Whats your opinion on this? Stores in our district have moved to spotting trucks. our nights take much longer to complete. There are some benefits but overall seems more sluggish. Which way do you prefer to run trucks and why?
I am not sure what I think about it yet. I will let you know after a month.
I have been trying to figure out how to get more done overnight for the last year and a half. No success.
It is nice to change things up. Everyone gets stuck in their ways and are being challenged to change how they do things.
They are not saving any money or time yet with this new process at my store. But it is definitely a challenge for everyone.
If Kroger wants to waste $3 million trying to make this work, I will be around for the chaos. We will follow directions and do everything to a T. Either it will work or it won't.
Supposedly, Kroger night grocery clerks designed this system. Supposedly, it was tested in a million dollar store and worked.
Supposedly they designed this system yes. But i think it was made by corporate people sitting at a desk. We went from getting a truck done and extra **** done to 8+ hours and nothing extra
If youve been trying to figure it out that long forget it. Spotting has set us back so much now. We did figure it out but this new stuff is a huge step backwards
If youve been trying to figure it out that long forget it. Spotting has set us back so much now. We did figure it out but this new stuff is a huge step backwards
I am the second poster trying to figure out how to get more done.
Yes, we no longer get done and do extras like backstock.
Yes, this is a step backwards.
I am the night grocery manager. I am trying to figure out how to time to make this work. We are still doing the same work just doing it at different time intervals.
They have hired 5 new people so far to make this work. Will need 5 more. lol, saving money the kroger way.
So far, it is not efficient. It will not work unless everyone is on board and works together(cao programmers, day crew, evening crew and night crew).
I suspect I may not be cut out to lead night crew on this chaotic journey and they will need to replace me with someone that is. I will keep trying until they decide I am not a good fit as night manager.
I am the second poster trying to figure out how to get more done.
Yes, we no longer get done and do extras like backstock.
Yes, this is a step backwards.
I am the night grocery manager. I am trying to figure out how to time to make this work. We are still doing the same work just doing it at different time intervals.
They have hired 5 new people so far to make this work. Will need 5 more. lol, saving money the kroger way.
So far, it is not efficient. It will not work unless everyone is on board and works together(cao programmers, day crew, evening crew and night crew).
I suspect I may not be cut out to lead night crew on this chaotic journey and they will need to replace me with someone that is. I will keep trying until they decide I am not a good fit as night manager.
To add more to this.
I have seen changes before but never this drastic. I am glad it wasn't the week before Thanksgiving. lol. They did that to a warehouse change. What a mess!
Day crew used to run peyton. Night crew would run grocery. One day about 6-8 years ago, Night crew started running both trucks. It took 3 months to make it work but we have been doing it ever since. The trucks are huge because of Covid and the stores being successful. Double trucks and backstock is way too much work for the crew I have and we have 8 hours to get everything done. We need to try something different until the decision makers realize it isn't working. I think every store has been using their own process to make their store function.
Many peyton products are being switched over to the grocery warehouse anyways. Slowly, but it has been happening.
I work 8 hours i go home. this new system has not affected my shift in any way. when i punch out I leave kroger at the door. new sytems are not for me to figure out or to try to make work. 8 hours and I'm gone.
I work 8 hours i go home. this new system has not affected my shift in any way. when i punch out I leave kroger at the door. new sytems are not for me to figure out or to try to make work. 8 hours and I'm gone.
This has Derek Anderson and his kick **** u dear the shelves do the bare min written all over it. Piss poor associate
Im late to this but oh boy are we miserable. Every single person who works overnight went into overtime last week. Trucks that we could just throw are taking hours longer to do. We got validated today and failed bc there were things we werent even told to do with the new system that we were still doing. Might work for some stores but for sure not working for us.
Im late to this but oh boy are we miserable. Every single person who works overnight went into overtime last week. Trucks that we could just throw are taking hours longer to do. We got validated today and failed bc there were things we werent even told to do with the new system that we were still doing. Might work for some stores but for sure not working for us.
Well, we failed because we all still had back stock uboats in the aisle and we had gatorade still on a pallet. We didnt spot everything before working on bulk and two of us were working one of the non-bulk aisles together (juice which we had gotten a lot of). They look for the carts with the trash bag and two boxes, if your conditioning while working the u shape of your aisle, if everything was spotted, and if you are doing the bulk together. If you have a back stock cart in the aisle or a pallet its automatic failure. If they catch somebody on a smoke break outside its also and automatic failure. We get one more chance to pass and we have no clue what will happen if we dont pass next time.
