# New Inbound TL



## FFtoIBTL (Feb 7, 2022)

Yes, I've browsed this forum a bit but would like some advice and tips on my new role.

So, I am a new Inbound TL and also over Toys/Sporting Goods. Currently we average 8 trucks a week (usually 1800-2200) (one double) and usually run 5 on the line, one thrower (on a good day). 4AM unload.
I am one month in to this role coming from FF. I want to maximize proficiency and ensure we always get a good start to the day, but is tough as we are always behind on push.
What are some basic tips to help improve efficiency? Our sort is not great, we have vehicles for custom blocks, but they are mixed often, and definitely not sorted by aisle. I really want to create new custom blocks but don't know where to start or what all can be improved. We are also very limited on space, even with a clean line and backroom. 

I know this is all over the place, and many questions have probably been answered, but I appreciate your time. Feel free to link other posts that could help. I’ll check back tomorrow.

(EDIT: I also want to note that we ALWAYS start our day by pushing the entirety of C+D (Bed, bath, home, kitchen) except home dec and repacks. Is this normal? In Q4, they only pushed Toys. I want to also mention on hands counts are awful, capacities are mostly wrong, and BRLA is manipulated by using barcode scanners to fake pull items not in actually in location) How much of this is normal?)


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## MrT (Feb 7, 2022)

Seemed like you answered a lot of your own questions.  Its hard to be efficient when behind.  I spent a decent amount of time fixing custom blocks not that long ago.  Sometimes they need to be adjust do to big transitions and throughout each season.  It can be a lot of trial and error just to get them balanced.  Leave space in between custom block numbers so its easier to add and adjust custom blocks down the line.  There is a lot out of your control in inbound.  Your job effects every part of the store and every part of the store effects yours so communication and teamwork is key.


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## Planosss enraged (Feb 7, 2022)

How do you feel about staffing? Are you adequately staffed for what you want to accomplish?


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## Hardlinesmaster (Feb 7, 2022)

Welcome!
@allnew2 please assist.


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## Black Sheep 214 (Feb 7, 2022)

FFtoIBTL said:


> In Q4, they only pushed Toys. I want to also mention on hands counts are awful, capacities are mostly wrong, and BRLA is manipulated by using barcode scanners to fake pull items not in actually in location) How much of this is normal?)


Can’t speak to the rest of it, but only pushing Toys, or pushing Toys first, during Q4 is pretty standard procedure because that’s where a lot of the money is and Spot doesn’t want to lose those sales or get stuck with a bunch of unsold ncf toys whose value drops about 75% (at least) at 12am on December 26th. 
As for cheating to manipulate BRLM, seems like that was standard procedure, too, at least at my store, when leadership kept racking their brains to come up with more and more ingenious ways to game the system and demand that the team use them. Capacities and on hands being off is normal, too, unfortunately. 🙁
Congrats, good luck, and


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## allnew2 (Feb 7, 2022)

Welcome to your new role . Inbound was my favorite position  . To be successful it starts with a good sort so custom blocks plays a huge role in that . Custom blocks shouldn’t be changed more than once a year once during q4 and right after q4. Best way is to fix your custom block is based on dbos . Also how many bays do you have ? You can only do so much if you have less than 5 bays ,you are staffed for success so I’m confused as to why everyday you have to push roll over . How many hours is inbound schedule for ? Are they also schedule in their own departments? What I’m going to say now I will assume that they are not and only scheduled for 4h. 4 am unload so by 6-6:15 the latest your truck should be done , call break and 6;30 they return to push . You want to push the areas that got hit the most . With 1 and half hours left  your 6 team members could and should push half of the truck  be in the back room to feed them the vehicles for example : rugs , furniture , pillows those are quick and easy shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes . Once they go home the dbo would be left with the rest and they should come clean . So you should have a clean line coming in the next day . Utilize the replenishment reports , look at your bulk list and what gets hits . Be prepared for transitions . Freight for transition arrives 10-14 days before it sets .
Also always and I mean always check the areas with call out and push that freight otherwise most likely you will come in the next day with it on the line.


