# Just saw this interesting nugget on a FB page



## AKADuchess (Mar 16, 2018)

Just saw this on a TM/TL rant/confession FB page.

Brace yourselves folks.   Monday will reveal monumental changes in target leader structure 
* no more flow team
* no backroom leader
* same leader closing Monday through Friday 
*No more log leaders 
Probably the most earth shattering changes in a very long time...


Haven’t had a BR TL for a while at my store, but this rest of this just seems pretty crazy to me. But interesting if it turns out to be somewhat true.


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## semantics (Mar 16, 2018)

I thought everyone knew this was the end goal? To basically eliminate logistics and each part of the store is stocked, backstocked, set by it's own team. Unloading turns into pulling pre-wrapped pallets/racks off a truck separated by area of store which teams just pick apart throughout the day. I haven't worked at target for awhile now and that was my impression while talking to my DTL probably like 2 years ago. Same with eliminating the PDAs entirely so it's all on the one system.

I point out how long ago that was because that's how slow this has been moving so who knows when this is coming to a target near you.


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## BleacherSeats (Mar 16, 2018)

This is a pilot test going out to one district in each group I've heard. Basic structural changes I've heard are:

ETL level leader over apparel, cosmetic and electronics areas to focus on selling and developing expert team members.

ETL level leader over front end and service standards in remainder of hardlines.

ETL level leader over back of house including logistics, fulfillment and operations.

SrTL closing leader closes store mon-fri and doesn't work weekends.

STL becomes store director and is LOD basically whenever they are in the building.

HR and AP remain basically the same. 

This breakout was based of A-B level stores so may be different in other volumes.


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## rog the dog (Mar 16, 2018)

AKADuchess said:


> same leader closing Monday through Friday



This has nothing more than a 0% chance of ever happening at my store lmao.


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## BleacherSeats (Mar 16, 2018)

I'd totally disagree. If this pilot was in my district, we'd have leaders fighting over the closing position to have a constant schedule with no weekends required.


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## RhettB (Mar 16, 2018)

I heard major change to Hardlines in 2019.   E2E would be a colossal failure.


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## RhettB (Mar 16, 2018)

BleacherSeats said:


> I'd totally disagree. If this pilot was in my district, we'd have leaders fighting over the closing position to have a constant schedule with no weekends required.



Closing every night during Q4...  Nope.


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## AKADuchess (Mar 16, 2018)

RhettB said:


> I heard major change to Hardlines in 2019.   E2E would be a colossal failure.



I knew there was big meetings this week and when I asked today about it I got “no big news for now, but big things for 2019”


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## Leonhart621 (Mar 16, 2018)

So I just became a Flow TL and now I’m out of a job in a year? That’s good to know


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## Anelmi (Mar 16, 2018)

I heard something when some of the LODs were talking...-about volunteering  for  the mid shifts and wondered what that meant.


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## qmosqueen (Mar 16, 2018)

That’s what that big meeting including Dtl and other STLs in our break room was about. They were there for about 4 hours this morning    Called it some soft lines training I knew that was bullshit.


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## RhettB (Mar 16, 2018)

I'd hope that the Sr that gets to close 5 nights gets some kind of pay incentive to do so.   Or for that matter, some choice in having to do it.


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## Ringwraith917 (Mar 16, 2018)

Leonhart621 said:


> So I just became a Flow TL and now I’m out of a job in a year? That’s good to know


Don't hold your breath. Rumors spread, sometimes they're true sometimes not. Usually takes longer to implement than expected. Half the time changes fail & get abandoned. I would volunteer to take some cross training opportunities though, just to be safe.


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## BleacherSeats (Mar 16, 2018)

Leonhart621 said:


> So I just became a Flow TL and now I’m out of a job in a year? That’s good to know


The breakout sheet I looked at today still had Flow and Backroom TL positions.


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## BleacherSeats (Mar 16, 2018)

RhettB said:


> I'd hope that the Sr that gets to close 5 nights gets some kind of pay incentive to do so.   Or for that matter, some choice in having to do it.



I would highly doubt there would be any increase in pay. Not working weekends and a set schedule would be incentive enough. In our meeting today, 3 out of 4 SrTLs basically jumped at the chance if we roll this out. Only one not interested was the father of twin three year old girls.


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## WalksforMiles (Mar 16, 2018)

Well I mean, my Backroom TL totally sucks so....


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## Bosch (Mar 16, 2018)

WalksforMiles said:


> Well I mean, my Backroom TL totally sucks so....