We are all on track to get a lot of overtime again too
Well, we failed because we all still had back stock uboats in the aisle and we had gatorade still on a pallet. We didnt spot everything before working on bulk and two of us were working one of the non-bulk aisles together (juice which we had gotten a lot of). They look for the carts with the trash bag and two boxes, if your conditioning while working the u shape of your aisle, if everything was spotted, and if you are doing the bulk together. If you have a back stock cart in the aisle or a pallet its automatic failure. If they catch somebody on a smoke break outside its also and automatic failure. We get one more chance to pass and we have no clue what will happen if we dont pass next time.
We are all on track to get a lot of overtime again too
We are not allowed overtime. We were told to spot everything and leave anything not stocked for the morning crew.
It makes no sense to spot 100 cases in front of the Campbells chunky soup set that is 3 feet wide.
Which aisles are considered the bulk aisles? Paper towels, cereal and detergent? It makes no sense to have 5 people running each aisle.
Thanks for the heads up on what they are looking for during the audit.
Well, we failed because we all still had back stock uboats in the aisle and we had gatorade still on a pallet. We didnt spot everything before working on bulk and two of us were working one of the non-bulk aisles together (juice which we had gotten a lot of). They look for the carts with the trash bag and two boxes, if your conditioning while working the u shape of your aisle, if everything was spotted, and if you are doing the bulk together. If you have a back stock cart in the aisle or a pallet its automatic failure. If they catch somebody on a smoke break outside its also and automatic failure. We get one more chance to pass and we have no clue what will happen if we dont pass next time.
We are all on track to get a lot of overtime again too
We are not allowed overtime. We were told to spot everything and leave anything not stocked for the morning crew.
It makes no sense to spot 100 cases in front of the Campbells chunky soup set that is 3 feet wide.
Which aisles are considered the bulk aisles? Paper towels, cereal and detergent? It makes no sense to have 5 people running each aisle.
Thanks for the heads up on what they are looking for during the audit.
We dont have a morning crew to do grocery, all the morning stockers are for GM and nutrition only at our store. Our grocery team is so understaffed that i think theyve been letting OT slide.
Youre allowed to split up the team to do the bulk in pairs or small groups, just gotta remember bulk has to be done before you break. Make sure everybody is breaking together too cause you can fail for that as well.
Bulk in our store is water, bagged pet food, detergent, paper, and cereal. Probably different for each store.
Hey, can someone who has a bit of free time PLEASE explain for us Kroger employees in other departments what is meant by "spotting", and exactly what was the "old" procedure and what is the "new" procedure in stocking? I don't get it.
Knowing Kroger Corporate, I would assume the "new" way will be slower, stupid and inefficient. But then, I am not sure since I do not work overnight grocery.
Hey, can someone who has a bit of free time PLEASE explain for us Kroger employees in other departments what is meant by "spotting", and exactly what was the "old" procedure and what is the "new" procedure in stocking? I don't get it.
Knowing Kroger Corporate, I would assume the "new" way will be slower, stupid and inefficient. But then, I am not sure since I do not work overnight grocery.
Thank you very much!!
Spotting means taking the product off the pallet and placing it on the floor where it goes in the aisle.
New process:
We bring all 30 Peyton and Grocery pallets onto the sales floor by hand(no power jacks allowed on the sales floor). We place(spot) the product unopened where it goes in the aisle to the right of the price tag. Anything that can be stocked to the shelf without opening is stocked directly off the pallet. Each night crew employee must take breaks and lunch at the same time. Not together but at the same time. Each worker must have a shopping cart with a bag for plastic and 2 boxes under the cart(one for go backs and the other for damage). Each person is supposed to get their backstock uboat for the aisle they are running and work it. Leaving it at the end of the aisle so they can put backstock from the trucks on it. Everyone is supposed to run the bulk aisles(paper, detergent and cereal) together. After all 30 pallets are spotted, each person goes into an aisle and runs the stock while conditioning as they go from left to right. If they do the process right, all the stock is ran and the aisle is conditioned when they are done with the aisle. Everyone is to leave at their scheduled time at my store. The store managers must find workers in the store to finish stocking what is on the floor.
This process works in some low volume stores($800k-). The goal is to run and condition 55 cases an hour. It is easier to track when everything is spotted. Every store in the division is to follow this process exactly the same. It is bits and pieces of what I have done or heard about in the last 10 years as a grocery clerk. I haven't used a shopping cart in 5 years. When I did, the child seat basket was for gobacks and the basket underneath was for damage. Now, I am to use 2 boxes instead. I am used to working off uboats or pallets.
We spend about 30 hours spotting on a double truck night. Some people can only run and condition 25 cases an hour.