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## allnew2 (Feb 7, 2022)

FFtoIBTL said:


> EDIT: I also want to note that we ALWAYS start our day by pushing the entirety of C+D (Bed, bath, home, kitchen) except home dec and repacks. Is this normal? In Q4, they only pushed Toys. I want to also mention on hands counts are awful, capacities are mostly wrong, and BRLA is manipulated by using barcode scanners to fake pull items not in actually in location) How much of this is normal?)


It’s not .


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## lucidtm (Feb 8, 2022)

I'm not inbound but hoping this helps (I know what they've started doing recently and it's helped by leaps and bounds).

Our inbound is all very tenured, including the TL. After Q4 IDK if freight changed or what but we started really backing up and morale went way down all over. Like your store, ours pushed C&D because it was mostly flats. The ETL had the inbound TL start looking at the schedule then looking at what we had the most of.

For example, if we had a lot of high B carry over from the day before and now 3-4 more flats and u-boats then the inbound team goes and pushes high B. If it's a toss up between C&D and high B they look at the GM schedule for the day and who is there. We hardly ever have anyone in high B so maybe they'll throw 4 of them to high B (since it takes longer also) and then 1 of them to handle C&D flats. Randomly departments like Pets go in there too or paper if that guy has the day off. Literally anywhere that starts to really need the help.

TL;DR - don't just focus on one department for push. PARTNER with the other leads and get a feel for what areas need the most help and on what days. You'll start to see trends and be able to schedule the team's time better. You can also brainstorm on what can be done in other departments to improve productivity. Get with your ETL on that one as well).


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## NightHuntress (Feb 8, 2022)

allnew2 said:


> Welcome to your new role . Inbound was my favorite position  . To be successful it starts with a good sort so custom blocks plays a huge role in that . Custom blocks shouldn’t be changed more than once a year once during q4 and right after q4. Best way is to fix your custom block is based on dbos . Also how many bays do you have ? You can only do so much if you have less than 5 bays ,you are staffed for success so I’m confused as to why everyday you have to push roll over . How many hours is inbound schedule for ? Are they also schedule in their own departments? What I’m going to say now I will assume that they are not and only scheduled for 4h. 4 am unload so by 6-6:15 the latest your truck should be done , call break and 6;30 they return to push . You want to push the areas that got hit the most . With 1 and half hours left  your 6 team members could and should push half of the truck  be in the back room to feed them the vehicles for example : rugs , furniture , pillows those are quick and easy shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes . Once they go home the dbo would be left with the rest and they should come clean . So you should have a clean line coming in the next day . Utilize the replenishment reports , look at your bulk list and what gets hits . Be prepared for transitions . Freight for transition arrives 10-14 days before it sets .
> Also always and I mean always check the areas with call out and push that freight otherwise most likely you will come in the next day with it on the line.


That sounds heavenly! Wish ours was like that. Here’s our breakdown (fyi- don’t be like us)….
5 on the line, 1 thrower. All DBO’s so scheduled a 5.5 hr shift. Other DBO’s not on line get a 4 hr shift.
Arrive at 4. Unload team sets up line which takes about a half hour due to so much to move from rollover. Begin unload about 4:30. Finish unload between 6:30/7. Break. Then off to their areas. Zone, 1:1’s, stay on top of reshop, guest service guests, backup, cart scrambles, push what truck you can. Hope what doesn’t get done magically disappears before you come back. Walk back into the mess again the next morning and do it all again while wondering what the breaking point is.

FYI- it just got really bad in the last couple weeks with the truck sizes and adds. This is the time of year with little payroll yet we are taking 2,000/2,500 piece trucks and getting added trucks on top of it. We just can’t keep up.


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## can't touch this (Feb 8, 2022)

What’s even the point of a 4 hour shift anyway, after all these years the answer eludes me still. Yay I’ve got time to get 0.003% of the shit done that needs doing? Yay I can spend one third of the shift having a CoNvErSaTiOn about why nothing is getting done?? Yay I can pay one fortieth of this months‘ rent?? Can I also wait around until the tail end of the day to start my shift when the store is hitting maximum occupancy and the charging docks have zero Zebras available? Yes. Sign me up. It’s what I live for.