Mine is awesome! This would suck so bad


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## Snarf (Mar 16, 2018)

We tried an only closing SrTL in our district last year. Didn't go very well for us. For our store it only lasted for 3 months. All the ETLs were loving it while it lasted.
As far as eliminating Logistics management I personally don't see it happening. Yes, sf tms are being trained to do more of what was considered br tms role. There is so many other processes that really require a tl or above to oversea.


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## Guest (Mar 17, 2018)




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## IWishIKnew (Mar 17, 2018)

RhettB said:


> Closing every night during Q4...  Nope.



It would eliminate the possibility of clopening.


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## Bethy (Mar 17, 2018)

StTL closing every weeknight is genius.  Gives ETLs weeknights off and gives that SrTL weekends (and week mornings) off.  If that works for your SrTLs schedule and your ETLs don’t want to work nights...why not???


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## Targetelect (Mar 17, 2018)

So, with the stupid and arbitrary expert and enthusiast thing right now, if this were to happen, are you screwed If you're not considered an expert?


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## squirrely (Mar 17, 2018)

Does anyone know if they're making a new position or hiring for the closing SrTL? My store only has two, one of them being me, and I don't want to close every night.


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## hufflepuff (Mar 17, 2018)

My BRTL owns SFS.. and is the reason I'm with the company.


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## BoxCutter (Mar 17, 2018)

Again, this is only going to work if the modernization is completed at the DC level so stores get product shipped in eaches. We are still getting case packs and the SF and BR are drowning in backstock.

Does anyone know how the conversion of DCs is going?


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## Rock Lobster (Mar 17, 2018)

BoxCutter said:


> Again, this is only going to work if the modernization is completed at the DC level so stores get product shipped in eaches. We are still getting case packs and the SF and BR are drowning in backstock.
> 
> Does anyone know how the conversion of DCs is going?



I agree, so hopefully push comes to shove there too.  Heck, I don’t even care that much about the eaches (while an inprovement) if they could send it all sorted and palletized at least.  The key to this working smoothly would be to make it all palletized, take out the line in Receiving and replace it with bulk steel, and Unload and stage trucks into the space.  Then move could be used to track and work pallets by end to end teams.  

The reason stores struggle is that the Unload takes too much payroll and positions to do.  I’d you slow it down too much, it will be going for your entire dock hours and vendors will get pissed.  If you do it fast, then you are burning through 8 to 12 TMs who then will need to work freight after since they have to work at least 4 hours (and keeping a few areas from being end to end).  It’s a road block until addressed.


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## Rock Lobster (Mar 17, 2018)

AKADuchess said:


> Just saw this on a TM/TL rant/confession FB page.
> 
> Brace yourselves folks.   Monday will reveal monumental changes in target leader structure
> * no more flow team
> ...



The way I understand it is (and I get the official stuff on Monday) is that the stores that were already working on this will be the official “tests” and reflect their org charts this year for it, while everyone else will need to spend 2018 realigning their leaders to try and be ready when it releases to all of us by 2019.


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## Bosch (Mar 17, 2018)

hufflepuff said:


> My BRTL owns SFS.. and is the reason I'm with the company.



Mine to and same reason.


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## notfit05 (Mar 17, 2018)

Here at our dc we heard mention of upgrades and changes in regards to an attempt at shipping eaches however that was like 6-8 months ago and haven’t seen anything being done to hint at it becoming reality


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## RhettB (Mar 17, 2018)

Rock Lobster said:


> I agree, so hopefully push comes to shove there too.  Heck, I don’t even care that much about the eaches (while an inprovement) if they could send it all sorted and palletized at least.  The key to this working smoothly would be to make it all palletized, take out the line in Receiving and replace it with bulk steel, and Unload and stage trucks into the space.  Then move could be used to track and work pallets by end to end teams.
> 
> The reason stores struggle is that the Unload takes too much payroll and positions to do.  I’d you slow it down too much, it will be going for your entire dock hours and vendors will get pissed.  If you do it fast, then you are burning through 8 to 12 TMs who then will need to work freight after since they have to work at least 4 hours (and keeping a few areas from being end to end).  It’s a road block until addressed.



I'll say it again...  How much payroll are you willing to forfeit for this to happen?    Trailer cube % / Fill capacity will be drastically reduced by this method.


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## Aredhel (Mar 17, 2018)

If they dismantle the line I want a piece of it.