Every store did things similar and differently.
The old way at my store:
6-10 night crew people would come in and sort Peyton onto uboats. (Not all stores have 25 extra uboats for breaking down Peyton.) 2 people would unload the Grocery pallets from a drop N hook trailer onto the sales floor. 3 people would be running necessary backstock uboats. Everyone would have assigned aisles. Each person would stock Peyton off the uboats and then move product from the grocery pallets onto the uboats and stock that product. Most people would condition the aisle after everything was stocked. Some condition as they go. It worked but was a constant rat race because of call ins. The orders being sent are sometimes 100% more than a year ago due to covid and out of stocks(from 2500 cases before to 5000 cases now). After scratches, the deliveries are still 30%+ more than they were a year ago(from 2200 cases before to 3500 cases now). No extra hours added to ELMS.
We used to spend anywhere from 16 to 20 hours breaking down the pallets onto uboats vs 30 hours for spotting everything. Peyton is a nightmare to spot. 17 aisles on one pallet for 10 pallets. So, our wonderful store managers have hired two people to come in during the evening to break down Peyton onto pallets and uboats so it is easier for us to spot. So, add another 15 hours to the 30 hours spotting time = 45 hours. They will soon find out that they need 6 people to get it done. 2 people will not be sufficient. If they had hired 6 people for night crew before this process, there would not be much overtime.
I am not against trying this new process. We needed something to stir us up. Covid has taken its toll on everyone and we needed something different for everyone to be upset about. lol. I do not think it will save time and money but I will cheerfully give it a chance for a few months at least.
Some coworkers are against tying a bag to their cart because it is wasting resources. Of course, the designers of this process don't remember 8 months ago when no stores in the division had plastic bags because they were out of stock! Some are against having two boxes under their cart. Some don't like working from left to right, working stock off the floor, or conditioning as they run stock. Some don't like being forced to take breaks when everyone else is. The poor night grocery manager has to remind everyone every night to do these simple tasks and listen to all the complaints from all 12 people over and over. lol. Some won't like it reveled that they only run and condition 25 cases an hour. I don't care. We are paid to follow directions and that is what we will do until our wonderful leaders realize this isn't working for everyone.
We are not doing anything different. The starting point and finish point are still the same. The timing intervals of the different processes are different. Instead of breaking down pallet, stocking, breaking down pallet, stocking, conditioning. We are breaking down everything at once. Stocking and conditioning at the same time.
GM, Frozen and Dairy are supposed to have new processes too. It appears they have been given leeway to do things differently than the video. Per the grocery video, I am allowed to lower my conditioning standards 50%.
-- Edited by Anonymouse1 on Tuesday 2nd of February 2021 01:37:57 PM
The whole thing is incredibly stupid. They are being way too uptight about this ****. But the problem with that is its not even helping anything! the point is to save time. Its not happening. And also the boxes on the cart is so damn stupid. I have to take more trips to the baler than normal bc i could fit way more in just the cart. It also takes hours to spot this ****. Just not worth it. They should let stores who were getting done before the choice of how to do things.
Hey, can someone who has a bit of free time PLEASE explain for us Kroger employees in other departments what is meant by "spotting", and exactly what was the "old" procedure and what is the "new" procedure in stocking? I don't get it.
Knowing Kroger Corporate, I would assume the "new" way will be slower, stupid and inefficient. But then, I am not sure since I do not work overnight grocery.
Thank you very much!!
Spotting means taking the product off the pallet and placing it on the floor where it goes in the aisle.
New process:
We bring all 30 Peyton and Grocery pallets onto the sales floor by hand(no power jacks allowed on the sales floor). We place(spot) the product unopened where it goes in the aisle to the right of the price tag. Anything that can be stocked to the shelf without opening is stocked directly off the pallet. Each night crew employee must take breaks and lunch at the same time. Not together but at the same time. Each worker must have a shopping cart with a bag for plastic and 2 boxes under the cart(one for go backs and the other for damage). Each person is supposed to get their backstock uboat for the aisle they are running and work it. Leaving it at the end of the aisle so they can put backstock from the trucks on it. Everyone is supposed to run the bulk aisles(paper, detergent and cereal) together. After all 30 pallets are spotted, each person goes into an aisle and runs the stock while conditioning as they go from left to right. If they do the process right, all the stock is ran and the aisle is conditioned when they are done with the aisle. Everyone is to leave at their scheduled time at my store. The store managers must find workers in the store to finish stocking what is on the floor.
