I see these new night managers come in and they do not know the volume of the store other then what the telzon gun tells them that's been sold.. My understanding the conditioning is the number 1 thing needed done next to putting up all the stock from the store,.. Not hard to do if night manager is viewing his stockers and seeing how they can use both hands to stock with as well as condition with both hands... ''THAT'S NOT BEING DONE'' 1 issue 2 issue is the pallets dont have the right counts on them I counted had one say 96 pieces when there was only 48 on the pallet and it wasn't a split pallet 1 pallet 48 so tags arent correct on the counts so doing case counts you got someone doing that pallet to make there counts go up more in a 55 case count an hour.. Another how long should a night manager have to order?? I have seen up to 5 to 6 hours ordering before stocking... But then again I have seen a night manager come in at 5pm work til 4am to get the order out run back stock bring in a conditioner at 9pm give them up to 4 to 5 hours condtioning have a stocker in at 12am and another in at 1am has stock off the floor by 7am and store conditioned scans can be done by 8am but with out communication on how to do this makes it hard for everyone.... 1st shift communicating to 3rd and 2nd shift and 2nd shift communicatng wih 3rd shift we make it work we get customers happy... But no communication no organization and not having plans for call offs or vacations things arent gonna get done right!!!!
Not sure. I work nights stocking and conditioning as a part time employee for 5+ years. I am the back-up on occassion. We do not run stock off of pallets yet. We spot products on floor and run off of floor. It is not easy counting stock that is on pallets unless it has been sorted per aisle. I do count stock when I am in charge. My manager counts only on rare occassion. He tried to get me and another worker(quit about a month ago) in trouble one night. I had counted cases too that night and was able to show the store manager we did more than we were supposed to do that night. The two workers I have working under me when I am in charge run about 30 cases each an hour and take twice as long to condition. Together they barely work like one person. One is newer and the other is a space cadet. So, I am stuck in turbo trying to pick up their slack.
Tsg(before DDP) gave a specific time to condition the store.
Per the DDP, the stockers should be stocking 60 cases an hour in the grocery department. With a good workflow and organization, more is possible. Makes up for when you have a bad workflow in another aisle. This does not include conditioning. We are given a certain amount of time to condition the store on top of what DDP allows for stocking.
In my store, the night manager and another employee come in before midnight to organize backroom, run the daily backstock report, run kroger H2o gallons and 32s and 24s packs of water. They also run and condition half the store. The part time employees come in at 2am and 3am. They spot the other half of the store, then run and condition those aisles. There is not enough time to get it done before the store opens. We are not supposed to have any stock on floors when the store opens. The store manager lets us slide until 7am. I am always apologetic to the customers and they seem to be ok with the mess. If the District manager came in, he would crap a brick! Our pallets are not aisle friendly so it is quicker to spot the products especially when the store is closed. Eventually, we will be forced to run off of pallets. On occasion, I will try running off of a pallet while the store is open, and the aisle is blocked not allowing the customers to get by.
My night manager has always said we are supposed to run and face an aisle at 40 cases an hour. I have the store divided and know exactly how much time it takes me to properly condition each aisle. If the aisle is half conditioned, then it should take half the time. My night manager argues that the time given to condition the store is not enough. I disagree. When I add the time it takes to condition and then calculate running stock at 60 cases an hour versus conditioning and stocking 40 an hour only works in certain aisles with more than 60 cases. For example. One aisle take 30 minutes to properly condition. I can do it in 20-25 minutes. It usually has 3 cases in it. Per my calculation from DDP, I am allowed 33 minutes to complete that aisle. Per my managers 40 cases stock and condition, it should take 5 minutes to condition and stock that aisle!!
If we had a conditioner before we get there at 2am and the stock was already spotted down the aisles, I could easily crank thru 80 cases an hour. But, no one wants to try different routines. In our store, we run 01 product at night. We have a daycrew that runs 69 products and do zero conditioning. Jokingly I say, "If we didn't condition on nights, daycrew would never be able to find their products!" Day crew has no clue how to condition the store properly. They actually uncondition the store when they are cramming(literally tossing) their stock on the shelves.
Now, to your questions:
Stores sell more of certain products based on what ethenicity and income range the customers are in that area. With forecasting, the computer is supposed to keep the store "stocked" in theory. The manager is only supposed to be ordering what is on sale, trying to figure out why certain products are not coming in, scanning holes and ordering low spots in the store(while adjusting the BOHs). I am sure there is a way to print out the products that sell like hotcakes. There is a way to go into CAO and see how many cases come in each night on the grocery truck. I am not sure how far back you can go. The DDP is limited to see how far back you can go.
When the manager first starts, he needs to get an idea of what everyone is able to do each night. Then, organize each persons abilities to get the work done well and on time. One person might condition well and another might run stock well. When the manager has the workflow caught up, then he/she needs to switch people around so they can practice and get better at other tasks. They are only given a certain amount of time(probation) to show they know what they are doing and are the right person for the job. Some store managers will boot slackers and others don't care.
Our day manager orders 69 products and the night manager orders 01 products.
On nights, it takes about 2+ hours to recieve trucks depending on who delivers that day. It takes 1 1/2+ hours to order properly.
I am not sure if you were whining or trying to figure out why things are the way they are. Some people do not like to change routines that have worked in the past. I swear my manager is stuck back in the 80s. Not even sure if I gave you any insight.
Try to keep a general log of what you do each night. If the manager does not like your suggestions, then use them when you become a manager or back-up. Someone mentioned before that "shet flows downhill". If the work is not getting done on time, then the manager will get chewed on by the store manager and then your manager will either chew on you or listen to your suggestions.
Watch what is going around you and think of ways to improve the process. Try to do your job at the best pace you can. Do not get stressed about what everyone is doing around you. If anyone complains about you, show your logs of what you have been doing.
As for miscommunication, that is nothing new at Kroger.
Night crew is very demanding and fast paced. Day crew and middle shifts are a little lax because they are running around helping customers, cashiering and bagging. What day crew calls fast on days, we are expected to do double in the same amount of time on nights.
If you have any other questions, I will try to give my insight on them.
OH MY GOD. I was a night manager for 2 years and you have to TRY to throw 30 cases and hour. Best ive done is 180 on the can food aisle. My average is about 100. And i don't push stock either. Ive always thought 55 cases was to slow, but 30!? I'd run you out of the store fast.