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## tellmeaboutatime (Mar 17, 2018)

A long long long time ago we had 2 TLS that only closed. 1 did the weekends the other did M-F. They were called "recovery TLS" It actually worked wonderfully. The closing teams knew exactly what to expect night in and night out. They got a consistent message from the same person each night. If this is true I can't wait.


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## Hardlinesmaster (Mar 17, 2018)

tellmeaboutatime said:


> A long long long time ago we had 2 TLS that only closed. 1 did the weekends the other did M-F. They were called "recovery TLS" It actually worked wonderfully. The closing teams knew exactly what to expect night in and night out. They got a consistent message from the same person each night. If this is true I can't wait.


I miss those days


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## theflowspot (Mar 17, 2018)

I'm happy I left and quit Flow. Things are already tanking in my store, this just confirms I made a smart career move.


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## Saul Goodman (Mar 17, 2018)

If this were to be true and they get rid of backroom TL, then my store would fall apart

Backroom is the backbone of my store and do a ton.

They really should get rid of flow TL, have backroom TL run backroom and flow. Then improve the flow process. Take away flow and have each team push their own then nothing would ever get filled


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## Yetive (Mar 17, 2018)

Last year, this was mentioned at my store as a possible move with modernization.  It was to be 2 closing SrTLs, each working 4 10 hour shifts.  (The 4 day week was seen as a reward for always closing).  My and another's hands went up fast, lol.  8 days on, 6 days off.  Sign me up.  
Unfortunately, no more was heard in my store.


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## StockerAce (Mar 17, 2018)

WalksforMiles said:


> Well I mean, my Backroom TL totally sucks so....


 Ours too. Completely useless. The other BR TMs carry the area and do it as well as can be expected with absolutely no leadership from the TL. 

We were a test store for a limited 'eaches' system. They only did it for one or two fillgroups and it was a disaster. We STILL got tons of backstock. We still had to sort the repack boxes it all came in (sometimes it was 40-60 repacks in one truck) because it wasn't sorted by aisle, so it actually took more time to do it that way. It was terrible.


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## HiddenPenguin (Mar 17, 2018)

StockerAce said:


> Ours too. Completely useless. The other BR TMs carry the area and do it as well as can be expected with absolutely no leadership from the TL.
> 
> We were a test store for a limited 'eaches' system. They only did it for one or two fillgroups and it was a disaster. We STILL got tons of backstock. We still had to sort the repack boxes it all came in (sometimes it was 40-60 repacks in one truck) because it wasn't sorted by aisle, so it actually took more time to do it that way. It was terrible.


How long did your store try it for? Are your trucks/backroom back to normal now?


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## Aredhel (Mar 17, 2018)

40 or 60? Ugh we had about twice that. I feel for you though. When they went to the 6:30 start and nothing came off the trailer sorted including pallets, ouch. They needed to get the dc squared away first then do away with br and flow. But It is what it is. Any Amazon rumors?


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## Rock Lobster (Mar 17, 2018)

RhettB said:


> I'll say it again...  How much payroll are you willing to forfeit for this to happen?    Trailer cube % / Fill capacity will be drastically reduced by this method.



The question isn’t purely one about reducing trailer fill to save payroll (I would say close to 20 hours a truck x 15 bucks an hour), but the other benefits it would allow.  The amount of trailers Target has to own are much larger than they need to be because we have to drop off trailers and pick up empties since we physically cannot Unload during operating hours.  Being able to unload a truck in an hour or less at noon without disrupting the business, and then sending the truck on it’s way would save quite a bit of money.


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## FlowTeamChick (Mar 17, 2018)

Saul Goodman said:


> If this were to be true and they get rid of backroom TL, then my store would fall apart
> 
> Backroom is the backbone of my store and do a ton.
> 
> They really should get rid of flow TL, have backroom TL run backroom and flow. Then improve the flow process. Take away flow and have each team push their own then nothing would ever get filled


At my store, the same person has been TL for BR and Flow for a few years, although it was the other way around with flow TL taking over BR as well.  And I agree about who does a better job stocking - it's a task orientation which is different than a sell orientation.  Let people do what they're good at.


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## PogDog (Mar 17, 2018)

Anyone know what this pilot is calle? I want tobsee if I can find my store on Workbench and see if we're part of it.