This process works in some low volume stores($800k-). The goal is to run and condition 55 cases an hour. It is easier to track when everything is spotted. Every store in the division is to follow this process exactly the same. It is bits and pieces of what I have done or heard about in the last 10 years as a grocery clerk. I haven't used a shopping cart in 5 years. When I did, the child seat basket was for gobacks and the basket underneath was for damage. Now, I am to use 2 boxes instead. I am used to working off uboats or pallets.
We spend about 30 hours spotting on a double truck night. Some people can only run and condition 25 cases an hour.
Every store did things similar and differently.
The old way at my store:
6-10 night crew people would come in and sort Peyton onto uboats. (Not all stores have 25 extra uboats for breaking down Peyton.) 2 people would unload the Grocery pallets from a drop N hook trailer onto the sales floor. 3 people would be running necessary backstock uboats. Everyone would have assigned aisles. Each person would stock Peyton off the uboats and then move product from the grocery pallets onto the uboats and stock that product. Most people would condition the aisle after everything was stocked. Some condition as they go. It worked but was a constant rat race because of call ins. The orders being sent are sometimes 100% more than a year ago due to covid and out of stocks(from 2500 cases before to 5000 cases now). After scratches, the deliveries are still 30%+ more than they were a year ago(from 2200 cases before to 3500 cases now). No extra hours added to ELMS.
We used to spend anywhere from 16 to 20 hours breaking down the pallets onto uboats vs 30 hours for spotting everything. Peyton is a nightmare to spot. 17 aisles on one pallet for 10 pallets. So, our wonderful store managers have hired two people to come in during the evening to break down Peyton onto pallets and uboats so it is easier for us to spot. So, add another 15 hours to the 30 hours spotting time = 45 hours. They will soon find out that they need 6 people to get it done. 2 people will not be sufficient. If they had hired 6 people for night crew before this process, there would not be much overtime.
I am not against trying this new process. We needed something to stir us up. Covid has taken its toll on everyone and we needed something different for everyone to be upset about. lol. I do not think it will save time and money but I will cheerfully give it a chance for a few months at least.
Some coworkers are against tying a bag to their cart because it is wasting resources. Of course, the designers of this process don't remember 8 months ago when no stores in the division had plastic bags because they were out of stock! Some are against having two boxes under their cart. Some don't like working from left to right, working stock off the floor, or conditioning as they run stock. Some don't like being forced to take breaks when everyone else is. The poor night grocery manager has to remind everyone every night to do these simple tasks and listen to all the complaints from all 12 people over and over. lol. Some won't like it reveled that they only run and condition 25 cases an hour. I don't care. We are paid to follow directions and that is what we will do until our wonderful leaders realize this isn't working for everyone.
We are not doing anything different. The starting point and finish point are still the same. The timing intervals of the different processes are different. Instead of breaking down pallet, stocking, breaking down pallet, stocking, conditioning. We are breaking down everything at once. Stocking and conditioning at the same time.
GM, Frozen and Dairy are supposed to have new processes too. It appears they have been given leeway to do things differently than the video. Per the grocery video, I am allowed to lower my conditioning standards 50%.
-- Edited by Anonymouse1 on Tuesday 2nd of February 2021 01:37:57 PM
Thank you VERY MUCH for taking the time to explain this!!! Sounds like a bunch of unnecessary changes in procedures to me.
Hey, can someone who has a bit of free time PLEASE explain for us Kroger employees in other departments what is meant by "spotting", and exactly what was the "old" procedure and what is the "new" procedure in stocking? I don't get it.
Knowing Kroger Corporate, I would assume the "new" way will be slower, stupid and inefficient. But then, I am not sure since I do not work overnight grocery.
Thank you very much!!
Spotting means taking the product off the pallet and placing it on the floor where it goes in the aisle.
New process:
We bring all 30 Peyton and Grocery pallets onto the sales floor by hand(no power jacks allowed on the sales floor). We place(spot) the product unopened where it goes in the aisle to the right of the price tag. Anything that can be stocked to the shelf without opening is stocked directly off the pallet. Each night crew employee must take breaks and lunch at the same time. Not together but at the same time. Each worker must have a shopping cart with a bag for plastic and 2 boxes under the cart(one for go backs and the other for damage). Each person is supposed to get their backstock uboat for the aisle they are running and work it. Leaving it at the end of the aisle so they can put backstock from the trucks on it. Everyone is supposed to run the bulk aisles(paper, detergent and cereal) together. After all 30 pallets are spotted, each person goes into an aisle and runs the stock while conditioning as they go from left to right. If they do the process right, all the stock is ran and the aisle is conditioned when they are done with the aisle. Everyone is to leave at their scheduled time at my store. The store managers must find workers in the store to finish stocking what is on the floor.
