scheduled out time, they hunt you down and all but physically throw you out the front door, but if a third of the truck is left undone they just shrug. The leftovers from four consecutive trucks can pile up in the backroom until it hits the light fixtures as long as they don't have to overspend on payroll. I've never seen anything like this at any other place I've worked.

If they ever start pulling the "chew us out for not getting 8 hours' worth of work done in 3" routine I will quit faster than you can say "turnover."

 

[Aredhel]

^ Two jobs for the pay of one.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Lowe’s or Home Depot might offer a better job for you.

 

[Leonhart621]

Anyone here can provide me some info how to sort the repacks without using carts? We’re not allowed to use shopping carts anymore for breakdown. Not sure how’s that going to work when we use 18 carts for HBA, 18 carts for combos, and 20+ carts I’m softlines

 

[Leonhart621]

We don’t have enough 3 tier carts

 

[can't touch this]

Anyone here can provide me some info how to sort the repacks without using carts? We’re not allowed to use shopping carts anymore for breakdown. Not sure how’s that going to work when we use 18 carts for HBA, 18 carts for combos, and 20+ carts I’m softlines

We don’t have enough 3 tier carts

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ sounds like you're SOL to be honest. We have to use carts and 3 tiers at my store because there's literally nothing else to use. Then again I think we can get away with it because this a lower volume store that was sent more carts than we actually need, like way more. If they tell us to stop using carts I'm going to wig out

 

[Noiinteam]

Anyone here can provide me some info how to sort the repacks without using carts? We’re not allowed to use shopping carts anymore for breakdown. Not sure how’s that going to work when we use 18 carts for HBA, 18 carts for combos, and 20+ carts I’m softlines

Asants My store uses carts for hba and domestic breakdown. I do softlines de trashing. The Etl ge got us bakers racks. We use 1 for men's, 1 for women's table, 1 for women's accessories, 1 for women's socks,underwear and c9, 1 for shoes, 2 each for boys and girls and 2 for nit. I have seen bakers racks in other Target stores around us. Obviously all hanging goes on z's. Transition usually goes on a pallet in the steel depending on set date. It works for us.

 

[Bosch]

Anyone here can provide me some info how to sort the repacks without using carts? We’re not allowed to use shopping carts anymore for breakdown. Not sure how’s that going to work when we use 18 carts for HBA, 18 carts for combos, and 20+ carts I’m softlines

Order more three tiers. Cause come 4th quarter SFS/OPU are going to need a lot of three tiers for their job and believe me they get priority over you who can use shopping carts.

 

[graffiti]

Anyone here can provide me some info how to sort the repacks without using carts? We’re not allowed to use shopping carts anymore for breakdown. Not sure how’s that going to work when we use 18 carts for HBA, 18 carts for combos, and 20+ carts I’m softlines

We implemented that a long while ago and all areas just push straight out of the repack boxes off the pallets/vehicles now. Combos are sorted at the far end of the line during the unload (into repacks lined up under the line) and are distributed as they fill up/when the unload is finished.

Softlines uses the tiered tubs for all folded, divided by department with clothes on the top and accessories/basics/etc in repacks on the bottom. We have 7 tubs just for this, and it works well if your leadership insists and enforces that those tubs are only for softlines breakout use or at least need to be made available by the next truck day. And if softlines doesn't go a week without pushing the truck... They separate shoes onto other vehicles, and use three tiers for women's accessories and mixed-in departments (One Spot, infant hardlines, domestics). In all they still end up using the most vehicles of anyone, with 4-7 tiered tubs, 3+ regular tubs (trash, empty repacks, shoes), and 4-7 three tiers, but as long as the backroom is relatively kept up with it works.

We rarely ever use shopping carts for flow anymore. When it's really bad in the backroom we just send backstock back in repacks, which gives me an eye twitch to do but it's the only option if carts aren't allowed.

 

[can't touch this]

Pushing from flats would be workable if we had more than 10 and they weren't all lined up in BR with last week's backstock and other random shit piled on them

 

[graffiti]

Yeah that was us too until about a month ago when they finally had the idea to give flow more hours and have us do all the backstock too. For now our backroom is a dream, but leadership seems to hate when things are going well so I'm sure it won't last long.

 

[can't touch this]

Yeah that was us too until about a month ago when they finally had the idea to give flow more hours...

okay, and who had the gun?

 

[can't touch this]

I've noticed that due to the mysteries of ASANTS, some stores have high expectations and low hours, and some have low expectations and low hours. Which one are you?

 

[Leonhart621]

We implemented that a long while ago and all areas just push straight out of the repack boxes off the pallets/vehicles now. Combos are sorted at the far end of the line during the unload (into repacks lined up under the line) and are distributed as they fill up/when the unload is finished.

Softlines uses the tiered tubs for all folded, divided by department with clothes on the top and accessories/basics/etc in repacks on the bottom. We have 7 tubs just for this, and it works well if your leadership insists and enforces that those tubs are only for softlines breakout use or at least need to be made available by the next truck day. And if softlines doesn't go a week without pushing the truck... They separate shoes onto other vehicles, and use three tiers for women's accessories and mixed-in departments (One Spot, infant hardlines, domestics). In all they still end up using the most vehicles of anyone, with 4-7 tiered tubs, 3+ regular tubs (trash, empty repacks, shoes), and 4-7 three tiers, but as long as the backroom is relatively kept up with it works.

We rarely ever use shopping carts for flow anymore. When it's really bad in the backroom we just send backstock back in repacks, which gives me an eye twitch to do but it's the only option if carts aren't allowed.

Good idea on the combos. HBO is my main concern. If we push from the repacks, it will take awhile working back and forth.