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## can't touch this (Mar 17, 2018)

Try searching with the query "dumb plans designed by committee to fix things that are broken by making them more broken" and it should be the first result


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## Flow Warrior (Mar 17, 2018)

Leonhart621 said:


> So I just became a Flow TL and now I’m out of a job in a year? That’s good to know


No you just become a TL over hardlines or A&A


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## Flow Warrior (Mar 17, 2018)

Rock Lobster said:


> The way I understand it is (and I get the official stuff on Monday) is that the stores that were already working on this will be the official “tests” and reflect their org charts this year for it, while everyone else will need to spend 2018 realigning their leaders to try and be ready when it releases to all of us by 2019.


Sadly this IS happening with us. I am wondering which SrTL gets the magic choice. It will make me happy if its eithe rof them because that means our ETL-HR wont be LOD anymore or alone anymore wher e she can annoy the fuck out of everyone on the walkie.


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## Flow Warrior (Mar 17, 2018)

canttouchthis777 said:


> Try searching with the query "dumb plans designed by committee to fix things that are broken by making them more broken" and it should be the first result


Did just that. And this is the link I got. 
Notifications Are Broken. Here’s How Google Plans To Fix Them - https://www.fastcodesign.com/3060092/notifications-are-broken-heres-how-google-plans-to-fix-them


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## Flow Warrior (Mar 17, 2018)

StockerAce said:


> Ours too. Completely useless. The other BR TMs carry the area and do it as well as can be expected with absolutely no leadership from the TL.
> 
> We were a test store for a limited 'eaches' system. They only did it for one or two fillgroups and it was a disaster. We STILL got tons of backstock. We still had to sort the repack boxes it all came in (sometimes it was 40-60 repacks in one truck) because it wasn't sorted by aisle, so it actually took more time to do it that way. It was terrible.


If its done the way the currently do repacks, it will be a disaster.  It has to be sorted at the DC per aisle to work. IN fact all repacks _*need*_ to be sorted per aisle right now.


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## RhettB (Mar 18, 2018)

Rock Lobster said:


> The question isn’t purely one about reducing trailer fill to save payroll (I would say close to 20 hours a truck x 15 bucks an hour), but the other benefits it would allow.  The amount of trailers Target has to own are much larger than they need to be because we have to drop off trailers and pick up empties since we physically cannot Unload during operating hours.  Being able to unload a truck in an hour or less at noon without disrupting the business, and then sending the truck on it’s way would save quite a bit of money.



Store level payroll would be reduced since you will not have a 1.5 hour unload times 8 people.   Those hours will not magically be kept.


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## RhettB (Mar 18, 2018)

Flow Warrior said:


> If its done the way the currently do repacks, it will be a disaster.  It has to be sorted at the DC per aisle to work. IN fact all repacks _*need*_ to be sorted per aisle right now.



We no longer sort repacks.  The DTL feels it takes up too many carts and too much clutter for guests to move around.  Team members work one at a time.


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## notfit05 (Mar 18, 2018)

IT is absolutely impossible to sort the freight onto pallets by isle at the dc this will never Be a reality,


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## BackroomBear (Mar 18, 2018)

notfit05 said:


> IT is absolutely impossible to sort the freight onto pallets by isle at the dc this will never Be a reality,


It CAN be done. I see it all the time at Meijer. Our DCs would likely need huge revamps to do so


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## Bosch (Mar 18, 2018)

RhettB said:


> We no longer sort repacks.  The DTL feels it takes up too many carts and too much clutter for guests to move around.  Team members work one at a time.



What a dumbass, you either spend the time to sort or you have an employee wandering around the fucking store for an hours to push it one item at a time.. Sort that shit and you can spend in total about a hour to sort and push with someone who knows what the fuck they are doing.


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## qmosqueen (Mar 18, 2018)

we are stores not huge warehouses.  lately i've seen so much back stock in the back room that i am believing that we are just a warehouse for SFS, which only brings in about 10 to 20 K per day, while food brings in 40 to 50 K per day.


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## Rock Lobster (Mar 18, 2018)

notfit05 said:


> IT is absolutely impossible to sort the freight onto pallets by isle at the dc this will never Be a reality,



I don’t even want by aisle, that was never my request.  If the DC could be remodeled to allow for pallets by department and the repack people could get a system to sort slightly better, then we would save tons of hours in stores.


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## Rock Lobster (Mar 18, 2018)

RhettB said:


> Store level payroll would be reduced since you will not have a 1.5 hour unload times 8 people.   Those hours will not magically be kept.



Yes, that is fine and my point.  Not only do you save the store payroll, but there are other benefits you get from palletized freight. Sure the trailer isn’t packed as full, but there are countless other things that make up for it.