This process works in some low volume stores($800k-). The goal is to run and condition 55 cases an hour. It is easier to track when everything is spotted. Every store in the division is to follow this process exactly the same. It is bits and pieces of what I have done or heard about in the last 10 years as a grocery clerk. I haven't used a shopping cart in 5 years. When I did, the child seat basket was for gobacks and the basket underneath was for damage. Now, I am to use 2 boxes instead. I am used to working off uboats or pallets.
We spend about 30 hours spotting on a double truck night. Some people can only run and condition 25 cases an hour.
Every store did things similar and differently.
The old way at my store:
6-10 night crew people would come in and sort Peyton onto uboats. (Not all stores have 25 extra uboats for breaking down Peyton.) 2 people would unload the Grocery pallets from a drop N hook trailer onto the sales floor. 3 people would be running necessary backstock uboats. Everyone would have assigned aisles. Each person would stock Peyton off the uboats and then move product from the grocery pallets onto the uboats and stock that product. Most people would condition the aisle after everything was stocked. Some condition as they go. It worked but was a constant rat race because of call ins. The orders being sent are sometimes 100% more than a year ago due to covid and out of stocks(from 2500 cases before to 5000 cases now). After scratches, the deliveries are still 30%+ more than they were a year ago(from 2200 cases before to 3500 cases now). No extra hours added to ELMS.
We used to spend anywhere from 16 to 20 hours breaking down the pallets onto uboats vs 30 hours for spotting everything. Peyton is a nightmare to spot. 17 aisles on one pallet for 10 pallets. So, our wonderful store managers have hired two people to come in during the evening to break down Peyton onto pallets and uboats so it is easier for us to spot. So, add another 15 hours to the 30 hours spotting time = 45 hours. They will soon find out that they need 6 people to get it done. 2 people will not be sufficient. If they had hired 6 people for night crew before this process, there would not be much overtime.
I am not against trying this new process. We needed something to stir us up. Covid has taken its toll on everyone and we needed something different for everyone to be upset about. lol. I do not think it will save time and money but I will cheerfully give it a chance for a few months at least.
Some coworkers are against tying a bag to their cart because it is wasting resources. Of course, the designers of this process don't remember 8 months ago when no stores in the division had plastic bags because they were out of stock! Some are against having two boxes under their cart. Some don't like working from left to right, working stock off the floor, or conditioning as they run stock. Some don't like being forced to take breaks when everyone else is. The poor night grocery manager has to remind everyone every night to do these simple tasks and listen to all the complaints from all 12 people over and over. lol. Some won't like it reveled that they only run and condition 25 cases an hour. I don't care. We are paid to follow directions and that is what we will do until our wonderful leaders realize this isn't working for everyone.
We are not doing anything different. The starting point and finish point are still the same. The timing intervals of the different processes are different. Instead of breaking down pallet, stocking, breaking down pallet, stocking, conditioning. We are breaking down everything at once. Stocking and conditioning at the same time.
GM, Frozen and Dairy are supposed to have new processes too. It appears they have been given leeway to do things differently than the video. Per the grocery video, I am allowed to lower my conditioning standards 50%.
-- Edited by Anonymouse1 on Tuesday 2nd of February 2021 01:37:57 PM
This is a bit much on the micromanagement. You are never going to hear the end from your crew about how much they hate this unless they were doing something very similar before. Also, with all that product stacked up, up and down the aisles, knowing you are not going to get those huge loads up, all it is going to do is make the store unshoppable when it first opens every morning. I can see why corporate wants it done this way though. Too much unworked product getting left in the backroom and receiving because you only pull out what you feel like your crew can get done.
We always used to get done with all the truck, understaffed every night, early and with no problem. Since we switched to this, it is just unnecessary extra labor taking up time so we struggle with easy trucks now. Its just draining on the people and the clock. Anyone that thinks this is faster than not handling all the product 100x more than before makes no sense.
I'm a night lead. Spotting is illogical. So far I refuse to do it, but i also throw half the truck myself as well as hours have been cut so badly my crew has now become me and 2 or at most 3 others. Yet they want more and more done.
We break down the truck onto pallets by aisle, and then pull the skid thru aisle and throw off skid. Why throw it on the floor first? To me, it's the dumbest idea i've heard. I will say it can be useful in cases where you need to learn an aisle and memorize item locations. Other than that, complete time waste.
We have 4 people quitting and one who put in his two weeks leaving us with only 4 a night! YAY! Gotta' love that great corporate concept. A bunch of bull**** if you ask me.
