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Post Info TOPIC: "great" ideas that disappeared
Anonymous

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"great" ideas that disappeared
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We've all experienced something in our time at kroger where they brought in some *new and exciting* thing or new way of doing something only to have it fade away mere months after its implementation.  Often these things are just walmart retreads.  "hey it didn't work for them, let's take it and improve it!"  Morons.

 

I'll start:  In DSD we have to have logs for everything.  My favorite was the "off the dock" log.  Anytime the receiver left the dock area, we had to write down what we were doing.  Every day it had "took a dump."  It lasted a few weeks at best, then was never seen again.  I'll tell you why:  They started relying heavily on the DSD clerk to do other peoples' jobs.  What used to be a 40 hour job has become less. Now they want the receiver (at my store) to run bread, sort grocery trucks, RUN trucks, sodas, etc.  It would be impossible to keep track of the number of times we leave the dock.

 

Share your stories of "great ideas" that disappeared and why you suppose that is the case



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Anonymous

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I have another while I'm thinking about it.  a year or two ago we had a higher up come in trying to tell us how to do some new "wave" of key retailing. 

It went like this:

"before you run your grocery trucks, you'll pull your backstock carts out on the floor and run them first.  Leave the BS cart on the floor and as you run your grocery truck, you can scan your BS and put it directly on the BS cart"

Well we never made that work.  It was about this time that hours were slashed drastically (I'm sure you all remember).  We barely have time to do the new truck, let alone run it AND the BS.  

I mentioned this practice to another higher up one time and they were like "I don't know what you're talking about" ---yeah of course you don't.  You don't want to admit that it was an impossible task!  It is a good idea on paper, but when you factor in the lack of hours, it becomes impossible!



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Actually, Its funny how programs dies off and then are "reinvented" because someone new takes over the "ideas" Corporate Position. Key Retailing department was eliminated because every department had their "Waves" and we focused more on doing the tasks then helping customers. Then we introduced "make it right", which is something we should do, now we are taking that to the extreme, where we are just giving items away because we want to WOW customers because of OSAT. I have seen $80.00 items given away for free because the customer has never used it/tried it before, just to maybe drive OSAT. One day our District Coordinators told us to literally give away some item to every customer that walked in the door (didn't matter if nothing was wrong, just give the customer an item for free). When the "make it right" report comes out, I have been told before we are not "making it right" enough. Whlie, I understand we are a big company, it really seems like everyone does their own thing. If we are introducing EDGE shelves, why are we worrying about improving the tag process? If we have a "Training Center" and HR goes over all "New Hire" information, why do we have to explain basics to employees after they start. If Department Coordinators were introduced to be more in the stores, why do we not see the Coordinator every other week?



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Anonymous

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Anonymous wrote:

I have another while I'm thinking about it.  a year or two ago we had a higher up come in trying to tell us how to do some new "wave" of key retailing. 

It went like this:

"before you run your grocery trucks, you'll pull your backstock carts out on the floor and run them first.  Leave the BS cart on the floor and as you run your grocery truck, you can scan your BS and put it directly on the BS cart"

Well we never made that work.  It was about this time that hours were slashed drastically (I'm sure you all remember).  We barely have time to do the new truck, let alone run it AND the BS.  

I mentioned this practice to another higher up one time and they were like "I don't know what you're talking about" ---yeah of course you don't.  You don't want to admit that it was an impossible task!  It is a good idea on paper, but when you factor in the lack of hours, it becomes impossible!


 That hasn't changed. You're supposed to run active backstock carts nightly before putting up the truck. We do it at our store and we generally get trucks completed. Should have a cart for Regular Backstock and a cart for Slow Moving backstock. The handheld in Residual Scan will tell you where it needs to go. Pass The Baton sheets asks if you run backstock before truck and it's part of the nightly grade. Doing residual scans is part of the grade too. Slow moving cart worked once a week, other cart worked nightly. At our smaller store, I have a system setup.

1. Run active carts nightly - most of these are low enough that they can be run in 10-15 minutes while I'm delivering pallets to the floor for stockers or breaking down the Peyton truck

2. Run slow moving carts on our backstock night

3. Slow moving carts we don't run on that night get run within the next two nights

4. If we have a quick night and plenty of time left, I'll have a slow mover or two brought out and worked

5. Scan sheets printed and put on the carts, along with the date last ran so we can keep up with everything

Due to this practice, our non-holiday (wrapped on pallets) backstock has been halved.



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Anonymous

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Anonymous wrote:
have a cart for Regular Backstock and a cart for Slow Moving backstock. The handheld in Residual Scan will tell you where it needs to go. 

 A couple of problems with that logic. 1.  Our dept backup thinks he's not supposed to do what I've seen many other backups do--help the dept.  Ours follows the dept head around all day and does everything the head does.  2 people for 3 hours each doing the order.  2 people making the schedule, 2 people filling a display.  That's 40 hours per week that could be used helping us, but rarely happens.  

Most of our grocery guys don't have access to a gun (I don't mean they aren't allowed to use them, rather they can't find one to use!).  The lack of scanning leads to bs/slow mover items being left on brown carts in front of the BS carts.  I come in to work in the morning and have to check everything they didn't check and sort it appropriately.  This takes quite a bit of time.  Also the guy who does the budget doesn't do a great job of spreading ours appropriately



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