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## Rock Lobster (Mar 18, 2018)

Bosch said:


> What a dumbass, you either spend the time to sort or you have an employee wandering around the fucking store for an hours to push it one item at a time.. Sort that shit and you can spend in total about a hour to sort and push with someone who knows what the fuck they are doing.



We have one repack sorted for the crap ones, but HBA and Domestics/Beds are sorted well enough that you can just grab a cart and work right out of the boxes


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## SFSFun (Mar 18, 2018)

notfit05 said:


> IT is absolutely impossible to sort the freight onto pallets by isle at the dc this will never Be a reality,


It can be sorted to within a couple of aisles, and it is already being done that way at many grocery store DCs. It just requires renovating the DCs to accommodate it.

This is the DC that serves the grocery store I work for, and you can see them building pallets: 

Another (very expensive) option is to go fully automated:


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## IWishIKnew (Mar 18, 2018)

Are repacks sorted at all at the DC level right now? I would agree that sorting by aisle would be impossible, as there's so much variability by store and aisles change, but at my store sorting by fill group (at least for hardlines) would be a start, but for big ones like "home" (that covers domestics and everything in housewares except appliances) would need some sort of further breakdown (eg. bedding, bath, rugs/curtains, furniture, plastics, kitchen, etc.). Those cover about 2/3 of the store and would take forever if they weren't at least broken down by blocks.


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## Bosch (Mar 18, 2018)

Rock Lobster said:


> We have one repack sorted for the crap ones, but HBA and Domestics/Beds are sorted well enough that you can just grab a cart and work right out of the boxes



Ours are not. I have done the HBA break out enough times at least our DC doesn't sort well enough to just work the repacks. Cosmetics are a crap shoot either its one entire brand or its a hot mess.


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## copycopy (Mar 18, 2018)

Our combo repacks are coming in with hba, electronics, softlines, security, office/stat, market, and salvage seasonal al mixed in together.


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## RhettB (Mar 18, 2018)

Rock Lobster said:


> Yes, that is fine and my point.  Not only do you save the store payroll, but there are other benefits you get from palletized freight. Sure the trailer isn’t packed as full, but there are countless other things that make up for it.



Name 3.

Less filled trailers mean more trailers.  Ever take an added truck?  Do you get added payroll for it?  Your unload team is more apt to sort things better than the DC.  Transition?  Bulk?  Id rather have the team pull off 15 cases of bulk on the backstock than it be mixed on a palletized load.   Does the company have enough trailers?  Does the carrier have enough drivers and tractors?  

How much space and manpower will the DC have to add?   What about stores and the pallets?  Many stores struggle with space as it is.   You can't just put pallets back on the trailer outside of the sweep schedule.  Backhauls are an important piece of our distribution channel.

I worked logistics 15 years.   This model is not feasible.   The payroll saved at the store would be far shadowed by the extra payroll spent at the DC.


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## Fix It (Mar 18, 2018)

Trucks are going to be expected to be palletized by the end of the year from what I’ve been told and a pilot program is already starting in certain areas. 

The couple DC guys who complain that “it can’t be done! We don’t have the set up!” Are going to have to learn to adapt pretty quick. Everyone’s pretty tired of the dogshit filled trucks with piles of boxes falling everywhere. We palletize our shit we sweep back, now you can too. Hopefully by 2019 the Us Vs Them sentiment will be gone. You guys can keep your OT but Spot caught on to you collecting it for untangling rubber bands for hours on end. Spots 30 year old archaic logistical process needs this facelift.


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## Rock Lobster (Mar 18, 2018)

RhettB said:


> Name 3.
> 
> Less filled trailers mean more trailers.  Ever take an added truck?  Do you get added payroll for it?  Your unload team is more apt to sort things better than the DC.  Transition?  Bulk?  Id rather have the team pull off 15 cases of bulk on the backstock than it be mixed on a palletized load.   Does the company have enough trailers?  Does the carrier have enough drivers and tractors?
> 
> ...



1) Flexibility in carrier delivery schedules. We don’t have to only unload between 4am to 6am for most stores since unloads could be performed during store operating hours without being disruptive.

2) Carrier would not need to unhook and move trailers around.  If it’s not a backhaul they can just pull up, we unload, and they go on their way.  This would mean we wouldn’t need to own so many trailers.