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## happygoth (Feb 9, 2022)

can't touch this said:


> What’s even the point of a 4 hour shift anyway, after all these years the answer eludes me still. Yay I’ve got time to get 0.003% of the shit done that needs doing? Yay I can spend one third of the shift having a CoNvErSaTiOn about why nothing is getting done?? Yay I can pay one fortieth of this months‘ rent?? Can I also wait around until the tail end of the day to start my shift when the store is hitting maximum occupancy and the charging docks have zero Zebras available? Yes. Sign me up. It’s what I live for.


Four hour shifts are mostly reserved for night shift/closers in my store, but I've noticed recently that some openers are getting them too. Personally I love coming for four hours, I get what I can get done and leave, it is what it is.


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## ION the Prize (Feb 9, 2022)

FFtoIBTL said:


> Feel free to link other posts that could help ...











						Improving Inbound
					

I am about to move from fulfillment to GMTL Inbound.  The ETL is very new and inexperienced and is really struggling.  One of our PP2 TLs is pretty burnt out and the other is brand new.  I know that getting the GM process right will take some time so does anyone have any tips or advice on where...




					www.thebreakroom.org
				












						Inbound questions... again
					

A few months ago my GM ETL was super short staffing our inbound team. We would have a thrower and 3 on the line for every unload. Obviously we struggled, because at our store inbound pushes flats as they fill up. So it would inevitably become 2 on the line and one thrower and unloads would take...




					www.thebreakroom.org


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## FFtoIBTL (Feb 9, 2022)

This is going to be a rather large reply but I am going to attempt to address what I can and also want to thank everyone for your time and advice, means a lot! This is the kind of communication and perspective I expect to be available from my ETL. Unfortunately, it isn't. I understand not everyone will want to read all of this but I am hoping that some will.

I encourage anyone to leave advice on where they think I could improve. This is essentially how inbound was before I stepped into this role, so I tried to learn how things are being done currently before I attempted to make any bigger changes. I finally feel comfortable enough to start this process. I also want to mention I have only been in fulfillment in my 1 year and 3 months at Target prior to joining inbound. I was given very little TL or Inbound training. I had one day training with a TL and then that TL got Covid, the next 3 days I had a TL come in with me but was not helping me at all, they were only there to answer questions over walkie when I could think of them. I did not train at another store, and have never worked at another store, so I only know how things operate at my store.



Planosss enraged said:


> How do you feel about staffing? Are you adequately staffed for what you want to accomplish?


Inbound is usually scheduled adequately, but I expect one callout per shift which usually leaves me throwing/on the line, which IMO kills efficiency, I am not able to guide the unload. I have to leave the backroom often to unlock equipment room, let TM's in the store, answer the phone. High rise in covid has hurt us lately too. Biggest scheduling issue I see is in fulfillment. Coming from FF, I may be biased. But on most days OPU is going crazy and most of GM is jumping in batches to help and along with helping the check lanes. In my opinion, FF should be over scheduled and help with push/OFO when it is slow. If we don't have the hours then we could ask if someone wants to go home. We are in a college town and most TM's are 18-22, conservatively 75%, and all would leave early on slow days. Not to mention attendance is not great across the store which could probably be attributed to that age group as well.


Black Sheep 214 said:


> Can’t speak to the rest of it, but only pushing Toys, or pushing Toys first, during Q4 is pretty standard procedure because that’s where a lot of the money is and Spot doesn’t want to lose those sales or get stuck with a bunch of unsold ncf toys whose value drops about 75% (at least) at 12am on December 26th.


It makes sense complete sense to me why we target high margin areas, just wanted to hear about other stores.


Black Sheep 214 said:


> As for cheating to manipulate BRLM, seems like that was standard procedure, too, at least at my store, when leadership kept racking their brains to come up with more and more ingenious ways to game the system and demand that the team use them.


 The BRLM part bothers me, but I just accept it. Possibly in the future it will be something I address, but I don't want to take on too much at the moment. If everyone does it, surely corporate would be aware and remodel the process to hold stores accountable, otherwise it can be agreed that it negatively effects the business, right?


allnew2 said:


> To be successful it starts with a good sort so custom blocks plays a huge role in that . Custom blocks shouldn’t be changed more than once a year once during q4 and right after q4. Best way is to fix your custom block is based on dbos.