3) availability for segregated trailers.  I often get forecasted for 7 trailers, and I can tell the product was not available at certain times of the week.  By grouping stores into routes, you can average out the freight flow on a trailer (for example, the ULV store nearby regularly receives 1400 piece trailers at the end of the week, and I can at times be close to adding a trailer which requires an extra delivery while the half empty trailer is being delivered a mile away and not usable for us.


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## qmosqueen (Mar 18, 2018)

and my distribution center is hiring ..
Warehouse Worker and Packer (starting @ $14.58/hr) job - Target Corporation - West Jefferson, OH - https://www.logisticsjobsite.com/jobs/warehouse-worker-and-packer-starting-14-58-hr-west-jefferson-oh-587069157-job.html


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## RhettB (Mar 18, 2018)

Rock Lobster said:


> 1) Flexibility in carrier delivery schedules. We don’t have to only unload between 4am to 6am for most stores since unloads could be performed during store operating hours without being disruptive.
> 
> 2) Carrier would not need to unhook and move trailers around.  If it’s not a backhaul they can just pull up, we unload, and they go on their way.  This would mean we wouldn’t need to own so many trailers.
> 
> 3) availability for segregated trailers.  I often get forecasted for 7 trailers, and I can tell the product was not available at certain times of the week.  By grouping stores into routes, you can average out the freight flow on a trailer (for example, the ULV store nearby regularly receives 1400 piece trailers at the end of the week, and I can at times be close to adding a trailer which requires an extra delivery while the half empty trailer is being delivered a mile away and not usable for us.



We'll agree to disagree.


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## notfit05 (Mar 18, 2018)

SFSFun said:


> It can be sorted to within a couple of aisles, and it is already being done that way at many grocery store DCs. It just requires renovating the DCs to accommodate it.
> 
> This is the DC that serves the grocery store I work for, and you can see them building pallets:
> 
> Another (very expensive) option is to go fully automated:



That’s assuming everything is picked from  reserves which it’s not a good portion of what goes onto the trailer in outbound flows directly through the dc from receiving ( off of a vendor trailer transfer etc ) directly to outbound and goes on the stores trailer


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## can't touch this (Mar 18, 2018)

Fix It said:


> Trucks are going to be expected to be palletized by the end of the year from what I’ve been told and a pilot program is already starting in certain areas.
> 
> The couple DC guys who complain that “it can’t be done! We don’t have the set up!” Are going to have to learn to adapt pretty quick. Everyone’s pretty tired of the dogshit filled trucks with piles of boxes falling everywhere. We palletize our shit we sweep back, now you can too. Hopefully by 2019 the Us Vs Them sentiment will be gone. You guys can keep your OT but Spot caught on to you collecting it for untangling rubber bands for hours on end. Spots 30 year old archaic logistical process needs this facelift.



I used to work for a company that palletized outbound at the DC, many fun experiences to tell including

- Burst-open cases of tuna and Campbells' tossed on the pallet like it was nothing, often writhing with maggots and _C. botulinum_ colonies when it arrived at our dock
- Pallets loaded with 40 lb cases of cat litter on top and cases of Pringles on the bottom, causing the pallet to lean at a big angle and collapse as soon as it was touched, even before the pallet wrap was cut
- Many, many cases of refrigerated/frozen perishables loaded on ambient dry grocery pallets, a fuckton of spoiled cases of cheese and yogurt wasted

if Target DCs are already cool with chunking casepacks into the trailer all willy nilly now then you can bet everything you own (I already have) that palletizing at the DC will be its own new shitshow, but a shitshow all the same...instead of TMs crushed by random avalanches from the side of Mt. Casepack it'll be TMs crushed by the Leaning Tower of Persil and Easter grass


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## RhettB (Mar 18, 2018)

canttouchthis777 said:


> I used to work for a company that palletized outbound at the DC, many fun experiences to tell including
> 
> - Burst-open cases of tuna and Campbells' tossed on the pallet like it was nothing, often writhing with maggots and _C. botulinum_ colonies when it arrived at our dock
> - Pallets loaded with 40 lb cases of cat litter on top and cases of Pringles on the bottom, causing the pallet to lean at a big angle and collapse as soon as it was touched, even before the pallet wrap was cut
> ...



No..  the DC would never load half assed.  Just look at my avatar pic.


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## Stocker (Mar 18, 2018)

Bosch said:


> What a dumbass, you either spend the time to sort or you have an employee wandering around the fucking store for an hours to push it one item at a time.. Sort that shit and you can spend in total about a hour to sort and push with someone who knows what the fuck they are doing.





AKADuchess said:


> Just saw this on a TM/TL rant/confession FB page.
> 
> Brace yourselves folks.   Monday will reveal monumental changes in target leader structure
> * no more flow team
> ...



You will always have extra people show up early to help stock the truck. Call them salesfloor instead of flow if you want, maybe fewer with less hours. After the first 3 or 4 hours they will leave and whatever is left the rest of the salesfloor can try and finish. I seriously have my doubts if this will completely happen. I know all of this would have been a lot easier on everyone if they decided to start on the DC side first rather then the salesfloor.

As far as DC palletizing freight it can be done...they just need to care. The way most of our trucks our loaded they don't seem to give a sh**.


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## Lazy (Mar 18, 2018)

Well I got told today that were having a 1-2 hour meeting on Monday to discuss big changes.


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## No I in Team (Mar 18, 2018)

After reading through this post, we're in trouble. 

We can't do "just in time" inventory replenishment or anything remotely close to it. It requires a lot of control at the end users position along with constant monitoring by both people and a capable inventory management system. We don't have the hours nor is our inventory management system accurate enough to generate correct quantities for replenishment.

To operate to such a replenishment system would require the entire system be optimized to maximize inventory turns while controlling cost and preventing shortages. We can't do that now. What in the world makes anyone think we could do this by shipping pieces? 

Not to mention the DC's haven't change over nor is there any apparent movement in that direction company wide. This type of system is going to take time to implement. Wait, what am I thinking!?! This is Target, we'll wait till Fourth Quarter and do it all at once! 

I'll go out on a limb here and say that no one on this board could tell me what Target's optimal turn around time for the internal supply chain is currently. I'm talking about the time it takes to move not a case, but a piece (eaches?!?) through our process. What about optimal levels of inventory for every item in the store? This include peak and non peak demands. This would have to be monitored closely and changed as needed if we change to replenishment by the piece vs case quantity. If not, we'll have all kinds of inventory issues. Hello Canada part 2!  

What I have learned is that we have no idea what the actual cost are associated with steps within our process. That's why we are often under staffed and scheduled short. Then we have equipment or the lack there of along with the discipline of allocation. 

Eventually the ugly truth is going to surface of what it is going to take to staff a store to support all of the wonderful "Minneapolis" ideas. When that hits, a lot of us low volume stores will not have the margins to support the company plan.


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## can't touch this (Mar 18, 2018)

It's almost like these changes are made arbitrarily by people who are very far removed from the conditions on the ground


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## StockerAce (Mar 18, 2018)

HiddenPenguin said:


> How long did your store try it for? Are your trucks/backroom back to normal now?


It was at least a couple months...during 4th quarter too. LOL. They abandoned it a month or so ago. Our backroom is always packed. We are a Super and our DC just likes to send us cases and cases of product to clear out their own space. Then we have no space. It makes zero sense to me and everyone knows the DC does it because they assume we'll sell it. The replenishment system is broken now...they should fix it before trying to 'update' or refine it.


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## StockerAce (Mar 18, 2018)

Flow Warrior said:


> If its done the way the currently do repacks, it will be a disaster.  It has to be sorted at the DC per aisle to work. IN fact all repacks _*need*_ to be sorted per aisle right now.


It wasn't sorted by aisle...it was sorted by fillgroup. Fruit (like fruit cups, applesauce squeezers) are in the snacks fillgroup, so they would come mixed with chips/snacks. They are on completely opposite ends of grocery. Baking is mixed with cereal and spices. Spices and baking are in different aisles, but it's all in the same fillgroup so it was put into one repack. It was very poorly done.


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## commiecorvus (Mar 18, 2018)

canttouchthis777 said:


> It's almost like these changes are made arbitrarily by people who are very far removed from the conditions on the ground


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## FlowTeamChick (Mar 18, 2018)

Sorted repacks?  By aisle?  Are you kidding me?  I've sorted enough repacks to believe this will never, ever happen.  Stationery mixed in with HBA all year, but especially during BTS time.  Grocery and electronics items in with HBA with some frequency.  The occasional toy or clothing item, just to keep things interesting.  Since e2e has been implemented, one might think that health care would be separated from beauty, but not hardly - at least the areas are next door neighbors.  Sorted repacks would be great - I'll keep dreaming it'll happen some day.