I am very interested in changing the CB's, but don't feel qualified or have the experience to make those decisions yet. We are transitioning GM ETL's, the new ETL is also interested but admitted the outgoing ETL is better/has more experience at that. It is a priority, but I am giving it time as a lot is going on in our store at the moment.


allnew2 said:


> Also how many bays do you have ? You can only do so much if you have less than 5 bays,


We have 3 bays, but it is a very crowded area. The way our BR is set up makes it very hard to move full vehicles from the line to empty bays. One bay is usually full between powered equipment and random fulfillment pallets/flats, second bay is used for empty flats to replace when others get full, and we usually have 2 pallet size spots empty available for PIPO as we unload. Only one bay makes sense to unload from (im sure this is normal). We share this space with receiving and FF. FF is always messy, leaves flats of ship alones on bays, stores pallets under steel in front of middle bay, leaves ship carts everywhere with packages in their shared area with receiving and definitely limits our space.


allnew2 said:


> you are staffed for success so I’m confused as to why everyday you have to push roll over.


See my reply to @Planosss enraged for my opinon on staffing, feel free to give your take.


allnew2 said:


> How many hours is inbound schedule for ? Are they also schedule in their own departments? What I’m going to say now I will assume that they are not and only scheduled for 4h.


They are scheduled for a minimum 5.5 hours, when hours are available we ask them to extend to 8 hours, on average 2 will stay. Also, two are DBO's, one C+D and one Sporting Goods, sometimes they are scheduled 8 sometimes 5. When we finish C+D at 8, they split off to their areas.


allnew2 said:


> 4 am unload so by 6-6:15 the latest your truck should be done , call break and 6;30 they return to push. You want to push the areas that got hit the most . With 1 and half hours left  your 6 team members could and should push half of the truck  be in the back room to feed them the vehicles for example : rugs , furniture , pillows those are quick and easy shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes .


We spend 15-30 minutes setting the line due to rollover and docks not being cleaned, putting bales in steel, etc. This is something I will be bringing up tomorrow. I closed in FF the last 6 months, in which I made sure to do these kinds of things when possible but I didn't really see the positive effect it made but did it out of courtesy anyway.
We usually finish the unload at around 6:15-6:30, and sometimes as late as 6:50. We then take all C+D vehicles to the floor, then they go on break, I will then bowl bed and bath while they are on break, and we try to finish by store open at 8. If we are ahead I will bowl kitchen as well. Regardless, we stay in C+D until it is both done. From there we push whatever areas have no DBO scheduled that day or call out, and even when they work 8's we usually leave at least a few vehicles of some department left and in some cases we don't even touch some departments. We take care of our own trash/backstock as well.



allnew2 said:


> Once they go home the dbo would be left with the rest and they should come clean . So you should have a clean line coming in the next day .


I have never seen a clean line except for when trucks get cancelled or we have a visit. Beauty/HBA ALWAYS behind with 3-5 vehicles left between them, among others.


allnew2 said:


> Utilize the replenishment reports , look at your bulk list and what gets hits


I am still trying to get comfortable enough to be able to efficiently utilize these resources. I always print off replenishment reports and use it to see who is going to push what (DBO's or Inbound), but as for determining how many vehicles we will need I still struggle with that but am getting better.


allnew2 said:


> Be prepared for transitions . Freight for transition arrives 10-14 days before it sets.


I would like to hear some best practices for handling transition. My ETL mentioned that we would check out the Weekly Inventory Update but I have not seen it or know exactly what it shows, I will try to find that tomorrow and figure out how to utilize it. 


allnew2 said:


> It’s not .


I assume you are referring to all that I listed, which of those should I discuss with my ETL/Team about first to improve efficiency?


lucidtm said:


> I'm not inbound but hoping this helps (I know what they've started doing recently and it's helped by leaps and bounds).
> 
> Our inbound is all very tenured, including the TL. After Q4 IDK if freight changed or what but we started really backing up and morale went way down all over. Like your store, ours pushed C&D because it was mostly flats. The ETL had the inbound TL start looking at the schedule then looking at what we had the most of.
> 
> ...


Thanks for this, I appreciate the insight. I am definitely big on communication and think our leads altogether could do much better. Also, im not familiar with high B. (my guess would be HBA/OTC? that would be high A at my store assuming I am understanding the term correctly.)


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## Rastaman (Feb 9, 2022)

Have they/are they sending you to another store for training?


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## lucidtm (Feb 9, 2022)

FFtoIBTL said:


> Thanks for this, I appreciate the insight. I am definitely big on communication and think our leads altogether could do much better. Also, im not familiar with high B. (my guess would be HBA/OTC? that would be high A at my store assuming I am understanding the term correctly.)



You're welcome! High B for us is mostly Kitchen type items, the sweepers, ball jars, Keurigs, microwaves, etc. Our High A is pets, HBA is around mid-A. 

The closing lead also always makes sure the line is set and ready for the inbound team in the AM. It's a huge hit to their productivity when it's not so it's a non-negotiable closing task whether the lead does it or delegates it to someone else.


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## ION the Prize (Feb 9, 2022)

FFtoIBTL said:


> This is the kind of communication and perspective I expect to be available from my ETL. Unfortunately, it isn't ...



I take a perverse pleasure in reading about TLs who hate an ETL or SD as much as I hate my TL.


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## ION the Prize (Feb 9, 2022)

ION the Prize said:


> I take a perverse pleasure in reading about TLs who hate an ETL or SD as much as I hate my TL.


"Hate" is such a strong word.

Sorry.

Substitute "loathe".


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## FFtoIBTL (Feb 9, 2022)

Rastaman said:


> Have they/are they sending you to another store for training?


Nope and nope


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## ION the Prize (Feb 9, 2022)

FFtoIBTL said:


> We have 3 bays, but it is a very crowded area. The way our BR is set up makes it very hard to move full vehicles from the line to empty bays. One bay is usually full between powered equipment and random fulfillment pallets/flats, second bay is used for empty flats to replace when others get full, and ...



Your description sounds like an episode of _Hoarders_.


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## FFtoIBTL (Feb 9, 2022)

lucidtm said:


> You're welcome! High B for us is mostly Kitchen type items, the sweepers, ball jars, Keurigs, microwaves, etc. Our High A is pets, HBA is around mid-A.
> 
> The closing lead also always makes sure the line is set and ready for the inbound team in the AM. It's a huge hit to their productivity when it's not so it's a non-negotiable closing task whether the lead does it or delegates it to someone else.


I will be bringing this up


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## FFtoIBTL (Feb 9, 2022)

ION the Prize said:


> I take a perverse pleasure in reading about TLs who hate an ETL or SD as much as I hate my TL.


haha I actually like them, just struggling right now


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## FFtoIBTL (Feb 9, 2022)

ION the Prize said:


> Your description sounds like an episode of _Hoarders_.


Imagine living with hoarders


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## Black Sheep 214 (Feb 10, 2022)

ION the Prize said:


> I take a perverse pleasure in reading about TLs who hate an ETL or SD as much as I hate my TL.





ION the Prize said:


> "Hate" is such a strong word.
> 
> Sorry.
> 
> Substitute "loathe".


If you could only read minds you would be the happiest TM in Target!😁


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## 2nice2people (Mar 3, 2022)

Someone in my position! I just got promoted to inbound TL from sales floor.  I had 2 closing shifts to learn how to lock up at night than an unload training with a TEAM MEMBER. I was given A morning security walk & boom keys & code.  Zero experience on line no outside training.  I am in charge of unload, receiving, hair care, OTC, fem/personal care, chem, pets, paper, toys, & infant hardlines.  First I haven’t gotten unload faster we take 2-2.5 hours & our trucks 1300-2000 than team has 4 hours to push there area plus price change & POG.  I have yet to work a shift with full staff.  When someone’s gone there stuff rolls b/c my team barely gets there area done.  And being new pets in transition plus toys heavy revisions I FEEL like there is no way to win.  My team is not new so I cannot understand why they refuse speed up unload. We always have 6 unloads plus me when I’m not moving pallets or opening doors & cabinets 😩


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## Hardlinesmaster (Mar 3, 2022)