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## can't touch this (Mar 18, 2018)

The contents of repacks could actually be used as alternative to atmospheric noise by Random.org


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## Rock Lobster (Mar 18, 2018)

StockerAce said:


> It wasn't sorted by aisle...it was sorted by fillgroup. Fruit (like fruit cups, applesauce squeezers) are in the snacks fillgroup, so they would come mixed with chips/snacks. They are on completely opposite ends of grocery. Baking is mixed with cereal and spices. Spices and baking are in different aisles, but it's all in the same fillgroup so it was put into one repack. It was very poorly done.



Yes don’t get me started on the seemingly random grouping of the SNCK fillgroup.  Why the heck even have them in Grocery if they don’t match up to the sales floor in any obvious way!


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## Fix It (Mar 18, 2018)

SFSFun said:


> It can be sorted to within a couple of aisles, and it is already being done that way at many grocery store DCs. It just requires renovating the DCs to accommodate it.
> 
> This is the DC that serves the grocery store I work for, and you can see them building pallets:
> 
> Another (very expensive) option is to go fully automated:




Skyrack, who provides Targets bulk steel, has automated pallet systems and conveyors like the one in the second video. I only mention this because an ETL and I were discussing building a carousel out of that system since the backroom will have so much open space soon lol


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## semantics (Mar 19, 2018)

Fix It said:


> Trucks are going to be expected to be palletized by the end of the year from what I’ve been told and a pilot program is already starting in certain areas.
> 
> The couple DC guys who complain that “it can’t be done! We don’t have the set up!” Are going to have to learn to adapt pretty quick. *Everyone’s pretty tired of the dogshit filled trucks with piles of boxes falling everywhere. *We palletize our shit we sweep back, now you can too. Hopefully by 2019 the Us Vs Them sentiment will be gone. You guys can keep your OT but Spot caught on to you collecting it for untangling rubber bands for hours on end. Spots 30 year old archaic logistical process needs this facelift.


Reminds me when i got a trailer in which the entire bottom of the trailer was wet from rain. I sent a detailed, professional account of the damaged items, how many hours were used to clean it up and what they could do to help mitigate that. IE, if you know the truck leaks throw down cardboard or something on the bottom if you don't know where it leaks. With a ton of pictures, had fun taking pictures. I loved the picture of the mountain top we stacked of all the damaged boxes off to the side, saw it as a team picture moment.

I got a response back 3 days later saying. Yeah trailer xxxxxxx leaks, sorry thanks for the feedback. I got another leaky trailer a few weeks later, not as bad...

Anyways, i don't think they'll palletize well. I've gotten a pallet of wall mirrors for back to school, under a water pallet before. It's okay the put one of those red giant rubber bands on it, secured! Plenty of paper pallets with cat litter or water on top as well.


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## SFSFun (Mar 19, 2018)

Sooo it's Monday. I heard jack shit at my store.


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## Selfish (Mar 19, 2018)

canttouchthis777 said:


> It's almost like these changes are made arbitrarily by people who are very far removed from the conditions on the ground


In their defense, the conditions on the ground drastically improve whenever they visit. They often don't get to see how their distribution centers or stores really operate.


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## Lazy (Mar 19, 2018)

SFSFun said:


> Sooo it's Monday. I heard jack shit at my store.



It's a new pilot being done in 26 districts. It's basically what was said in 2nd post.


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## Digi_E (Mar 19, 2018)

we went over our  pilot yesterday. we are in for a bumpy ride!


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## RhettB (Mar 19, 2018)

Hardlines goes E2E in February for me. The leadership moves have been noted.


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## tellmeaboutatime (Mar 24, 2018)

BigEyedPhish said:


> I am gonna go on limb and say in High Volume stores, Presentation will come back just after a disastrous BTS/BTC in Superfreaky stores.
> 
> Let, lone 4th Quarter..... The Luxury of having a Pog Team who come Christmas, can save Target's internet Dreams, while the rest of the year bringing their "clever ideas" to light.
> 
> ...



I see departments, faking "small" revisions. The kind where you move 90% of the products to put in 5 new items? New plastic dividers for the new spacing? Ha ha ha, yeah thats not happening. Softness could not do the hosiery planos in a week, with 5 of them doing it, just imagine a hardline team trying to do the pen wall. If e2e is what we do through he entire store, I think you really NEED plano. They are like ninjas, that come in take care of business and get out with little disruption to the guests. But that would just make good sense, so no need to do it


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## commiecorvus (Mar 24, 2018)

Since we now have a stickie on this subject and I moved a ridiculous number of pages from here to there, I'm going to lock this up so you folks can talk over there.


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