2nice2people said:


> Someone in my position! I just got promoted to inbound TL from sales floor.  I had 2 closing shifts to learn how to lock up at night than an unload training with a TEAM MEMBER. I was given A morning security walk & boom keys & code.  Zero experience on line no outside training.  I am in charge of unload, receiving, hair care, OTC, fem/personal care, chem, pets, paper, toys, & infant hardlines.  First I haven’t gotten unload faster we take 2-2.5 hours & our trucks 1300-2000 than team has 4 hours to push there area plus price change & POG.  I have yet to work a shift with full staff.  When someone’s gone there stuff rolls b/c my team barely gets there area done.  And being new pets in transition plus toys heavy revisions I FEEL like there is no way to win.  My team is not new so I cannot understand why they refuse speed up unload. We always have 6 unloads plus me when I’m not moving pallets or opening doors & cabinets 😩


@allnew2 please assist.


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## ION the Prize (Mar 3, 2022)

2nice2people said:


> I had 2 closing shifts to learn how to lock up at night than an unload training with a TEAM MEMBER. I was given A morning security walk & boom keys & code.  Zero experience on line no outside training.  I am in charge of unload, receiving, hair care, OTC, fem/personal care, chem, pets, paper, toys, & infant hardlines ...


I actually feel sorry for a team leader

I didn't know I could ever feel this way. It's so strange.


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## 2nice2people (Mar 3, 2022)

I have the inbound ppl stopping the line to look at cell phones.  😮.  Nobody pushes on time.  Over an hour on a freakin toy Uboat


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## allnew2 (Mar 3, 2022)

2nice2people said:


> Someone in my position! I just got promoted to inbound TL from sales floor.  I had 2 closing shifts to learn how to lock up at night than an unload training with a TEAM MEMBER. I was given A morning security walk & boom keys & code.  Zero experience on line no outside training.  I am in charge of unload, receiving, hair care, OTC, fem/personal care, chem, pets, paper, toys, & infant hardlines.  First I haven’t gotten unload faster we take 2-2.5 hours & our trucks 1300-2000 than team has 4 hours to push there area plus price change & POG.  I have yet to work a shift with full staff.  When someone’s gone there stuff rolls b/c my team barely gets there area done.  And being new pets in transition plus toys heavy revisions I FEEL like there is no way to win.  My team is not new so I cannot understand why they refuse speed up unload. We always have 6 unloads plus me when I’m not moving pallets or opening doors & cabinets 😩


Wow. So do you have full staff or not? You say “ you have yet to work a shift with full staff” then you say “ you have 6 plus yourself” . My first thought is that your team doesn’t like the change in their leader .I mean if you vent as you did here I’m pretty sure they don’t even respect you because you don’t even know what’s to do . I would suggest asking your sd and hr for additional training . Try to get to know your team don’t come in hot , let them know you are there to work with them just as hard and don’t be afraid to ask them for suggestions they will take that as appreciation that you respect their knowledge. You truck sizes are a dream but your timelines are a nightmare. 1300 -2/2half hour is a long time . You need to work on motivating your team . When I stepped into the role of inbound the whole team hated me no joke. So I tried something different the next day I had a redbull and a case of Gatorade for the team ( redbull for the unloader) I huddled them up and let them know that I’m there to work just as hard as they do and and I’ll do my best to support in any way shape or form next thing you know their attitude changed. During the unload I would change their vehicles, I would trap the bulk, I would get the Pipo out etc.  It’s really all about how they see you and how do you relate to team. An other thing for motivation I would bring my speaker and play music during unloads they seemed to enjoy that . Your your inbound being dbo you need to remind them the sooner you guys get truck done the sooner you can start supporting their areas be it with pc, rev etc. 
Personally I don’t see the point of you owning toys if anything you should own plastics as part of p1 .


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## 2nice2people (Mar 4, 2022)

First I’ve been at store for 10 years.  That’s 10 years eating lunch & hanging out with them.  I did come in & say I don’t know what to do so let me know what you want me to do.  I move & replace vehicles & I help unload.  I work whole time.  What I mean by full stay is a DBO for all locations so their stuff just rolls along with everything the team rolls 🥺


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